<1r>

The Chronology
of
Ancient Kingdoms

amended.

Chap. 1
The Chronology of the ancient Greeks.


Chap. II.


The Chronology of the Empire of Egypt.


Chap. III.


The Chronology of the Assyrian Empire.


Chap. IV


The Chronology of the Babylonian Empire.


Chap. V.


The Chronologyof the Empire of the Medes.


Chap. VI


The Chronology of the Empire of the Persians.

<3r>

Chap. 1.
Of the Chronology of the first ages
of the Greeks.

<5r>

Chap. 1.
Of the Chronology of the first ages
of the Greeks & Latines.

All nations before the just length of the solar year was known, recconed months by the course of the Moon & years by the a[1] returns of winter & summer, Spring & autumn. And in making Calendars for their festivals they recconed thirty days to a Lunar month & twelve Lunar months to a year, taking the nearest round numbers. Whence came the division of the Ecliptick into 360 degrees. So in the time of Noah{'}s flood when the Moon could not be seen, Noah recconed thirty days to a month. But if the Moon appeared a day or two before the end of the month, they b[2] began the next month with the first day of her appearing. And this was done generally till the Egyptians of Thebais found the length of the solar year. So Diodorus c[3] tells us that the Egyptians of Thebais use no {intercalary}months, nor subduct any days [ from the month ] as is done by most of the Greeks. And d[4] Cicero: Est consuetudo Siculorum {cæterorum}Grecorum quad suos dies {menses} congruere volunt cum Solis Lunæ rationibus, ut nonnunquam siquid discrepet, eximant aliquem diem, aut summum biduum ex mense [ civili dienum friginta ] quos illi εξαιρεσίμου;ς dies nominant. And Proclus upon Hesiod's τριακ;ὰς mentions the same thing. And e[5] Geminus: Propositum fuit {vetenibus}, menses quidem agere secundum Lunam, {annos }vero secundum Solem. Quad enim a legibus et Oraculis {prácipiebatur} ut sacrificarent secundum {tria }videlicet patria, menses, dies, annos; hoc ita distincte, faciebant universi Græci ut annos ag{e}rent cong{m}enter cum Sole, dies vero et menses cum Luna. Porro secundum solem annos agere est circa easdem tempestatus anni eadem sacrificia Dijs perfici, et vernum sacrificium semper in vere, æstivum autem in æstate, {simïliter} & in reliquis anni temporibus eadem sacrificia cadere. Hoc enim putabant acceptum et gratum esse Dijs. Hoc autem aliter fiere non posset nisi conversiones solstitiales & æquinoctialia in ÿsdem Zodiaci {locis}{loces} fierent. Secundum Lunam vero dies agere est tale ut congruant cum Lunæ illuminationibus appellationes dierum. Nam a Lunæ illuminationibus {appellationes} dierum sunt denominatæ In qua enim die Luna apparet nova, ea per compositionem Neomenia seu Novilunium appellatur. In qua vero die secundam facit apparitionem, eam secundam Lunam vocarunt. Apparitionem Lunæ quæ circa meduim mensis <6r> fit, ab ipso eventu διχομηνιάν,id est, medietatem mensis nominarunt. Ac summatim, omnes dies a Lunæ illuminationibus denominarunt. Unde etiam {tricasimam}mensis diem, cum ultima sit, ab ipso eventuτριακάδαvocarunt.

The ancient Calendar year of the Greeks consisted therefore of twelve Lunar months & every month of thirty days, & these years & months they corrected from time to time by the courses of the sun & Moon, omitting a day or two in the month as often as they found the month too long for the course of the Moon, & adding a month to the year as often as they found the twelve lunar months too short for the return of the four seasons.

Cleobulus a[6] , one of the seven wise men of Greece, alluded to this year of the Greeks in his Parable of one father who had twelve sons, each of which had thirty daughters, half white & half black. And Thales b[7] called the last day of the month τριακάδα the thirtith. And Solon counted the ten last days of the month backwards from the thirtith, calling that day ἕνην καὶ νέαν, the old & the new, or the last day of the old month & the first day of the new. For he introduced months of 29 & 30 days alternately, making the thirtith day of every other month to be the first day of the next month.

To the twelve Lunar months a[8] the ancient Greeks added a thirteenth every other year, whichmade their {Dietarís}. And because this recconing made their year too long by a month in eight years, they omitted an intercalary month once in eight years, which made their Octaeteris, one half of which was their Tetraeteris. And these periods seem to have been as old as the religions of Greece, being used in {divers} of their sacra. The Octaeteris b[9] was the annus magnus of Cadmus & Minos & seems to have been. brought into Greece & Crete by the Phenicians who came with Cadmus & Europa, & to have continued till after the days of Herotodus. For in counting the length of seventy years, c[10] he reccons thirty days to a Lunar month & twelve such months or 360 days to the ordinary year without the intercalary months, & 25 such months to the {Dieteris}, And according to the number of days in the Calendar year of the Greeks, Demetrius Phalareus had 360 statues erected to him by the Athenians. But the Greeks Cleostratus, Harpalus & others, to make their months agree better with the course of the Moon, in the times of the Persian empire, varied the manner of intercaling the three months in the Octaeteris, intercaling a month in the second fourth & seventh year, or in the third fift & eighth year, or third {sixt} & eighth; & Meton found out the cycle of intercaling seven months in nineteen years.

The ancient year of the Egyptians was also Lunisolar, & continued to be so till the days of Hyperion or Osiris a king on Egypt the father of Helius & Selene or {Orus} & Bubaste. For the Israelites brought this year out of Egypt, & Diodorus a[11] tells us that Uranus the father of Hyperion used this year, & that b[12] in the temple of Osiris the priests appointed {thereunto}{there unto}, filled 360 milkbowles every day. I think he means one bowle every day in all 360 to count the number of days  in the calendar-year <7r> & thereby to find the difference between this & the true solar year. For this year of 360 days was the. year to the end of which they added five days                    

That the Israelites used the Luni-solar year is beyond question. Their months began with their new moons; their first month was called Abib from the earing of corn in that month; their Passover was kept upon the 14th day of the first month, the Moon being then in the full; & if the corn was not {then} ripe enough for offering the first fruits, the Festival was put off by adding an intercalary month to the end of the year; & the harvest was got in before the Pentecost, & the other fruits gathered before {the}feast of the seventh month.

Simplicius in his Commentary a[13] on the {5t} of Aristotel's Physical Aeroasis, tells us that some begin the year upon the summer solstice, as the people of Attica, or upon the autumnal Equinox as the people of Asia, or in {winter}, as the Romans, or about the vernal Equinox, as the Arabians & people of Damascus: & the month began according to {some}, upon the full Moon, or upon the new. The years of all these nations were therefore Lunisolar, & kept to the four seasons. The ancient civil year of the Assyrians & Babylonians was also Lunisolar. For this year was used by the Samaritans who came from several parts of the Assyrian Empire: And the {Iews}{Iews} who came from Babylon, called the months of their Luni-solar year after the names of the months of the Babylonian year. And Berosus b[14] tells us that the Babylonians celebrated the feast Sacea upon the 16th day of the month Lous, which was a Lunar month of the Macedonians, & kept to one & the same season of the year. And the Arabians, a nation who peopled Babylon, use Lunar months to this day. And Suidas c[15] tells us that the {Sarus} of the Chaldæans conteins 222 Lunar months which are eighteen years consisting each of twelve Lunar months besides six intercalary months. I think he should have said 223.For in this Period the motions of the Moon returned to their former course very nearely. And when Cyrus d[16] cut the river Gindes into 360 channels, he seems to have alluded unto the number of days in the calendar year of the Medes & Persians.

At length the Egypitians for the sake of navigation applied themselves to observe the starrs, & by their heliacal risings & settings found the true solar year to be five days longer then the Calendar year, & {thereupon}{there upon} added five days to the twelve Calendar months, making the solar year to consist of twelve months and five days. <8r> Strabo a[17] & Diodorus b[18] ascribe this invention to the Egyptians of Thebes. The Theban Priests, saith Strabo, are above others said to be Astronomers & Philosophers. They invented the recconing of days not by the course of the Moon but by the course of the sun. To twelve months each of 30 days they add yearly five days. In memory of this emendation of the year, they dedicated c[19] the five additional days to Osiris, Isis, Orus senior, Typhon, & Nephthe the wife of Typhon, feigning that those days were added to the year when these five Princes were born, that is, in the reign of Ammon the father of Sesae. And in the {sepulchre} d[20] of Amenophis who reigned soon after, they placed a circle of 365 cubits in compass covered on the upper side with a plate of gold, & divided it into 365 equal parts to represent all the days in the year, & noted upon each part the heliacal risings & settings of the starrs on that day: which circle {remained} there till the invasion of Egypt by Cambyses king of Persia.

In the reign of Uranus the father of Hyperion & grandfather of Helio & Selene the Thebans began to apply themselves to navigation & Astronomy, & by the heliacal risings of the starrs determined the length of the solar year. And in the reign of Amenophis when by further observations they had sufficiently determined the time of the summersolstice, they might place the beginning of this {newyear}{new year} upon the Vernal Equinox. And this year being propagated into Chaldea gave occasion to the Æra of Nabonassar. For the years of Nabonassar & those of Egypt began on one & the same day (the first day of the month by them called Thoth) & were cruel &in all respects the same. And the first year of Nabonassar began on the 26th day of February, seven hundred forty & seven years before the vulgar Æra, & thirty & three days & five hours before the Vernal Æquinox according to the suns mean motion. For it is not likely that the Equation of the sun's motion should be known in the infancy of Astronomy. Now, recconing that the year of 365 days wants five hours & 49 minutes of the equinoctial year; the beginning of this year will move backwards thirty & three days & five hours in 137 years; & by consequence this year began at first in Egypt upon the Vernal Equinox according to the sun's mean motion 137 years before the Æra of Nabonassar began, that is, in the year of the Iulian Period 3830, or 96 years after the death of Solomon. For then ended the reign of Amenophis. And if it began upon the next day after the Vernal Equinox, it might begin four years earlier. This year the Persian Empire received from the Babylonian, & the Greeks also used it in the Æra Philippæa, dated from the death of Alexander, & Iulius Cæsar corrected it by adding a day in every four years, & made it the year of the Romans.

The first month of the Lunisolar year began sometimes a week or a fortnight before the Vernal Equinox, <9r> & sometimes as much after it. And this year gave occasion to the first Astronomers who formed the Asterisms,to place the Equinoxes & Solstices in the middle of the constellations of Aries, Cancer, {Chelæ}, & Capricorn. Achilles a[21] Tatius tells us that some anciently placed the Solstice in the beginning of Cancer, others in the eighth degree of Cancer, others about the twelft degree & others about the fifteenth degree thereof. This variety of opinions proceeded from the precession of the Equinox then not known to the Greeks. When the sphere was first formed, the solstice was in the 15th degree or middle of the Constellation of Cancer. Then it came into the twelft, eighth, fourth & first degree successively. Eudoxus, who was contemporary to Meton, in describing the sphere of the ancients, placed the Solstices & Equinoxes in the middles of the Constellations of Aries, Cancer, Chelæ, & Capricorn, as is affirmed b[22] by Hipparchus Bithynus & appears also by the description of the Equinoctial & Tropical circles in Aratus, c[23] who copied after Eudoxus, & by the positions of the Colures of the Equinoxes & Solstices, which in the Sphere of Eudoxus described by Hipparchus went through the middle of those Constellations. For Hipparchus tells us that Eudoxus drew the Colure of the solstices through the middle of the great Bear, & the middle of Cancer, & the neck of Hydrus, & the star between the Poop & Mast of Argo, & the tayl of the south Fish, & through the middle of Capricorn, & of Sagitta & through the neck & right wing of the swan, & the left hand of Cepheus. And that he drew the Equinoctial Colure through the left hand of Arctophylax, & along the middle of his body, & cross the middle of Chelæ, & through the right hand and foreknee of the Centaur, & through the flexure of {Eridamus} & head of Celus, & the back of Aries across, & through the head and right hand of Pers{e}us.

Now Chiron delineated σχήματα ὀλύμπου the Asterisms as the ancient author of Gigantomachia cited by Clemens a[24] Alexandrinus, informs us. For Chiron was a practical Astronomer, as may be c[25] there understood also of his daughter Hippo. And Musæus the master of Orpheus & one of the Argonauts, b[26] made a sphere, & is reputed the first among the Greeks who made one: And the sphere it self shews that it was designed in the time of the Argonautic Expedition. For that Expedition is delineated in the Asterisms together with several other ancienter histories of the Greeks & without any thing later. There's the golden Ram, the ensign of the vessel in which Phrixus {fled} to Colchos; the Bull with brazen hoofs tamed by Iason; & the. Twins Castor & Pollux two of the Argonauts, with the Swan of Leda their mother. There's the ship Argo & Hydra the watchfull Dragon,with Medea's Cup, & a Raven upon its carcass a symbol of death. There's Chiron the master of Iason with his Altar & Sacrifice. There's the Argonaut Hercules with his Dart & {Vultur} falling down; & the Dragon, Crab, & Lyon whom he slew: & the Harp of the Argonaut Orpheus. All these relate to the Argonauts. There's Orion their contemporary, the grandson of Minos, with his Doggs & Hare & River & Scorpion. There's the story of Perseus in the Constellations of Perseus, Andromeda, Cepheus, Cassiopeia & Cete. That of Callisto & her son Arcas in Ursa major & {Antophylax}. That of Icareus & his daughter Erigone in Bootes Plaustrum & Virgo. Ursa minor relates to one of the nurses of Iupiter, {Auriga} to Erechthonius, {Orphinchus} to Phorbas, Sagittary {to} Crotus the Centaur the son of the nurse of the Muses, Capricorn to Pan, & Aquærius to Ganymede. There's Ariadne's crown, Bellerophon's Horse, Neptune's Dolphin, Ganymedes Eagle, Iupiter's Goat, with her Kidds, Bacchus's Asses, & the Fishes of Venus & Cupid, & their parent the South Fish. These (with {Deltaton}) are the old Constellationsmentioned by Aratus, & they all relate to the Argonauts & their contemporaries & to persons one or two generations older. And nothing later then that Expeditione was delineated there <10r> originally. Antinous & Coma Berenices are novel. The sphere seems therefore to have been formed by Chiron & Musæus for the use of the Argonauts. For the ship Argo was the first long ship built by the Greeks. Hitherto they had kept within sight of the sphere & now upon an Embassy to several Princes upon the coasts of the {Eurcine} & Mediterranean seas, c[27] by the dictates of the Oracle & consent of the Princes of Greece, the flower of Greeca were to sail with expedition through the deep & guide their ship by the starrs. The people of the island Corcyra d[28] attributed the invention of the sphere to Nausicae the daughter of Aleinous king of the Pheaces in that Island. And its most probable that she had it from the Argonauts who e[29] in their return home sailed to that Island & made some stay there with her father. So then, in the time of the Argonautic Expedition, the cardinal points of the Equinoxes & Solstices were in the middles of the Constellations of Aries, Cancer, Chelæ & Capricorn.

In the end of the year 1689 the star called Prima Arietis was in 28degrees 51'. 00" with north Latitude 7. degrees8'. 58". And the star called ultima caudæ Arietis was in . 19degrees 3', 42", with north latitude 2degrees .34' . 5". And the Colrus Æquinoctiorum passing through the point inthe middle of those two stars did then cut the Ecliptic in 6. degrees44'. And by this recconing the Equinox in the end of the year 1689 was gone back 36degrees. 44' since the Argonautic Expedition. ✝ < insertion from f 9v > It goes back fifty seconds in one year & one degree in seventy & two years & by consequence 36degrees 44'. in 2645 years which counted back from the end of the year of our Lord 1689 or beginning of the year 1690, will place the Argonautic expedition about 25 years after the death of Solomon. < text from f 10r resumes > But it may be better to fix the cardinal points by the stars through which the Colures passed in the primitive sphere according to Eudoxus. By the Colure of the Equinoxes I mean a great circle passing through the Poles & cutting the Ecliptic in the Equinoxes in an angle of 66 1/2 degrees the complement of the Sun's greatest declination; & by the Colure of the Solstices I mean a great circle passing through the Pole & cutting the Ecliptic at right angles in the solstices.

In the back of Aries is a star of the sixt magnitude marked ν by Bayer. In the end of the year 1689 & beginning of the year 1690, its longitude was 9 degrees 38'. 45", & north latitude. 6. degrees 7'. 56". And the Colurus Æquinoctiorum drawn through it, (according to Eudoxus) cuts the Ecliptic in 6 degrees 58'. 77". In the head of Cetus are two starrs of the f{o}urth magnitude called ν & ξ by Bay{e}r. In the end of the year 1689 their longitudes were 4degrees 3'. 9" & 3degrees 7'. 35", & their south latitudes 9degrees 12'. 26" & 5degrees. 53'. 7". And the Colurus Æquinoctiorum passing in the mid way between them cuts the Ecliptick in 6. degrees 58'. 51". In the extreme flexure of Eridanus rightly delineated is a star of the fourth magnitude, of late referred to the breast of Cetus & called ρ by Bayer. It is the only star in Eridanus through which this Colure can pass. Its longitude in the end of the year 1689 was 25degrees 22'. 10", & south latitude 25. 15. 50. And the Colures Æquinoctiorum passing through it , cuts the Ecliptic in 7degrees 12'. 40". In the head of Perseus rightly delineated is a star of the 4th magnitude called τ by Bayer. The longitude of this star in the end of the year 1689 was 23degrees. 35'. 30", & north Latitude 34degrees. 20'. 12". And the Equinoctial Colure passing through it cuts the Ecliptic in {. } 6. degrees 18'. 57". In the right hand of Perseus rightly delineated is a star of the 4th magitude called η by Bayer. It's longitude in the end of the year 1689, was Symbol (equal-armed cross followed by a circle with a dot in it) in text < insertion from f 9v > 24. 23'. 27". & north latitude 37. 26'. 50". And th{e} Equinoctial Colure passing through it cuts the Ecli{p}tic in < text from f 10r resumes > 4degrees. 56'. 40". And the fift part of the summ of the places in which these five Colures cut the Ecliptick is 6. degrees 29'. 15. And therefore the great circle which in the primitive sphere according to Eudoxus & by {consequence} in {the} time of the Argonautick expedition, was the Colurus Æquinoxiorum passing through the starrs above described, did in the end of the year 1689{;}{, } cut the Ecliptick in 6. degrees 29'. 15", as nearly as we have been able to determin by the observations of the Ancients which were but coarse.

In the middle of Cancer is the south Asellus, a star of the fourth <11r> magnitude called by Bayer δ. Its longitude in the end of the year 1689, was 4degrees 23'. 40". In the neck of Hydra rightly delineated is a star of the fourth magnitude called δ by Bayer. Its longitude in the end of the year 1689 was 5degrees 59'. 3". Between the Poop & Mast of Argo {is} a star of the third magnitude called {ε} by Bayer. Its longitude in the end of that year was 7degrees 5'. 31". In Sagitta is a star of the sixt magnitude called θ by Bayer. Its longitude in the end of the year 1689, was 6degrees 29'. 53". In the middle of Capricorn is a star of the fift magnitude called η by Bayer. Its longitude in the end of the said year was 8degrees 25'. 55". And the fift part of the summ of the three first longitudes & the complements of the two last to 180 degrees, is 6degrees 28'. 46". And therefore the Colurus solstitiorum which passes as nearly as can be through these five stars, cuts the Ecliptick in 6degrees 28'. 46". The same {Colurus} passes also in the middle between the stars η & χ of the fourth & fift magnitudes in the neck of the Swan, being distant about a degree from each. It passes also by the star ζ of the fourth magnitude in the right wing of the Swan, & by the star ο of the fift magnitude in the left hand of Cepheus rightly delineated: & by the starrs in the tayl of the south Fish; & is at right angles with the Colurus Æquinoctiorum found above: & so it has all the characters of the Col{u}rus solstitiorum rightly drawn.

The two Colures therefore which in the time of the Argonautic Expedition cut the Ecliptic in the Cardinal points, did in the end of the year 1689 cut it 6degrees 29', 6degrees 29', 6degrees 29', & 6degrees 29', as nearly as we have been able to determin from the coarse observa tions of the Ancients, And therefore the Cardinal points {between} the time of that expedition & the end of the year 1689, have gone back 1sign. 6degrees 29', which after the rate of 72 years to a degree, answers to 2627 years. Count those years backwards from the end of the year 1689, or beginning of the year 1690, & the recconing will place the Argonautic Expedition about 43 years after the death of Solomon.

The longitude of the first star of Aries in the end of the year 1689 was, 28degrees 51', as above. Count backwards 1sign. 6degrees 29', & its longitude counted from the equinox in the time of the Argonautick Expedition will be ~ 22degrees 22'. And by the same way of arguing the longitude of the Lucida Pleiadum in the time of the Argonautic Expedition will be 19degrees. 26'. 8". And the longitude of Arcturus 13. 24. 52. And so of any other stars.

After the Argonautic expedition we hear no more of Astronomy till the days of Thales. He a[30] revived Astronomy & wrote a book of the Troipcs & Equinoxes & predicted Eclipses; & b[31] Pliny tells us that he determin{e}d the occasus matutinus of the Pleiades to be upon the 25t day after the autumnal Equinox. And thence c[32] Petavius computes the Longitude of the Pleiades in 23degrees 53'. And by consequence the Lucida Pleiadum had since the Argonautic Expedition moved from the Equinox 4degrees. 26'. 52" & this motion after the rate of 72 years to a degree answers to 320 years. Count these years back from the time in which Thales was a young man fit to apply himself to Astronomical studies, that is from about the 41th Olympiad: & the recconing will place the Argonautic Expedition about 44 years after the death of Solomon as above. And in the days of Thales the Solstices & Equinoxes by this recconing will have been in the middle of the eleventh degrees of the signes.  But Thales in publishing his Book about the Tropics & Equinoxes might lean a little to the opinion of former Astronomers so as to place them in the twelft degrees of their signes.

Meton & Euctemon a[33] in order to publish the Lunar Cycle of 19 years, observed the summer solstice in the year of Nabonassar 316, the year before the Peloponnesian war began; & Columella b[34] tells us <12r> that they placed it in the eighth degree of Cancer: which is at least seven degrees backwarder then a{t} first. Now the Equinox after the rate of 72 years to a degree, goes backwards seven degrees in 504 years. Count backwards those years from the 316th year of Nabonassar & the Argonautic Expedition will fall upon the 44{th} year after the death of Solomon, or thereabouts, as above.

Hipparchus Rhodius the great Astronomer comparing his own observations with those of former Astronomers, concluded first of any man that the Equinoxes had a motion backwards in respect o{f} the fixt stars; & his opinion was that they went backward one degree in about an hundred years. He made his observations of the Equinoxes between the years of Nabonassar 586 & 618 or about 286 years after the aforesaid Observation of Meton & Euctemon; & in these years the Equinox must have gone backward four degrees, & so have been in the fourth degree of Aries in the days of Hipparchus, & by consequence have then gone back eleven degrees since the Argonautick Expedition, that is, in 1090 years according to the chronology of the ancient Greeks then in use. And this is after the rate of an hundred years to a degree, as was then stated by Hipparchus. But it really went back a degre in seventy & two years, & eleven degrees in 792 years. Count backwards these 792 years, & the recconing will place the Argonautic Expedition about 44 years after the death of Solomon as above. The Greeks have therefore made the Argonautic Expedition about three hundred years ancienter then the truth & thereby given occasion to the opinion of the great Hipparchus that the Equinox went backwards after the rate of only a degree in an hundred years.

Hesiod tells us that sixty days after the win{t}er solstice the star Areturus rose just at sunset. Till his days & long after, the solstices were placed in the middles {of} the signes, their motion not being then known; & the Suns {Apogee} was then in 24. degrees In those sixty days & almost six hours {more}{move} from noon to sunset, the sun would move from the winter solstice into 0degrees. 10'; & the opposite point of the Ecliptic which. rose at the same time with Areturus would {b}e in 0degrees 10'. The north Latitude of Arcturus is 30degrees 57', & the elivation of the Pole at Mount Helicon neare Athens where Hesiod lived, was 37degrees 45' according to Ptolomy. And thence Ricciolus (Lib. VI Almagest. cap. XX. Prob. VIII.) teaches how to compute the excess of the Longitude of Arcturus above the longitude of the said opposite point of the Eccliptic: & by the computation I find that this excess is 11degrees 14'. Which being added to 0degrees 10' gives the longitude of Areturus 11degrees 24'. When the Sun sets visibly his {upper} limb is 33' below the Horizon, being. so much elevated by the refraction of the Atmosphere, & his center is still 16' lower, in all 49' below the Horizon, & the part of the Ecliptick between the Horizon & the center of the sun, is an arch of 62' minutes.And when the star rises visibly it is 33' below the horizon being so much elevated by the refraction. And the Arch between the horizon & the star in the parallel of the stars latitude is 41 1/4 minutes. And these 103 1/4 minutes being added to the longitude of the star found above gives {its} correct longitude in 13.degrees 7'1/4. The longitude of this star at the time of the Argonautic Expedition was 13.degrees24'. 52"as above. . And the di{ff}erence 17'. . 37" is so small as scarce to be sensible in the coarse observations of the ancients, & will vanish by allowing a minute of time between the observation of the setting sun whereby the eyes of the spectator would be dazzelled & the observation of the rising star after the eyes were recovered.

From all these circumstances {gr}ounded upon the coarse observations of the ancients, we may reccon it certain that the Argonautic Expedition was not earlier then the reign of Solomon, & most probable that it was about 40 or 45 years after his death.

The Trojan war was one generation later then that Expedition. , <13r> several captains of the Greeks in that war being sons of the Argonauts. And the ancient Greeks recconed Memnon or Amenophis king of Egypt, to have reigned in the times of that war, feigning him to be the son of Tithonus the elder brother of Priam, & in the end of that war to have come from Susa to the assistance of Priam. Amenophis was therefore of the same age with the elder children of Priam. In the opinion of the ancient Greeks he was with his army at Susa in the last year of the Trojan war; & after that he might return into Egypt & adorn it with building,s & Obelisks & Statues, & dye there about 90 or 95 years after the death of Solomon when he had determined & setled the the beginning of the new Egyptian year of 365 days upon the Vernal Equinox, so as to deserve the monument above mentioned in memory thereof.

Thus by the consent of two arguments taken from Astronomy, the one taken from the Precession of the Equinox, the other from the Æra of the Theban year of the Egyptians, it appears that the Argonautic Expedition was about 40 or 45 years later then the death of Solomon, & the last year of the Trojan war about 75 years later then his death, & the death of Amenophis or Memnon, according to the date of his sepulchral monument, about 90 or 95 {years} later then Solomon's. And the truth of these things will be further confirmed when it shall appear that Sesostris was {Sesae}, & invaded the nations one generation before the Argonautic Expedition. Now these recconings differing from the Chronology of the Greeks, give us occasion to enquire into the reason of the difference.

The Europeans had no Chronology before the times of the Persian Monarchy. And whatever Chronology they have of ancienter times hath been framed since by reasoning & conjecture. In the beginning of that Monarchy, Acusilaus made Phoroneus as old as Ogyges & his flood, & that flood 1020 years older then the first Olympiad, which is above 680 years older then the truth. And to make out this recconing his followers have e{nc}reased the reigns of kings in length & number. Plutarch tells a[35] us that the Philosophers anciently delivered their opinions in verse as Orpheus, Hesiod, Parmenides, Xenophanes, Empedocles, Thales, but afterwards left of the use of verses, & that Aristarchus, Timocharis, Aristillus, Hipparchus, did not make Astronomy the more contemptible by describing it in prose after Eudoxus Hesiod & Thales had wrote of it in verse. Solon wrote b[36] in verse, & all the seven wise men were addicted to poetry, as Anaximenes c[37] affirmed. Till those days the Greeks wrote only in verse, & while they did so there could be no Chronology, nor any other history then such as was mixed with poetical fancies. Pliny d[38] in recconing up the inventors of things, tells us that Pherecides Syrius taught to compose discourses in prose in the reign of Cyrus,& Cadmus Milesius to write history. And in e[39] another place he saith th{a}t Cadmus Milesius was the first that wrote in prose. Iosephus tells us f[40] that Cadmus Milesius & Acusilaus were but a little before the expedition of the Persians against the Greeks. And Suidas g[41] calls Acusilaus a most ancient historian, & saith that he wrote Genealogies out of Tables of brass which his father, as was reported, found in a corner of his house. Who hid them there may be doubted, F{o}r the Greeks h[42] had no public table or inscription older then the laws of Draco. Pherecides Atheniensis in the reign of Darius Hystaspis, or soon after, wrote of the antiquities & ancient genealogies of the Athenians in ten books,&was one of the first European writers of this kind & one of the best: whence he had the name of Genealogus, & by Dionysius i[43] Halicarnassensis is said to be second to none of the Genealogers. Epimenides, not the Philosopher but an Historian, wrote also {o}f the ancient genealogies. And Hellanicus, who was twelve years older than Herodotus, digested his history by the ages (or successions) of the Priestesses of Iuno Argiva. Others <14r> digested their's by those of the Archons of Athens, or kings of the Lacedemonians. Hippias the Elean published a bre{v}iary of the Olympiads supported by no certain arguments as Plutarch k[44] tells us. He lived in the 105th Olympiad, & was derided by Plato for his ignorance. This Breviary seems to have conteined nothing more then a short account of the Victors in every Olympiad. Then Ephorus l[45] the disciple of Isocrates formed a chronological history of Greece, beginning with the return of the Heraclides into Poloponnesus, & ending with the siege of Perinthus in the twentith year of Philip the father of Alexander the great, that is, eleven years before the fall of the Persian Empire. But m[46] he digested things by generations: & the recconing by the Olympiads, or by any other Æra was not yet in use among the Greeks. The Arundelian Marbles were composed sixty years after the dath of Alexander the greatn(An. 4. Olymp. 128,) & yet mention not the Olymipads nor any other standing Æra, but reccon backwards from the time then present. But Chronology was now reduced to a recconing by years. And in the next Olympiad Timæus Siculus improved it. For he wrote a history in several books down to his own times according to the Olympiads, comparing the Ephori, the kings of Sparta, the Archons of Athens, & the Priestesses of Argos with the Olympic {v}ictors, so as to make the Olympiads, & the Genealogies & successions of kings and Priestesses, & {;}Poetical histories, suit with one another according to the best of his judgement. And where he left off, Polybius began & carryed on the history.   Eratosthenes wrote above an hundred years after the death of Alexander the great. He was followed by Apollodorus, & these two have been followe ever since by Chronologers.

But how uncertain their Chronology is, & how doubtfull it was reputed by the Greeks of those times, may be understood by these passages of Plutarch. Some reccon Lycurgus, saith a[47] he, contemporary to Iphitus, & to have been his companion in ordering the Olympic festivals, amongst whom was Aristotel the Philosopher; arguing from the Olympic Disk which had the name of Lycurgus upon it. Others supputing the times by the succession of the kings of Lacedæmon, as Eratosthenes & Apollodorus, affirm that he was not a few years older then the first Olympiad. He began to flourish in the 16th or 18th Olympiad, & at length Aristotel made him as old as the first Olympiad, & then Eratosthenes Apollodorus & their followers made him above an hundred years older. And in another place Plutarch b[48] tells us: The congress of Solon with Crœsus some think they can confute by Chronology. But a history so illustrious & verified by so many witnesses, & which is more, so agreeable to the manners of Solon, & worthy of the greatness of his mind, & of his wisdom, I cannot perswade my  self to reject because  of some chronological Canons,as they  call them, which hundreds  of authors correcting have not yet been able to constitute any thing certain, in which they could agree  amongst themselves about repugnances.

And as for the Chronology of the Latines that is still more uncertain. Plutarch a[49] represents great uncertainties in the Originals of Rome, & so doth b[50] Servius. The old Records of the   Latines were c[51] burnt by the Gauls an hundred & twenty years after the Regifuge & sixty four years before the death of Alexander the great. And Quintus Fabius Pictor, d[52] the oldest historian of the Latins, lived an hundred years later then that king, & took almost all things from Diocles Peparæthius a Greek. And the Chronologies of Gallia, <15r> Spain, Germany, Scythia, Suedeland, Britain & Ireland are of a date still later, For Scythia beyond the Danube had no letters till Ulphidas their Bishop formed them: which was above six hundred years after the death of Alexander the great. And Germany had none till it received them from the western Empire of the Latines above seven hundred years after the death of that king. The Hunns had none in the days of Procopius who flourished 850 years after the death of that king. And Sueden & Norway received them still later. And things said to be done an hundred&twenty years before the use of Letters, are of little credit.

Diodorus a[53] in the beginning of his History tells us that he did not define by any certain space the times preceding the Trojan war, because he had no certain foundation to rely upon: but from the Trojan war, according to the recconing of Apollodorus, Atheniensis whom he followed, there were eighty years to the return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus: & that from that period to the first Olympiad there were three hundred & twenty eight years, computing the times from the kings of the Lacedemonians. Apollodorus followed Eratosthenes & both of them followed Thucydides, in recconing eighty years from the Trojan war to the return of the Heraclides. But in recconing 328 years from that return to the first Olympiad, the Chronologers only computed the times by the successions of the kings of Lacedæmon, as b[54] Plutarch also affirms; & therein they have been ever since followed by later Chronologers. And since this recconing was gathered by computing the times from the kings of the Lacedemonians, that is, from their number; let us reexamin that computation.

All nations before they began to keep exact accounts of time, have been prone to raise their antiquities, & this humour has {b}een promoted by the contentions between nations about the antiquity of their originals. Herodotus a[55] tells us that the Priests of Egypt recconed from the reign of Menes to that of Sethon who put Sennacherib to flight, three hundr{e}d forty & one generations of men, & as many Priests of Vulc{a}n, & as many kings of Egypt: & that three hundred generations make ten thousand years, (for, saith he, three generations of m{e}n make an hundred years;) & the remaining forty &one generations make 1340 years. And so the whole time from the reign of Menes to that of Sethon was 11340 years. And by this way of recconing, & allotting longer reigns to the Gods of Egypt, Herodotus tells us from {t}he Priests of Egypt,that from Pan to Amosis were were 15000 years, & from Hercules to Amosis 17000 years.

The Greeks & Lati{n}es have been more modest in this point then the Egyptians & Persians & some other nations, but yet have exceeded the truth. For in stating the times by the reigns of such kings as were ancienter then the Persian Monarchy, they have also put their reigns equipollent to generations, & accordingly made them one with another an age a piece, recconing three ages to an hundred years. For they make the seven kings of Rome who preceeded the Consuls to have reigned 244 years, which is one with another 35 years a piece. And the first twelve kings of Sicyon (Ægia{l}eus, Europs &c) to have reigned 529 years, which i{s} 44 years a piece. And the first eight kings of Argos (Inachus, Phoro{n}eus &c) to have ~ reigned 371 ye{a}rs, which is above 46 years a piece. And between the return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus & the end of the first Messenian war, the ten kings of Sparta in one race (Eu{r}isthenes, Agis, Echestratus, Labotas, {Doriagus}{Donagus}, {Ægesilaus}{Agesilaus}, Archelaus, Telechus, Alcamenes, & Polydorus,) the nine of the other race <16r> (Procles, Sous, Euripon, Prytanis, Eunomus, Polydectes, Charilaus, Nicander, Theopompus,) the tenn kings of Messene, (Cresphontes, Epitus, Glaucus, Istmius, Dotad{a}{u}s, Sibotas, Phintas, Antiochus, Euphaes, Aristodemus,) & the nine of Arcadia (Cypselus, Olœas, Buchalion, Phialus, Simus, Pompus, Æginela, Polymnestor, Æchmis,) ac{c}ording to Chronologers, took up 379 years: which is 38 years a piece to the ten kings, & 42 years a piece to the nine. And the five kings of the race of Eurysthenes between the end of the first Messenian war & the beginning of the reign of Darius Hystaspis (Eurycrates, Anaxander, Erycrates II, Leon, Anaxandrides) reigned 202 years, which is above 40 years a piece.

Thus the Greek Chronologers who followed Timæus & Eratosthenes have made the kings of their several cities who lived ~ before the times of the Persian Empire, to reign about 35 or 40 years a piece one with another, which is a length so much beyond the course of nature as is not to be credited. For by the ordinary course of nature kings reign one with another about eighteen or twenty years a piece. And if in some instances they reign (one with another) five or six years longer, in others they reign as much shorter. Eighteen or twenty years is a medium. So the 18 kings of Iudah who succeeded Solomon, reigned 390 years which is one with {a}nother 22 years a piece. The fifteen kings of Israel after Solomon reigned 259 years which is 17 1/4 years a piece. The eighteen kings of Babylon (Nabonassar &c) reigned 209 years which is 11 2/3 years a piece. The ten kings of Persia (Cyrus &c) reigned 208 years which is almost 21 ye{a}rs a piece. The sixteen successors of Alexander the great & his brother & Son in Syria (Seleucus &c) reigned 244 years after the breaking of that monarchy, which is 15 1/4 years a piece. The eleven of Egypt (Ptolomæus Lagi &c) reigned 277 261 years, counted from the same period, which is 25 1/4 years a piece. The eight in Macedonia (Cassander &c) reigned 138 years which is 17 1/4 years a piece. The 29 kings of England (William the conqueror &c) reigned 648 years which is 22 1/3 years a piece. Thefirst 24 Kings of France (Pharamund &c) reigned 458 years, which is 19 years a piece. The next 24 kings of France (Ludovicus Balbus &c) 451 years, which is 18 3/4 years a piece. The next 15 (Philip Valesius &c) 315 years, which is 21 years a piece. And all the 63 kings of France 1224 years, which is 19 1/2 years a piece. Generations from father to son may be recconed one with another at about 35 years a piece, or about three generations to an hundred years. But if the recconing proceed by the eldest sons, they are shorter so that three of them may be recconed at about 75 or 80 years. And the reigns of kings are still shorter because kings are succeeded, not only by their eldest sons, but sometimes by their brothers, & sometimes they are slain, or deposed, & succeeded by others of an equal or greater age, especially in elective or turbulent kingdoms. < insertion from f 15v > And within these last 2000 years, there is scarce an instance to be found of {ten} kings reigning any where in continual succession, above 260 years. < text from f 16r resumes > But Timæus & his followers &. I think also some of his {predecessor coppying} after the Egyptians have taken the reigns of kings for generations & recconed three generations to an hundred and sometimes to an hundred and twenty years, & founded the technical chronology of the Greeks upon this way of recconing. Let the recconing be reduced to the course of nature by putting the reigns of kings one with another at about eighteen of twenty years a piece: & the ten kings of Sparta by one race, the nine by another race, the ten kings of Messene & the nine of Arcadia above mentioned between the return of the Heraclides into Peloponesus & the end of the first Messenian war, will scarce take up above 180 or 190 years: whereas according to Chronologers t{h}ey took up 379 years.

Euryleon the son of Ægeus a[56] commanded the main body of the Messenians in the fift year of the first Messenian warr, & was in <17r> the fift generation from Oiolicus the son of Theras the brother in law of Aristodemus, & tutor to his sons Eurysthenes & Procles, as Pausanias a[57] relates. And by consequence, from the return of the Heraclides, which was in the days of Theras, to the battel in the fift year of this war, there were six generations; which (as I conceive) being for the most part by the eldest sons, will scarce ~ exceed thirty years to a generation, & so may amount to about 170 or 180 years. That war la{s}ted 19 or 20 years. Add the last 15 years, & there will be about 190 years to the end of that warr: whereas the followers of Timæus make it about 379 years.

In the race of the Spartan kin{g}s descended from Euristhenes, after Polydorus reigned these kings, Eurycrates I, Alexander, Eurycrates II, Leon, Anaxandrides, Cleomenes, Leonidas, &c. And in the other rac{e}, after Theopompus reigned, Zeuxedam{u}s, Anaxidamus, Archidamus, Agasicles, Ariston, Demaratus, Leutychides II, according to Herodotus. Leonidas was slain at Thermopylæ, in the sixt year of Xerxes, & Leutychides was then alive: so that in one race there were seven kings between the {e}nd of the first Messenian war & the sixt year of Xerxes, & in the other race there were between six & seven kings according to Pausanius, or between seven & eight according to Herodotus, or at a medium, seven kings in both races. An{d} their reigns at twenty years a piece on{e} with anoth{e}r, amount to 140 years; that is, 90 years to the death of Cyrus, & 50 years more to the invasion of Greece by Xerxes. W{h}ereas according to chronologers, from the end of the first Messenian wa{rr} to the sixt yeare of Xerxes were 244 years. Anaxandrides & Ariston, the last of those seven kings of Sparta but two, in the two races, were a[58] contemporary to Crœsus, And Crœsus began his reign about 28 years before the death of Cyrus. Count backwards from the death of Cyrus those 28 years & eighty years more for the four preceding reigns of the kings of Sparta unto the end of the first Messenian war, & 190 years more unto the return of the Heraclides into Peloponne{s}us as above: & this return will be about 298 years before the death of Cyrus. Subduct the years of the Olympiads, & there will remain about 51 years between the return of the Heraclides & the first Olympiad. But the followers of Timæus place the return of the Heraclides about 275 years earlier. And this is the fu{n}damental error of the artificial Chronology of the Greeks.

The kingdom of Macedon was a[59] was founded by Caranus and Perdiccas, who being of the race of Temenus king of Argos, fled from Argos in the reign of Phidon the brother of Caranus Temenus, was one of the three brothers who led the Heraclides into Peloponnesus, & shared the conquest amongst them. He obteined Argos & after him & his son Cisus, the kingdom of Argus, became divided among the posterity of Temenus untill Phidon reunited it, expelling his own kindred. Phidon grew potent, appointed {w}eights & measures in Peloponnesus, & coyned silver moneys, & removing the Pisæans & Eleans, presided in the Olympic games, but was soon after subdued by the Eleans & Spartans. Herodotus b[60] reccons that Perdiccas was the first king of Macedon. Later writers, as Livy, Pausanias & Suidas, make Caranus the first king, Iustin calls Perdiccas the successor of Caranus, & Solinus saith that Perdiccas succeeded Caranus & was the first that obteined the name of king. Its probable that Caranus & Perdiccas were contemporaries & fled <18r> at the same time from Phidon, & at first erected small principalities which after the death of Caranus became one under Perdiccas. Herodotus c[61] t{e}lls us that after Perdiccas reigned Aræus (or Argæus,) Philip, Aeropus, Alcetes, Amyntas, & Alexander succes{s}ively. Alexander was contemporary to Xerxes king of Persia, & died an. 4 Olymp. 79, & was succeeded by Perdiccas II. & he by his son {Archelaus}. And Thucydides d[62] tells us that there were eight kings of Macedon before {this} Archelaus [ the son of Perdiccas ] . Now by recconing above forty years a piece to these kings, Chronologers have made Caranus older then the Olympiads: whereas if we should reccon their reigns at about 18 or 20 years a piece, the first seven reigns counted backwards from the death of Alexander, will place the beginning of the kingdom of Macedon under Perdiccas & Caranus upon the 46th Olympiad or thereabouts. It could not be earlier because Leocides the son of Phidon & Megacles the son of Alcmæon at one & the same time courted Agarista the daughter of {Clisthenes} king of Sicyon (as e[63] Herodotus tells us,) & the Amphictyons by the advice of Solon made Alcmæon & Clisthenes & Eurolycus king of Thessaly commanders of their army in their war against Cyrrha, & the Cyrrhæans were conquered An. 2 Olymp. 47 according to the Marbles. Phidon therefore & his brother Caranus were contemporary to Alcmæon & all of them  to  Clisthenes & Solon, & flourished about the 47th or 48th Olympiad. This Alcmæon f[64] enterteined & conducted the messengers whom Crœsus sent to consult the Oracle at Delphos An. 1 Olymp. 56, according to the Marbles, & for so doing was sent for by Crœsus, & rewarded with much riches. Megacles the son of Alcmæon married Agarista: & Pisistratus, when he obteined the tyranny at Athens married the daughter of Megacles and Agarista. And Clisthenes the son of Megacles & Agarista, expelled the sons of Pisistratus An. 1, Olymp. 67, according to the Marbles. By all which circumstances, the times of Leocides & Megacles & their fathers Phidon & Alcmæon are sufficiently stated.

But the Greeks corrupted their Chronology before the Marbles were made, so as to add to the antiquity of all things done before the warrs of the Persians under {Darius} Hystaspes & Xerxes against them. And therefore the war against Cyrrha may have been a little later, suppose an. 1 Olymp. 53, & the message of Crœsus to the Oracle at Delphos an. 2 Olymp. 58, & the taking of Sardes an. 2 Olymp. 59, & the expulsion of the Sons of Pisistratus an. 3 Olymp. 68, & the death of Pisistratus an. 2 Olymp. 65.

And suitably to these recconings, the Legislature of Draco may have been about the 50th or 51th Olympiad, that of Solon about the 55th Olympiad, the return of Solon to Athens (after a travel of ten years) about the 58th Olympiad, the conversation of Solon with Crœsus about the 59th Olympiad, the tyranny of Pisistratus an. 2 Olymp. 58, & the death of Solon about an 3 Olymp. 59. For you have heard Plutarch complaining that Chronologers have placed the life of Solon a little earlier then they should have done.

And hence the first annual Archon of Athens might be about an. 1, Olymp. 50, & the first decennial Archon about an. 1 Olymp. 40, some of the seven decennial Archons dying in their regency. And the death of Codrus king of Athens might be about two hundred years earlier, or about fourteen years after the <19r> return of the Heraclides into Peloponesus there reigning twelve Archons for life successively between the death of Codrus & the first decennial Archon & six kings between the taking of Troy & the death of Codrus, videlicet Demophoon, Oxyntes, Aphidas, Thymœtes, Melanthus & Codrus, the third & fourth of which reigned together but nine years according to Chronologers. < insertion from f 19v > [65] About two years after the death of Cadrus  was the Ionic migration into Asia, under his son Neleus & soon after also under his younger sons Androclus & Cyaretus. And about 26 years after his death these new colonies set up over them a common council called Panionium, & composed of {Councelleurs} sent from the twelve cities Miletus, Myus, Priene, Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, {Claromencæ}, Phocæa, Samus, Chius, & Erythrea. < text from f 19r resumes > About two years

Iphitus a[66] presided   both in the Temple of Iupiter Olympius & in the Olympic games; & so did his successors till the 26t Olympiad: & so long the Victors were rewarded with a Tripus. But then the Pisæans getting above the Eleans, began to {preside}, & rewarded the Victors with a crown, & insttiuted the carnea to {Apollo} & continued to preside till Phidon interrupted them, that is, till about the time of the 48th Olympiad. For b[67] in the 48th Olympiad the Eleans entered the country of the Pisæans, suspecting their designs, but were prevailed upon to return home quietly. Afterwards the {Pisæans} confederated with several other Greek nations, & made ~ war upon the Eleans, & in the end were beaten. In this war I conceive it was that Phidon presided, suppose in the 49th Olympiad. For c[68] in the 50th Olympiad, for putting an end to the contentions between the kings about presiding, two men were chosen by lot out of the city Elis to preside, & their number in the 65th Olympiad was encreased to nine, & afterwards to ten: & these Iudges were called Hellenodicæ, judges for or in the name of Greece. Pausanias tells us that the Eleans called in Phidon & together with him celebrated the 8th Olympiad, he should have said the 49th; but Herodotus tells us that Phidon removed the Eleans. And both might be true. The Eleans might call in Phidon against the Pisæans, & upon overcoming them claim the presiding in the games & be refus{e}d by Phidon, & then confederate with the Spartans, & by their assistance overthrow the kingdom of Phidon & recover their ancient right of presiding in the games

Strabo tells a[69] us that Phidon was the tenth from Temenus, not the tenth king (for between Cisus &Phidon they reigned not,) but the tenth from father to son including Temenus. If 27 years be recconed to a g{e}neration by the eldest sons, the nine intervalls will amount unto 243 years; which being counted back from the 48th Olympiad in which Phidon flourished, they will place the return of the Heraclides about 50 years before the beginning of the Olympiads as above. But Chronologers reccon about 515 years from the return of the Heraclides to the 48th Olympiad, & account Phidon the seventh from Temenus: which is after the rate of 85 years to a generation, & therefore not to be admitted.

The artificial Chronologers have made Lycurgus the Legislator as old as Iphitus the restorer of the Olympi{a}ds, & Iphitus an hundred {& twelve} years older then the first Olympiad. And to help out the Hypothesis they have feigned twenty eight Olympiads older then the first Olympiad wherein Corœbus was victor. But these things were feigned after the days of Thucydides & Plato. For Socrates died three years after the end of the Peloponnesian war, & Plato a[70] introduceth him saying that the Institutions of Lycurgus were not of three hundred years standing or not much more. And Thucydides b[71] in the reading followed by Stephanus, saith, that the Lacedemonians had from ancient times used good laws, & been {free} from tyranny, & that from the time th{a}t they had used one & the same administration of their common <19v> <20r> wealth to the end of the Peloponesian war, there were three hundred years & a few more. Count three hundred years back from the end of the Peloponesian war, & they will place the Legislature of Lycurgus upon the 19th Olympiad; & according to Socrates it {might}  be upon the 20th o{r} 2{2th. } Athenæus tells us out of ancient authors (Hellanicus, Sosimus, & Hieronymus) that Lycurgus the Legislator was contemporary to Terpander the Musi{c}ian, & that Terpander was the first man who got the victory in the Carnea in a solemnity of music instituted in those festivals in the 26th Olympiad. He overcame four times in the Pyt{h}ic g{a}mes & therefore lived at least till the 29th Olympiad. And beginning to flourish in the days of Lycurgus, it is not likely that Lycurgus began to flourish much before the 18th Olympiad. The name of Lycurgus being on the olympic Disk, Aristotel concluded thence that Lycurgus was the companion of Iphitu{s} in restoring the Olympic games. And this argument might be the grownd of the opinion of Chronologers that Lycurgus & Iphitus were contemporary. But Iphitus did not restore all the Olympic games. He d[72] restored the racing in the first Olympiad, Corœbus being victor. In the 14th Olympiad the double stadium was added, Hypænus being Victor. And in the 18th Olympiad the Quinquertium & wrasteling were added, Lampus & Eurybatus (two Spartans) being Victors. And the Disk was one of the games of the Quinquertium. And Pausanias e[73] tells us that there were three Disks kept in the Olympic Treasury at Altis. These therefore having the name of Lycurgus upon them, shew that they were dedicated by him at the institution of the Quinquertium in the 18th Olympiad. Now Polydectes king of Sparta being slain before the birth of his son Charillus or Charilaus, left the kingdome to Lycurgus his brother, and Lycurgus upon the birth of Charillus became Tutor to the Child; & sometime after travelled into Crete & Asia till the child ~ grew up, & brought back with him the Poems of Homer; & soon after published his laws, suppose upon the 22th or 23th Olympiad, for he was then growing old. {And} Terpander was a Lyric Poet & began to flourish about this time. For f[74] he imitated Orpheus & Homer & sung Homers verses & his own, & wrote the Laws of Lycurgus in verse, & was victor in the Pythic games in the 26th Olympiad as above. He was the first who distinguished the modes of Lyric music by several names. Ardalus & Clonas soon after did the like for wind music. And from hence forward, by the encouragement of the Pythic games now institu{t}ed, several eminent Musitians & Poets flourished in Greece: as Archilochus, Eumelus Corinthius, Polymnestus, Thaletas, Xenodemus, Xenocritus, Sacadas, Tyrtæus, Tlesilla, Rhianus, Alcman, Arion, Stesichorus, Mimnermnus, Alcæus, Sappho, Theognis, Anacreon, Simonides, Æschilus, Pindar, by whom the Music & Poetry of the Greeks were brought to perfection.

Lycurgus published his laws in the reign of Agesilaus the son & successor of Dorissus in the other race of the kings of Sparta. From the return of the Heraclides into Peloponesus to the beginning of the reign of Agesilaus there were six reigns including that short one of of Aristodemus the father of Eurysthenes & Procles. For Aristodemus came to the kingdom according to a[75] Herodotus. And from the same return to the beginning of the reign of Polydectes in the other race of the Spartan kings, there were also six reigns; & these reigns at twenty years a piece one with another amount to 120 years. Count those years backwards from the 18th Olympiad & the return of the Heraclides will be about 52 years before the first Olympiad, as above. <21r> Iphitus who restored the Olympic games, a[76] was descended from Oxylus the son of Hæmon the son of Thoas the son of Andræmon. Hercules & Andræmon married two sisters. Thoas warred at Troy. Oxylus returned into Peloponesus with the Heraclides. In this return he commanded the body of Ætolians & recovered Elea, b[77] from whence his ancestor Ætolus the son of Endymion the son of Aethlius had been driven by Salmoneus the grandson of Hellen. And b[78] by the friendship of the Heraclides, Oxylus had the care of the Olympic Temple committed to him: & the Heraclides for his service done them, granted to him further upon oath, that the country of the Eleans should be free from invasions, & be defended by them from all armed force. And when the Eleans were thus consecrated, Oxylus restored the Olympic games. And after they had been again interrupted, Iphitus their king c[79] restored them again. Iphitus c[80] is by some recconed the son of Hæmon, by others the son of Praxonidas the son of Hæmon. But Hæmon being the father of Oxylus, I would reccon Iphitus the son of Praxonidas the son of Oxylus the son of Hæmon. And by this recconing the return of the Heraclides into Peloponesus will be two generations by the eldest sons (or about 54 years) before the Olympiads as above.

Pausanias a[81] represents that Melas the son of Antissus (of the posterity of Gonussa the daughter of Sicyon) was not above six generations older then Cypselus king of Corinth, & that he was contemporary to Aletes who returned with the Heraclides into Peloponesus. The reign of Cypselus began an. 2 Olymp. 31, according to Chronologers, & six generations at 29 years to a generation amount unto 174 years. Count those years backwards & they will place the return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus about 52 years before the first Olympiad, where I placed it ~ above. In this interval of time reigned nine kings of Corinth, Aletes, Ixion, Agelas, Primnes, Bacchis, Agelas II, Eudemus, Aristodemus, & Telestes. And then reigned the Prytanees annually till the tyranny of Cypselus & his son Periander. It to the nine reigns which preceeded the annual Prytanes & the two which followed them, be allott{e}d about 18 years years a piece with one another, they will take up about 198 years: which being subducted from the intervall of 244 years between the return of the Heraclides & the death of Periander and. 4 Olymp. 48; there will remain 46 years for the annual Prytanes. And there may be a few more if Cypselus & Periander lived a little later. Suppose that the reign of Cypselus began an. 2 Olymp. 37 & that Periander died an. 4 Olymp. 54, & reccon the six generations at 34 years a piece, & the eleven reigns at 20 years a piece one with another: & this recconing will place the return of the Heraclides 50 years before the Olympiads & allow 60 years for the annual Prytanes. But Chronologers for raising the antiquities of the Greeks have made these kings & Prytanees reign 517 years.

And these recconings are confirmed by one or two arguments more. For Æsculapius & Hercules were Argonauts & Hippocrates was the eighteenth inclusively by the fathers side from Æsculapius, & the nineteenth from Hercules by the <22r> mother's side. And because these generations being taken notice of in history, were most probably by the principal of the family & so for the most part by the eldest sons: we may reccon about 28 or at the most about 30 years to a generation. And thus the seventeen intervalls by the fathers side, & eighteen by the mothers, will at a middle recconing amount unto about 507 years; which counted backwards from the beginning of the Peloponesian warr, at which time Hippocrates began to flourish, will reach up to the 4{3}th 43th year after the death of Solomon & there place the Argonautic Expedition.

When the Romans conquered the Carthaginians, the archives of Carthage came into their hands. And thence Appion in his history of the Punic warrs, tells in round numbers that Carthage stood seven hundred years.And Solinus a[82] adds the odd number of years in these words: Hadramyto & Carthagini author est a Tyro populus. Carthaginem (ut Cato in Oratione Senatona autumat) cum Rex Hiarbas rerum in Libya potiretur, Elissa mulier extru{x}it domo Phœnix, & Carthadam dixit, quod Phœnicum ore exprimit civitatem novam; mox sermone verso Carthago dicta est: quæ post annos septingentos triginta septem exciditur quam fuerat extructa. Elissa was Dido & Carthage was destroyed in the Consulship of Lentulus & Mummius in the year of the Iulian Period 4568, from whence count backwards 737 years, & the Encænia or dedication of the city will fall upon the 16th year of Pigmaleon the brother of Dido & king of Tyre. She fled in the seventh year of Pigmaleon, but the Æra of the city began with its Encænia. Now Virgil & his Scholiast Servius, who might have some things from the archives of Tyre & Cyprus as well as from those of Carthage, relate that Teucer came from the war of Troy to Cyprus in the days of Dido a little before the reign of her brother Pigmaleon, & in conjunction with her father seized Cyprus & ejected Cinyras. And the Marbles say that Teucer came to Cyprus seven years after the destruction of Troy & built Salamis; & Apollodorus that Cinyras married Metharme the daughter of Pigmaleon & built Paphus. And therefore if the Romans in the days of Augustus followed not the artificial chronology of Eratosthenes, but had these things from the records of Carthage Cyprus or Tyre; the arrival of Teucer at Cyprus will be in the reign of the predecessor of Pigmaleon, & by consequence the destruction of Troy about 76 years later then the death of Solomon, as above.

Thucydides a[83] tells us that the Corinthians were the first of the Greeks who built long ships with three orders of oars called Triremes, & that Aminocles a ship carpenter of Corinth, went thence to Samos about 300 years before the end of the Peloponesian war, & built also four ships for the Samians: & that two hundred and sixty years before the end of that war, that is, about the 29th Olympiad, there was a fight at sea between the Corinthians & the Corcyreans, which was the oldest sea fight mentioned in history. Thucydides tells us further that the first colony which the Greeks sent into Sicily, came from Chalcis in Eubœa under the conduct of Thucles, & built Naxus, & the next year Archias came from Corinth with a Colony & built Syracuse, , & that Lami came about the same time into Sicily with a colony from Megara in Achaia, & lived first at Trotilum & then at Leontini, & died at Thapsus neare Syracuse; & that after his death this Colony was invited by Hyblo to Megara in Sicily, & lived there 245 years, & was then expelled by Gelo king of Sicily. Now Gelo flourished about 78 years before the end of the Peloponesian warr. Count backwards the 78 & the 245 years & about 12 years more for the reign of Lamis in Sicily, & the recconing will place the building of Syracuse about 335 years before the end of the Peloponesian war, or in the 10th Olympiad. And there about Eusebius & others place it. And the first building of Triremes whereby Colonies might be sent abroad without danger of Pyrates, which till those days infested the Greek seas, <23r> might be ten or twenty years earlier. From the colonies henceforward sent into Italy & Sicily came the name of Græcia Magna.

Thucydides a[84] tells us further that the Greeks began to come into Sicily almost three hundred years after the Siculi had invaded that island with an army out of Italy. And therefore that invasion was almost 631 years before the end of the Peloponnesian war, that is, almost as early as the 27th year of Davids reign. Whence it may be placed in the reign of Solomon. Hellanicus b[85] tells us that it was in the third generation before the Trojan war, & in the 26th year of the priesthood of Alcione priestess of Iuno Argiva: and Philistius of Syracuse that it was 80 years before the Trojan war. Whence it follows that the Trojan war & Argonautic expedition were later then the days of Solomon & Rehoboam.

Dionysius Halycarnassæus a[86] tells us that in the time of the Trojan war Latinus was king of the Aborigines in Italy, & that in the sixteenth age after that war, Romulus built Rome. By ages he means reigns of kings. For after Latinus he names sixteen kings of the Latins, the last of which was Numitor in whose days Romulus built Rome. For Romulus was contemporary to Numitor. And after him Dionysius reccons six kings more over Rome to the beginning of the Consuls. Now these twenty & two kings (if there were so many) at about 18 years to a reign one with another (for many of them were slain) reigned 396 years, which counted back from the Consulship of Iunius Brutus & Valerius Publicola (the two first Consuls,) place the coming of ~ Æneas from Italy into Troy about 78 years after the death of Solomon. And by this recconing th taking of Troy will be about 70 or 75 years after the death of Solomon as above, & Æneas ~ will be contemporary to Pygmaleon & Dido as Virgil affirms, & Rome will be built about the 36th or 37th Olympiad.

When the Greeks & Latines were forming their technical chronology, there were great disputes about the antiquity of Rome. The Greeks made it much older then the Olympiads. Some of them said it was built by Æneas others by Romus the son or grandson of Æneas, others by Romus the son or grandson of Latinus king of the Aborigenes, others by Romus the son of Vlysses or of Ascanius or Italus. And some of the Latines at first fell in with the opinion of the Greeks, saying that it was built by Romulus the son or grandson of Æneas. Timæus Siculus made it built about the same time with Carthage. Ennius the poet who flourished about 120 years after the death of Alexander the great, represented it built by Romulus the grandson of Æneas above an hundred years before the Olympiads. And so did Nævius the poet who was twenty years older then Enius & served in the first Punic war, & wrote the history of that war. Hitherto nothing certain was agreed upon: but about this time they began to say that Rome was built a second time by Romulus in the fifteenth age after the destruction of Troy.

By ages they meant reigns of kings & recconed the first fourteen ages or reigns at about 432 years, & the following reigns of the seven kings of Rome at 244 years more: both which numbers made up the time of about 676 years from the taking of Troy to the Regifuge according to these Chronologers, but are much too long for the course of nature. And by this recconing they placed the building of Rome upon the sixt or seventh Olympiad: whereas by recconing the reigns of kings at 18 or 20 years a piece one with another (which is according to the course of nature) & dating the recconing from the true time of the taking of Troy, the building of this city would have fallen upon the 36th or 37th Olympiad where I place it. But the Romans having no historian during the first four hundred years of their city, & their records being burnt by the Gauls 64 years before the death of Alexander the great, <24r> I forbear to meddle with their originals any further.

I have now carried up the Chronology of Greece as high as to the Trojan war & by arguments taken from Astronomy & from the course of nature & from that of generations, shewn the old recconing to be impossible, & settled a new one, I think without the error of one generation. For the Greeks before the times of the Persian empire recconed only by generations & by the number of kings reigning: & it is not to be expected that their records alone can furnish us with any exacter sort of recconing. The Hebrews had a chronology by years long before the Greeks: & it remains now that I try to settle the Chronology of the Greeks a little better & carry it up a little higher by comparing their affairs with those of the Hebrews set down in sacred history.

The expedition of Sesostris was one generation earlier then the Argonautic expedition. For in his return back into Egypt he left Æetes at Colchos, & Æetes reigned there till the Argonautic expedition; & Prometheus was left by Sesostris with a body of men at mount Caucasus to guard that pass, & after thirty years released by Hercules the Argonaut. And Phlias the son of the great Bacchus (so the poets call Sesostris) & of Ariadne the daughter of Minos, was an Argonaute. At the return of Sesostris into Egypt, his brother Danaus fled from him into Greece with his fifty daughters in a long ship, after the pattern of which the ship Argo was built, & Argus the son of Danaus was the master builder thereof. And Nauplius the Argonaut was born in Greece of Amymone one of the daughters of Danaus & of Neptune the Admiral of Sesostris. And two others of the daughters of Danaus married Archander & Archilites the sons of Achæus the son of Creusa the daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens. And therefore the daughters of Danaus were three generations younger then Erechtheus, & by consequence contemporary to Theseus the son of Ægeus the adopted son of Pandion the son of Erechtheus. And Theseus in the time of the Argonautic expedition was of about 50 or 51 years of age, & so was born about the 32th year of Solomon. For he stole Helena a[87] just before that expedition, being then 50 years old & she but seven, or as some say ten. Perithous the son of Ixion helped Theseus to steal Helena, & then b[88] Theseus went with Perithous to steal Proserpina the daughter of Aidoneus & was taken in the action; & whilst he lay in prison Castor & Pollux returning from the Argonautic expedition released their sister Helena & captivated Æthra the mother of Theseus. Now the daughters of Danaus being contemporary to Theseus & some of their sons being Argonauts, Danaus with his daughters fled from his brother Sesostris into Greece about one generation before the Argonautic expedition, & therefore Sesostris returned into Ægypt in the reign of Rehoboam, & so was Sesac. For Sesac came out of Egypt in the fift year of Rehoboam & c[89] spent nine years in that expedition against the eastern nations & Greece, & therefore returned back into Ægypt in the 14th year of Rehoboam. Sesac & Sesostris were therefore kings of all Egypt at one & the same time. And they agree not only in the time but also in their actions & conquests. God gave Sesac ממלכות הארצות the kingdoms of the Lands 2 Chron. 12. Where Herodotus describes the expedition of Sesostris Iosephus d[90] tells us that he described the expedition of Sesac, & attributed his actions to Se{s}ostris, erring only in the name of the king{. } Corruptions of names are frequent in history. Sesostris was otherwise called Sesochris, Sesochis, Sesoosis, Sethosis, Sesonchis, Sesonchosis. Take away the Greek termination, & the names become Sesost, Sesoch, Sesoos, Sethos, Sesonch: which names differ very little from Sesach. Sesonchis & Sesach differ no more from one another then Memphis & Moph, two names of the same city.

Ægypt was at first divided into many small kingsdoms like other nations, & grew into one monarchy by degrees. And the father of Solomons <25r> Queen was the first King of Egypt who came into Phenicia with an army. But he only took Gezir & gave it to his daughter. Sesac the next king came out of Egypt with an army of Libyans Troglodites & Ethiopians (2 Chron. 12. 3) & therefore was then king of all those countries; & we do not read in scripture that any former king of Egypt who ~ reigned over all those nations, came out of Egypt with a great army to conquer other kingdoms. The sacred history of the Israelites from the days of Abraham to the days of Solomon admits of no ~ such conqueror. Sesostris reigned over all the same nations of the Libyans Troglodites & Ethiopians, & in prophane history we do not read of any later king of Egypt who reigned over all those nations & came out of Egypt with a great army to conquer other kingdoms. And therefore Sesostris & Sesac must be one & the same king of Egypt. This is no new opinion. Iosephus discovered it when he affirmed that Herodotus erred in ascribing the actions of Sesach to Sesostris & that the error was only in the name of the king. For this is as much as to say that the true name of him who did those things described by Herodotus was Sesac & that Herodotus erred only in calling him Sesostris, or that he was called Sesostris by a corruption of his name. Our great Chronologer Sir Iohn Marsham was also of opinion that Sesostris was Sesac. And if this be granted it is then most certain that Sesostris came out of Egypt in the fift year of Rehoboam to invade the nations. & returned back {into} Egypt in the 14th year of that king, & that Danaus came into {Greece}within a year or two after. And the Argonautic expedition being one generation later then that invasion & {then} the coming of Danaus into Greece, was certainly about 40 or 45 years later then the death of Solomon. Prometheus stayed in mount Caucasus a[91] thirty years & then was released by Hercules: & therefore the Argonautic expedition was thirty years after Prometheus had been left on mount Caucasus by Sesostris, that is, about 43 years after the death of Solomon.

Rehoboam was born in the last year of king David being 41 years old at the death of Solomon (1 King XIV.41.) & therefore his father Solomon was born in the 18th year of king David's reign or before. And two or three years before his birth David besieged Rabbah the metropolis of the Ammonites & committed adultery with Bathsheba. And the year before this siege began, David vanquished the Ammonites & their ~ confederates the Syrians of Zobah & Rehob & Ishtob & Maacah & Damascus & extended his dominion over all those nations as far as to the entring in of Hamath & the river Euphrates. And before this war began he smote Moab & Ammon & Edom, & made the Edomites fly, some of them into Egypt with their king Hadad then a little child, & others to the Philistims where they fortified Azoth against Israel, & to other places whether they could escape. And before this he had several battels with the Philistims. And all this was after the eighth year of his reign in which he came from Hebron to Ierusalem. We cannot err therefore above two or three years if we place his victory over Edom in the twelft year of his reign & that over Ammon & the Syrians in the fourteenth. After the flight of Edom the king of Edom grew up & married the sister of Pharaoh's Queen Tahaphenes or Daphnis, & before the death of David had by her a son called Genubah, & this son was brought up among the children of Pharaoh. And among these children was the chief or first born of her mothers children, & her little sister who had no breasts & her brother who sucked the breasts of his mother (Cant. VI.9. & VIII.1, 8.) And of about the same age with these children was Sesac or Sesostris. For he became king of Egypt in the reign of Solomon (1 King. XI.40,) & before he began to reign he warred under his father, & whilst he was very young conquered Arabia Troglodytica & Libya, & then invaded Æthiopia; & succeeding his father reigned till the fift year of Asa. And therefore he was of about the same age with the children of Pharaoh above mentioned. And so [ being one of the brothers of Solomons Queen, ] he ] was born neare the end of Davids reign & must have been about 45 or 50 years old when he came out of Egypt with a great army to invade the east. And by reason of his great conquests, he was celebrated in several nations by several names. The Arabians called him Bacchus which in their language signifies the great. The Chaldeans called him Belus which signifies The Lord. The Phrygians & Thracians called him Ma-fors, Ma-vors, & Mars which signifies The valiant. The Egyptians before his reign called him <26r> their Hero or Hercules, & after his death deified him by the new name of Sihor, & the Greeks changed that name into Osiris. {Aman}{Arrian} (bib. VII) tells us that the Arabians worshipped only two Gods, Cælus & Dionysus, & that they worshipped Dionysus for the glory of his leading his army into India.

Androgeus the eldest son of Minos upon his overcoming in the ~ Athenæa or quadrennial games at Athens in his youth was perfidiously slain out of envy; & Minos thereupon made {war} upon the Athenians & compelled them to send every eighth year to Crete seven beardless ~ youths & as many young virgins to be given as a reward to him that should get the victory in the like games instituted in Crete in honour of Androgeus. These games seem to have been celebrated in the beginning of the Octaeteris, & the Athenæa in the beginning of the Tetraeteris then brought into Crete & Greece by the Phœnicians. And upon the third payment of the tribute of children, that is, about seventeen years after the said war was at an end & about nineteen or twenty years after the death of Androgeus, Theseus became victor & returned from Crete with Ariadne the daughter of Minos. And coming to the island Naxus or Dia, a[92] Ariadne was there taken from him by Glaucus a commander at sea, & became the mistress of the great Bacchus, & by b[93] him had two sons Phylas & Eumedon who were Argonauts. This Bacchus was therefore one generation older then the Argonauts; & being king of Ægypt at the same time with Sesostris, they are one & the same king. For they agree also in their actions. Bacchus invaded India & Greece, & after he was routed by the army of Perseus, & the war was composed, the Greeks did him great honours, & built a temple to him at Argos, & called it the Temple of the Cresian Bacchus because Ariadne was buried in it, as c[94] Pausanis relates. Ariadne therefore died in the end of the war just before the return of Sesostris into Egypt, that is, in the 14th year of Rehoboam. She was taken from Theseus upon the return of Bacchus from India, & then became his mistress & accompanied him in his triumphs. And therefore the expedition of Theseus to Crete & the death of his father Ægeus was about eight or ten years after the death of Solomon. Theseus was then a beardless young man, suppose about 20 or 22 years old, & Androgeus was slain about twenty years before , being then about 20 or 22 years old; & his father Minos might be about 25 years older & so be born about the middle of David's reign & so be about 70 years old when he pursued Dædalus into Crete; & Europa & her brother Cadmus might come into Europe two or three years before the birth of Minos.

Trogus (in his 18th book) tells us: A rege Ascaloniorum expugnati Sidonij navibus appulsi Tyrum urbem ante annum * * Trojanæ cladis condiderunt. And a[95] Strabo that Aradus was built by the men who fled from Sidon. Hence b[96] Isaiah calls Tyre the daughter of Zidon the inhabitants of the isle whom the merchants of Zidon have replenished{. } And c[97] Solomon in the beginning of his reign calls the people of Tyre Zidonians. My servants, saith he in a message to Hiram king of Tyre, shall be with thy servants, & unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou desirest: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like the Zidonians. The new inhabitants of Tyre had not yet lost the name of Zidonians; nor had the old inhabitants (if there were any considerable number of them) gained the reputation of the new ones for skill in hewing timber as they would have done had shipping been long in use at Tyre. The artificers who came from Zidon were not yet dead, & the flight of the Zidonians was in the reign of David & by consequence in the beginning of the reign of Abibalus the father of Hiram & the first king of Tyre mentioned in history. David in the twelft year of his reign conquered Edom as above & made some of the Edomites, & chiefly the merchants & seamen fly from the red sea to the Philistims upon the Mediterranean where they fortified Azoth. For d[98] Stephanus tells us: Ταυτήν ἔκ τισαν εἷς τῶν {}πανελθόν των ἀπ ᾽᾽ Ερυθρᾶς θαλάσσης φευγάδων: One of the fugitives from the red sea built Azoth. That is, a Prince of Edom who fled from David fortified Azoth for the Philistims against <27r> him. In three or four years they might build a competent number of ships upon the Mediterranean for beginning a trade upon that sea, & by the goodness of their ships enable the Philistims to invade Zidon by sea & take it: & then did the Zidonians fly by sea to the islands of Tyre & Aradus. And when they fled to those islands, they fled also to other havens in Asia minor Greece & Libya with which by means of their trafic they had been acquainted before; the great wars & victories of David prompting them to fly by sea. For they e[99] came with a great multitude of Phenicians under Cadmus not to seek Europa as was pretended but to seek new seats & therefore fled from their enemies. And when some of them fled under Cadmus & his brothers to Cilicia, Asia minor & Greece others fled under other commanders to seek new seats in Libya, & there built many walled towns as f[100] Nonnus affirms. And their leder was also there called Cadmus, which word signifies an eastern man; & his wife was called Sithonis a Zidonian. And many from those cities went afterwards with the great Bacchus in his armies. And by these things the taking of Zidon & the flight of the Zidonians under Abibalus, Cadmus, Cilin, Thasus, Membliarius, Atymnus, & other captains to Tyre, Aradus, Cilicia, Rhodes, Caria, Bithynia, Phrygia, Callisthe, Thasus, Samothrace, Crete, Greece & Libya, & the building of Tyre & Thebes & beginning of the reign of Abibalus & Cadmus over those cities are fixed upon the fourteenth sixteenth or eighteenth year of the reign of David, or thereabouts . By means of these colonies of of Phenicians the people of Caria learnt sea-affairs in such small vessels with oars as were then in use, & began to frequent the Greek seas & people some of the islands therein before the reign of Minos. For Cadmus in coming to Greece arrived first at Rhodes an island upon the borders of Caria, & left there a colony of Phenicians who sacrificed men to Saturn; & the Telchines being repulsed by Phoroneus retired from Argos to Rhodes with Phorbas who purged the island from serpents; & Triopas the son of Phorbas carried a colony from Rhodes to Caria & possest himself of a promontory thence called Triopium. And by this & such like colonies Caria was furnished with shipping & seamen & g[101] called Phænice. Strabo h[102] & Herodotus i[103] tell us that the Cares were called Leleges & became subject to Minos, & lived first in the islands of the Greek seas & went thence into Caria a country possest before by some of the Leleges & Pelasgi. Whence its probable that when Lelen & Pelasgus came first into Greece to seek new seats they left part of their colonies in Caria & the neighbouring islands.

The Sidonians being still possessed of the Mediterranean as far as Greece & Libya, & the trade of the red sea being richer, the Tyrians traded on the red sea in conjunction with Solomon & the kings of Iudah till after the Trojan war. And so also did the merchants of Aradus Arvad or Arpad. For in the Persian gulph a[104] were two islands called Tyre & Aradus which had temples built like the Pœnician. And therefore the Tyrians & Aradians sailed thither & beyond to the coasts of India, while the Zidonians frequented the Mediterranean. And hence it is that Homer celebrates Zidon & makes no mention of Tyre. But b[105] at length, in the reign of Iehoram king of Iudah, Edom revolted from the dominion of Iudah & made themselves a king; & the trade of Iudah & Tyre upon the red sea being thereby interrupted, the Tyrians built ships for merchandise upon the Mediterranean, & began there to make long voiages to places not yet frequented by the Zidonians; some of them going to the coasts of Afric beyond the Syrtes & building Adrumetum, Carthage, Leptis, & Vtica; others going to the coasts of Spain & building Carteia, Gades, & Tartessus, & others going further to the fortunate islands & to Britain & Thule. Iehoram reigned eight years, & the two last years was sick in his bowels, & before that sickess Edom revolted because of Iehoram's wicked reign. If we place that revolt about the middle of the first six years, it wil fall upon the fift year of Pygmaleon king of Tyre & so was about twelve or fifteen years after the taking of Troy. & then by reason of this revolt the Tyrians retired from the red sea & began long voyages upon the Mediterranean. For in the seventh year of Pygmaleon, his sister Dido sailed to the coast of Afric beyond the Syrtes & there built Carthage. And this retiring of <28r> the Tyrians from the red sea to make long voiages on the Mediterranean, together with the flight of the Edomites from David, gave occasion to the opinion c[106] of the ancients that the Phœnicians came originally from the red sea to the sea coasts of the Mediterranean & presently undertook long voiages, as c[107] Herodotus relates. It gave occasion also to to the Phœnicians to call many places Erythra in memory of their being Erythræans or Edomites & coming from the Erythræan sea. For Erythræa was the name of a city in Ionia, of another in Libya, of another in Locris, of another in Bæotia, of another in Cyprus, of another in Ætolia, of another in Asia neare Chius, & Erythea Acra was a promontory in Libya, & Erythræum a promontory in Crete, & Erythros a place near Tybur, & Erythini a city or country in Paphlagonia, & the name Erythia or Erythræ was given to the island Gades peopled by Phœnicians. So d[108] Solinus: In capite Bæticæ insula a continenti septingentis passibus memoratur quam Tyrÿ a rubro perfecti mar{i} Erythiam, Pœni sua lingua Gadir id est septem nominarunt. And Pliny e[109] concerning a little island neare it: Erythria dicta est quoniam Tyrÿ ab origine {e}orum orti ab Erythæo mari ferebantur. And among the Phenecians who came with Cadmus into Greece there were f[110] Arabians & g[111] Erythræans or inhabitants of the red sea that is Edomites. And in Thrace there setled a people who were circumcised & called Odomantes, that is, as some think Edomites. For when the Edomites fled from David they also wanted new seats. Edom Erythra & Phœnicia are names of the same sigification, the words denoting a red colour. Which makes it probable that the Erythræans who fled from David setled in great numbers in Phœnicia, that is, in all the seacoasts of Syria from Egypt to Sidon; & by calling themselves Phœnicians in the language of Syria instead of Erythreans, gave the name of Phœnicia to all that sea coast, & to that only. So h[112] Strabo: Alÿ referunt Phœnices & Sidonios nostros esse colonos eorum qui sunt in Oceano ~ addentes illos ideo vocari Phœnices quod mare rubrum sit.

Strabo a[113] mentioning the first men who left the sea coasts, ventured out into the deep, & undertook long voiages, names, Bacchus, Hercules, Iason, Vlysses, & Menelaus, & saith that the dominion of Minos over the sea was celebrated, & the navigation of the Phenicians who went beyond the pillars of Hercules & built cities there & in the middle of the sea coasts of Afric presently after the war of Troy. These phœnicians b[114] were the Tyrians, who at that time built Carthage in Afric & Carteia in Spain & Gades in the island of that name without the straits, & gave the name of Hercules to their chief commander because he sailed as far as the Egyptian Hercules had done before, & b[115] that of Heraclea to the city Carteia which he built. So c[116] Strabo: Mons Calpe ad dexteram est e nostro mari foras naviganitbus, et ad quadraginta inde stadia Vrbs Carteia vetusta ac memorabilis, olim statio navibus Hispanorum. Hanc ab Hercule quidem conditam aiunt, inter quos est Timosthenes, qui eam antiquitus Heracleam fuisse appellatum refert, ostendi adhuc magnum murorum circuitum et navalia. This Hercules in memory of his building & reigning over the city Carteia, they b[117] called also Carteia, the king of Carteia. Under him they sailed as far as Tartessus or Tarshish, a place between the two mouths of the river Bætis, & there they d[118] met with much silver which they purchased for trifles. And after his death they e[119] built a temple to him in the island Gades & adorned it with the sculptures of the labours of the former Hercules & of his Hydra & the horses to whom he threw Diomedes king of the Bistones in Thrace to be devoured. In this temple was the golden belt of Teucer & the golden olive of Pigmaleon bearing Smaragdine fruit. And by these consecrated guifts of Teucer & Pigmaleon you may know that it was built in their days. Pomponius derives it from the time of the Trojan war. For Teucer seven years after that war ~ according to the Marbles, arrived at Cyprus, being banished from home by his father Telamon, & there built Salamis: & he & his posterity reigned ther till Evagoras the last of them was conquered by the Persians in the twelft year of Artaxerxes Mnemon. Certainly this <29r> Hercules could be no older then the Trojan war because the Tyrians did not begin to navigate the Mediterranean till after that war, Homer & Hesiod knowing nothing of this navigation, & the Tyrian Hercules went to the coasts of Spain & was buried in Gades. So < insertion from f 29v > So f[120] Arnobius: Tyrius Hercules in finibus sepultus Hispaniæ, & < text from f 29r resumes > Melas speaking of the temple of Hercules in Gades, saith: Cur sanctum sit ossa ejus ibi sita efficiunt. Carthage g[121] paid tenths to this Hercules & sent their payments yearly to Tyre. And thence its probable that this Hercules went to the coast of Afric as well as to that of Spain. Iosephus tells us of an earlier Hercules to whom Hiram built a temple in Tyre; & perhaps there might be also an earlier Tyrian Hercules who set on foot their trade on the red sea in the days of David or Solomon.

Tatian in his book against the Greeks relates that amongst the Phenicians flourished three ancient historians. Theodotus, Hypsicrates & Mochus, who all of them delivered in their histories (translated into Greek by Lætus) that under one of the kings happened the rapture of Europa, the voyage of Menelaus into Phœnicia & the league & friendship between Solomon & Hiram when Hiram gave his daughter to Solomon & furnished him with timber for building the Temple; & that the same is affirmed by Menander of Pergamus. Under one of the kings, that is, within the compass of the age of a man. For so the phrase is used by Isaiah chap. XXIII.15. Iosephus a[122] lets us know that the Annales of the Tyrians from the days of Abibalus & Hiram kings of Tyre were extant in his days, & that Menander of Pergamus translated them into Greek & that Hirams friendship to Solomon & assistance in building the Temple was mentioned in them, & that the Temple was founded in the eleventh year of Hiram. And by the testimony of Menander & the ancient Phenician historians, the rapture of Europa happened not long before the building of Solomon's Temple. The voiage of Menelaus into Phœnicia might be perhaps in pursuit of Paris & Helena twenty b[123] years before the destruction of Troy. Solomon therefore reigned in the times between the raptures of Europa & Helena, & Europa & her brother Cadmus flourished in the days of David. Minos the son of Europa flourished in the days of Solomon. And the children of Minos (namely Androgeus his eldest son, Deucalion his youngest son & one of the Argonauts, Ariadne the mistress of Theseus & Bacchus, & Phædra the wife of Theseus) flourished in the latter end of the reign of Solomon & in the reigns of Rehoboam Abia & Asa. And Hiram succeed{e}d his father Abibalus in the three & thirtith year of David & Abibalus might found the kingdom of Tyre about sixteen or eighteenyears before when Sidon was taken by the Philistims & Cadmus fled to Europe.

By all these things it may be understood that when David conquered the Edomites & made them & their neighbours upon the red sea fly to other places, some fled to Egypt & there set on foot Navigation Astronomy & Letters. Others fled to the Philistims their next neighbours & the enemies of David & from their name of Erythræans or Edomites translated into the language of Palestine gave the name of Phœnicia to all the sea coasts of Palestine & that of Pœni & Punici to the Carthaginians {&} that of Erythra & to many other places. And by their skill in sea-affairs they enabled the Zidonians to extend their trade upon the Mediterranean as far westward as to Libya & Greece: at which time they carried away Io the daughter of Inachus from Argos ~ suppose about the 14th or 15th year of David's reign. They assisted the Philistims also in fortifying their cities against David & in building of ships, & enabled them to take Sidon a place the most convenient for sea-affairs. And when the Zidonians fled from the Philistims some of the fled to Tyre & Aradus & & the sea coasts of Cilicia, Asia minor, Cyprus, Crete, & Greece under Abibalus, Cadmus, Cilix, Thasus, Atymnus, & other captains, & carried thither Letters, Navigation, & the working in minerals & gave the name of Phœnice to Caria. But the Tyrians were not yet heard of in Europe. They had fled from Zidon, & so were enemies to the Philistims & friends to David. For Hiram was always a lover of David (1 King. V.1.) And by their skill <30r> in navigation, & their mixture with Edomites & Midianites{, } who had knowledge of the red sea, they assisted Solomon & his successors & perhaps a[124] David also in setting on foot & carrying on their trade on that sea untill the revolt of the Edomites from Ioram king of Iudah. And the Tyrians being by that revolt driven from the red sea, they began a trade upon the Me{d}iterranean, sailing under the conduct of their Hercules to remote places not yet frequented by the Zidonians; & going even to the mouth of the straits & beyond & building Carthage, Adramytum, Carteia, Tartessus Gades. And this was presently after the taking of Troy while Æneas Teucer Pigmaleon & Dido were yet alive. And by these things you may understand the meaning of the tradition which Herodotus ascribes in the beginning of his first book to the Persians, & in the middle of his seventh book to the Phenicians themselves: videlicet that the Phœnicians came from the red sea to the sea-coasts of Phœnicia & presently undertook long voiages upon the mediterranean, & coming to Argos with their merchandise carried away Io the daughter of Inachus with some other weomen into Ægypt; in revenge of which injury the Cretans carried away Europa from Zidon. The Phœnicians who came from the red sea traded from Zidon westward as far as to Greece & Libya till the Trojan war & the reign of Iehoram; & then the Tyrians coming also from the red sea, began a trade on the {M}editerranean to remoter places going as far as to the mouth of the straits & beyond. And by these things the times of Inachus, , Phoroneus, Io, Cadmus, Europa, Asterius, Minos, Dedalus, Ægeus, Theseus, Ariadne, Sesostris, Danaus, Perseus, &c are setled. It remains now that I touch upon the Antiquities of Greece con{t}emporary to these things that led the Chronology of the whole may appear & be conformable to it self.

When Sesostris returned into Egypt he left Æetes with part of his army at Colchos to guard that pass, & Phryxus & his sister Helle fled from Ino the daughter of Cadmus to Æetes soon after in a ship whose ensigne was a golden Ram. Ino was therefore alive in the 14th year of Rehoboam, & by consequence her father Cadmus flourished in the reign of David & not before. Cadmus was the father of Polydorus, the father of Labdacus, the father of Laius, the father of Oedipus, the father of Eteocles & Polynices who in their youth slew one another in the war of the seven captains at Thebes, about ten or twelve years after the Argonautic expedition, & Thersander son of Polynices warred at troy. These generations being by the eldest sons, if they be recconed at about 23 years to a generation, they will place the birth of Polydorus upon the 17 or 18th year of Davids reign or thereabouts. And thus Cadmus might be a young man not yet married when he came first into Greece. At his first coming he sailed to Samothrace an island neare Thrace on the north side of Lemnos, & there married Harmonia the sister of Iasion & Darda{n}us, which gave occasion to the Samothracian mysteries; & Polydorus might be their son born the year after his coming, & his sister Europa might be then a young woman in the flower of her age. These generations cannot well be shorter, & therefore Cadmus & his son Polydorus were not younger then we have recconed them. Nor can they be much longer without making Polydorus too old to be born in Europe & to be the son of Harmonia. Labdacus was therefore born in the end of Davids reign, Laius in the 24th of Solomons, & Oedipus in the seventh of Rehoboams, or thereabouts.

Polydorus a[125] the son of Cadmus married Nicteis the daughter of Nicteus a native of Greece, & dying left his kingdom & young son ~ Labdacus under the administration of Nicteus. Then Epopeu{s} king of Ægialus (afterwards called Sicyon) stole Antiopa the daughter of Nicteus, & Nicteus thereupon made war upon him, & in a battel wherein Nicteus overcame, both were wounded & died soon after. Nicteus left the tuition of Labdacus & administration of the kingdome to his brother Lycus & Epopeus or (as Hyginus b[126] calls him) Epa{p}hus the Sicyonian left his kingdom to Lamedon, who presently <31r> ended the war by sending home Antiopa, & she in returning home brought forth Amphion & Zethus. Labdacus being grown up received the kingdom from Lycus, & soon after dying left it again to his administration for his young son Laius. When Amphion & Zethus were about twenty years old, at the instigation of Antiopa they killed Lycus & made Laius flee to Pelops, & seized the city of Thebes & compassed it with a wall, & Amphion married Niobe the sister of Pelops & by her had several children amongst whom was Chloris the mother of Periclimenus, the Argonaut. Pelops was the father of Plisthenes Atreus & Thyestes; & Agamemnon & Menelaus the sons of Plisthenes & adopted sons of Atreus warred at Troy. Ægisthus the son of Thyestes slew Agamemnon the year after the taking of Troy; & Atreus died just before Paris stole Helena, which according to c[127] Homer was twenty years before the taking of Troy. Deucalion the son of Minos d[128] was an Argonaut, & Talus another son of Minos was slain by the Argonauts, & Idomeneus & Merion{e}s the grandsons of Minos were at the Trojan war. And all these things confirm the ages of Cadmus & Europa & their posterity above assigned & place the death of Epopeus or Epaphus king of Sicyon, & birth of Amphion & Zethus upon the tenth year of Solomon & the taking of Thebes by Amphion & Zethus & the flight of Laius to Pelops upon the thirtith year of that king or thereabouts. Amphion might marry the sister of Pelops a year or two after, & Pelops come into Greece three or four years before that marriage.

Ægialeus the first king of Sicyon was the brother of Phoroneus & son of Inachus. He died without issue, & after him a[129] reigned Europs, Telechin, Lamedon, Sicyon, Polybus, Ioniscus, Phæstus, Adrastus, Pelasgus, & others successively, & Sicyon gave his name to the kingdom. Herodotus b[130] saith that Apis in the Greek tongue is Epaphus, & Hyginus that Epaphus the Sicyonian got Antiopa with child. But later the Greeks have made two men of the two names, Apis & Epaphus or Epopeus, & between them inserted twelve feigned kings of Sicyon who made no wars nor did anything mem{o}rable & yet reigned 520 years, which is one with another above 43 years a piece. If these feigned kings be rejected the two kings Apis & Epopeus be reunited, Ægialeus will become contemporary to his brother Phoroneus, as he ought to be. Polyphides, the fift from Sicyon, may be also be rejected, as being unknown to the ancienter Greeks.

In the days of Erechtheus king of Athens & Celeus king of Eleusis, Ceres came into Attica & educated Triptolemus the son of Celeus, & taught him how to sow corn. She a[131] lay with Iasion or Iasius the brother of Harmonia the wife of Cadmus. And presently after her death Erechtheus was slain in a war between the Athenians & Eleusinians; & for the benefaction of bringing tillage into Greece the Eleusinia sacra were instituted to her b[132] with Egyptian ceremonies by Celeus & Eumolpus: & a sepulcre or Temple was erected to her in Eleusine, & in this Temple the families of Celeus & Eumolphus became her Priests. And this Temple & that which Eurydice erected to her daughter Danae by th{e} name of Iuno Agriva are the first instances that I meet with in Greece of deifying the dead with Temples & sacred rites & sacrifices & initiations & a succession of Priests to perform them. Now by this history it is manifest that Erechtheus, Celeus, Eumolpus, ceres, Iasion, Harmonia, Cadmus, Asterius, & Dardanius the brother of Iasion & one of the founders of the kingdom of Troy, were all contemporary to one another, & flourished in their youth when Cadmus came first into Europe. Erechtheus could not be much older because his daughter Procris conversed with Minos king of Crete, & his grandson Thespis had fifty daughters who lay with Hercules & his daughter Orithia was the mother of Calais & Zetes two of the Argonauts, & his son Orneus c[133] was the father of Petros the fatheer of Menestheus who warred at Troy: nor much younget because his second son Pandion (who with the Metionides deposed his elder brother <32r> Cecrops,) was the father of Ægeus that father of Theseus & Metion another of his sons, was the father of Eupalamus the father of Dædalus who was elder then Theseus, & his daughter Creusa married Xuthus the son of Hellen, & by him had two sons, ~ Achæus & Ion, & Ion commanded the army of the {Athenians} against the Eleusinians in the battel in which his grandfather Erechtheus was slain; & this was just before the institution of the Eleusinia sacra, & before the reign of Pandion the father of Ægeus. Erechtheus being an Egyptian procured corn from Egypt, & for that benefaction was made king of Athens. And neare the beginning of his reign Ceres came into Attica from Sicily in quest of her daughter. We cannot err much if we make Hellen contemporary to Saul & David & place the beginning of the reign of Erechtheus in the 25th year, the coming of Ceres into Attica in the 30th year & the dispersion of corn by Triptolemus about the 40th year of Davids reign & the death of Ceres & Erechtheus & institution of the Eleusinia sacra between the tenth & fifteenth year of Solomon.

Dardanus, Erechthonius, Tros, Ilus, Laomedon & Priamus reigned successively at Troy, & their reigns at about twenty years a piece one with another amount to an hundred & twenty years, which counted back from the taking of Troy, place the beginning of the reign of Dardanus about the 35th year of the reign of king David, & by consequence in the days of Ceres who lay with Iasion the brother of Dardanus: whereas Chronologers reccon that these six kings reigned 296 years, which is after the rate of 49 1/3 years a piece one with another, & that they began their reign in the days of Moses. Dardanus married the daughter of Teucer the son of Seamander & succeeded him. Whence Teucer was of about the same age with David.

Danaus came into Greece a year or two after the return of his brother Sesac into Ægypt:, that is, about the fifteenth or sixteenth year of Rehoboam. A{t} length he succeeded Gelanor the brother of Eurystheus at Argos while Eurystheus reigned at Mycenæ, & Eurystheus was born a[134] the same year with Hercules. In the time of the Argonautic expedition Castor & Pollux were beardless young men, & their sisters Helena & Clytemnestra were children, & their wives Phoebe & Ilaira were also very young. All these with the Argonauts Lynceus & Idas were the grandchildren of Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus, the son of Danae the daughter of Acrisius & Eurydice. And Perieres & Oebalus the husbands of Gorgophone were the sons of Cynortes the son of Amyclas the brother of Eurydice. Ge{l}anor & Eurystheus above mentioned were the sons of Sthenelus by Nicippe the Daughter of Pelops. And Mestor or Mastor the brother of Sthenelus married Lycidice another of the daughters of Pelops. And Pelops married Hippodamia the daughter of Evarete the daughter of Acrisius. Alcmena the mother of Hercules was the daughter of Electryo. And Sthenelus Mestor & Electryo were the brothers of Gorgophone & sons of Perseus & Andromeda. And the Argonaut Æsculapius was the grandson of Leucippus & Phlegia, & Leucippus was the son of Amycl{a}s the brother of Eurydice, & Amyclas & Eurydice were the children of Lacedæmon & Sparta. And Capaneus one of the seven captains against Thebes was the husband of Euadne the daughter of Iphis the son of Alector the son of Anaxagoras the son of Megapenthes the son of Prœtus the brother of Acrisius. And from these generations it may be gathered that Perseus, <33r> Cynortes, & Anaxagoras, were of about the same age with Minos, Pelops, Ægeus, & Sesac: & that Acrisius, Prœtus, Eurydice & Amyclas being two little generations older, were of about the same age with King David & Erechtheus: & that the temple of Iuno Argiva was built about the latter end of Davids reign or the beginning of Solomons, the same being built by Eurydice to her daughter Danae as above, or as some say by Pirasus or Piranthus the son & successor of Argus & great grandson of Phoroneus. For the first Priestess of that Goddess was Callithyia the daughter of Piranthus. Callithyia was succeeded by Alcinoe about three generations before the taking of Troy, that is, about the middle of Solomon's reign. In her priesthood the Siculi passed out of Italy into Sicily. Afterwards Hypermnestra the daughter of Danaus became priestess of this Goddess, & she flourished in the times next before the Argonautic expedition. And Admeta the daughter of Eurystheus was Priestess of this Iuno about the times of the Trojan warr. Andromeda the wife of Perseus was the daughter of Cepheus an Egyptian, the son of Belus, (according to b[135] Herodotus,) & the Egyptian Belus was Ammon. Perseus took her from Ioppa where Cepheus (a kinsman of Solomons Queen) resided in the days of Solomon. Acrisius & Prœtus were the sons of Abas. But this Abas was not the same man with Abas the grandson of Ægyptus, but a much older Prince who built Abæ in Phocis, & might be the Prince from whom the island Eubœa c[136] was anciently called Abantis & the people thereof Abantes. < insertion from f 33v > < text from f 33r resumes > This Abas was contemporary to Lacedæmon & Sparta. He was reputed an Egyptian by the Greeks, according to Herodotus. And from him descended Sthenelus < insertion from f 33v > For Apollonius Rhodius d[138] tells us that the Argonaut Canthus was the son of Canethus & that Canethus was of the posterity of Abas, & the commentator upon Apollonius tells us further that from this Abas the inhabitants of Eubœa were anciently called Abantes. This Abas therefore flourished two or three generations before the Argonautick expedition & might be of the same age with Abas the father of Acrisius. The ancestors of Acrisius e[139] were accounted Egyptians by the Greeks And they might come from Egypt under Abas into Eubœa & from thence into Peloponesus. Among the kings of Argos are recconed Sthenelus the son of Perseus & Gelenor son of Sthelelus; but Gelenor scarce reigned being ejected by Danaus. And after Danaus reigned his son Lynceus & grandson Abas, that Abas who is commonly but erroneously reputed the father of Acrisius & Prœtus. I do not reccon Phorbas & his son Triopas among the kings of Argos because they fled from that kingdom to the island Rhodes: nor do I reccon Crotopus among because he went from Argos & built a new city for himself in Megaris, as Conon f[140] relates. < text from f 33r resumes >

Pelops {a}[141] came into Peloponnesus in the days of Acrisius & in those of Endymion & of his sons, Epeus & Ætolus, & took Ætolia from Ætolus. Endymion was the son of Aëthlius the son of Protogenia the sister of Hellen & daughter of Deucalion. Phrixus & Helle the children of Athamas the brother of Sisyphus & son of Æolus the son of Hellen, fled from their stepmother Ino the daughter of Cadmus to Æetes at Colchos presently after the return of Sesostris into ÆEgypt. And Iason the Argonaut was the son of Æson the son of Critheus the son of Æolus the son of Hellen. And by these circumstances, Aëthlius, Æolus, Xuthus, Dorus, Tantalus & Danae were contemporary to Erechtheus, Iasion & Cadmus; & Hellen was about one & Deucalion about two generations older then Erechtheus. They could not be much older because Xuthus the youngest son of Hellen b[142] married Creusa the daughter of Erechtheus. Nor could they be much younger because Cephalus the son of Deioneus the son of Æolus the eldest son of Hellen c[143] married Procris the daughter of Erechtheus & Procris fled from her husband to Minos. Vpon the death of Hellen his youngest son d[144] Xuthus was expelled Thessaly by his brothers Æolus & Dorus, & fled to Erechtheus & married Creusa the daughter of Erechtheus, by whom he had two sons Achæus & Ion, the youngest of which grew up before the death of Erechtheus & commanded the army of the Athenians in the war in which Erechtheus was slain. And therefore Hellen died about one generation before Erechtheus.

Celeus king of Eleusis who was contemporary to Erechtheus, was a[145] the son of Rharus the son of Cranaus the successor of Cecrops; & in the reign of Cranaus Deucalion fled with his sons Hellen & Amphictyon from the flood which then overflowed Thessaly & was called Deucalions flood. They fled into Attica, & there Deucalion died soon after, & Pausanias tells us that his sepulchre was to be seen near Athens. His eldest son Hellen succeeded him in Thessaly & his other son Amphictyon married the <34r> daughter of Cranaus; & reigning at Thermopylæ erected there the Amphictyonic Council; & Acrisius soon after erected the like council at Delphos. This I conceive was done when Amphictyon & Acrisius were aged & fit to be councellours, suppose in the latter half of the reign of David & beginning of the reign of Solomon. And soon after (suppose about the middle of the reign of Solomon) did Phemonoe become the first Priestess of Apollo at Delphos & give Oracl{es} in Hexameter verse: and then was Acrisius slain by his Grandson Perseus. The Council of Thermopylæ included twelve nations of the Greeks without Attica, & therefore Amphictyon did not then reign at Ath{e}ns. He might endeavour to succeed Cranaus his wife's father, & be prevented by Erechthonius or rather by Erechtheus.

For between the reigns of Cranaus & Erechtheus Chronologers place also Erechthonius & his son Pandion. But I take this Erechthonius & this his son Pandion to be the same with Erechtheus & his son & successor Pandion, the names being only repeated with a little variation in the list of the kings of Attica. For Erechthonius (he that was the son of the earth nursed up by Minerva) is by Homer called Erechtheus. And Themistius (Orat. XIX) tells us that it was Erychtheus who first joyned a chariot to horses. And Plato a[146] alluding to the story of Erechthonius in a basket, saith, The people of magnanimous Erechtheus is beautifull, but it behoves us to behold him taken out. Erechtheus therefore immediatly succeeded Cranaus while Amphictyon reigned at Thermopylæ. In the reign of Cranaus the Poets place the flood of Deucalion, & therefore the death of Deucalion & the reign of his sons Hellen & Amphictyon in Thessaly & Thermopylæ began but a few years (suppose eight or ten) before the reign of Erechtheus.

The first kings of Arcadia were successively a[147] Pelasgus, Lycaon, Nyctimus, Arcas, Clitor, Epytus, Aleus, Lycurgus, Echemus, Agapenor, Hippothous, Epytus, Cypselus, Olæus, &c. Vnder Cypselus the Heraclides returned into Peloponesus, as above, Agapenor was one of those who courted Helena. He courted her before he reigned & afterwards he went to the war at Troy, & thence to Cyprus, & there built Paphos. Echemus slew Hyllus the son of Hercules. Lycurgus Cepheus & Augeo were b[148] the children of Aleus the son of Aphidamas, the son of Arcas the son of Callisto the daughter of Lycaon. Augeo lay with Hercules, & Ancæus the son of Lycurgus was an Argonaut, & his unkle Cepheus was his governour in that expedition & Lycurgus staid at home to look after his aged father Aleus. Hence Aleus might be born about seventy years before that expedition, & his grandfather Arcas might be born about the beginning of Davids reign, and Lycaon the grandfather of Arcas might be then alive & dye before the middle of David's reign, & his youngest son Oenotrous (the Ianus of the Latines) grow up & lead a colony into Italy before the reign of Solomon. Areas c[149] received bread corn from Triptolemus, & taught his people to make bread of it. And so did Eumelus the first king of a region afterwards called Achaia. And therefore Arcas & Eumelus were contemporary to Triptolemus & to his old father Celeus, & to Erechtheus king of Athens, & Callisto to Rharus, & her father Lycaon to Cranaus. But Lycaon dyed before Cranaus so as to leave room for Deucalion's flood between their deaths. The eleven kings of Arcadia between this flood & the return of the Heraclides into Peloponesus (that is, between the reigns of Lycaon & Cypselus) <35r> after the rate of about twenty years to a reign one with another took up about 220 years. And these years counted back from the return of the Heraclides, place the flood of Deucalion upon the ~ fourteenth year of Davids reign or thereabouts.

Herodotus a[150] tells us that the Phœnicians who came with Cadmus, brought many doctrines into Greece. For amongst those Phœnicians were a sort of men called Curetes who were skilled in arts & sciences above other men, & b[151] setled some in Phrygia where they were called Corybantes, some in Crete where they were called Idæi Dactyli, some in Rhodes where they were called Telchines, some in Samothrace where they were called Cabyri, some in Eubœa where before the invention of iron they wrought in copper in a city thence called Chalis, some in Lemnos where they assisted Vulcan, & some in Imbrus & other places. And a considerable number of them settled in Ætolia which was thence called the country of the Curetes untill Ætolus the son of Endymion having slain Apis king of Sicyon fled thither & by the assistance of his father invaded it & called it from his own name Ætolia. And by the assistance of these artificers Cadmus found out gold in the mountain Pangæus in Thrace, & copper at Thebes: whence copper oar is still called Cadmia. Where they setled they wrought first in copper till iron was invented, & then in iron. And when they had made themselves armour they danced in it at the sacrifices with tumult & clamour & bells & pipes & drumms & swords with which they struck upon one anothers armour in musical times, appearing seized with a divine fury. And this is recconed the Original of Music in Greece. So c[152] Solinus: Studium musicum inde cœptum cum Idæi Dactyli modulos crepitu & tinnitu œris deprehensos in versificum ordinem transtulissent. And d[153] Isidorus: Studium musicum ab Idæis Dactylis cœptum. Clemens e[154] calls the Idæi Dactyli barbarous, that is, strangers, & saith that they were reputed the first wise men to whom both the letters which they call Ephesian & the invention of musical rhimes is referred. It seems that when the Phenicican Letters ascibed to Cadmus were brought into Greece, they were at the same time brought into Phrygia & Crete by the Curetes who setled in thos countries & called them   Ephesian from the city Ephesus Where they were first taught. The Curetes by their manufacturing copper & iron & making swords & armour & edged tools for hewing & carving of wood, brought into Europe a new way of fighting & gave Minos an opportunity of of building a fleet & gaining The dominion of the seas & set on foot the trades of Smiths & Carpenters in Greece which are the foundation of manual trades. The fleet f[155] of Minos was without sails & Dædalus fled from him by adding sails to his vessel, & therefore ships with sails were not used by the Greeks before the flight of Dædalus & death of Minos who was slain in pursuing him to Crete in the reign of Rehoboam.. Dædalus & his nephew Talus invented the Chip-{ax} & saw & wimble & perpendicular & Compass and turning-lath & Glew & the Potters wheel; & his father Eupalamus invented the Anchor. And these things gave a beginning to manual arts & trades in Europe. ‖ The g[156] Curetes who thus introduced <36r> Letters & Music & Poetry & dancing & Arts, & attended on the sacrifices, were no less active about religious institutions; & for their skill & knowledg & mystical practises were accounted wise men & conjurers by the vulgar. In Phrygia their mysteries were about Rhea called magna Mater, & from the places where she was worshipped, Cybele, Berecynthia, Pessinuntia, Dyndamene, Mygdonia, & Idæa Phrygia; & in Crete & the Terra Cuertum, they were about Iupiter Olympius the son of the Cretan Rhea. They represented that h[157] when Iupiter was born in Crete, his mother Rhea caused him to be educated in a cave in mount Ida{, } under their care & tuition, & that they i[158] danced about him in armour with great noise that his father Saturn might not heare him cry; & when he was grown up assisted him in conquering his father & his fathers friends, & in memory of these things instituted their mysteries. Bochart k[159] brings them from Palestine and thinks that they had the name of Cuertes from the people among the Philistims called Crethim or Cerethites. Ezek. XXV.16. Zeph. II.5, 6.   1 Sam. XXX.14, 16.

The two first kings of Crete who reigned after the coming of the Curetes, were Asterius & Minos; & Europa was the queen of Asterius & mother of Minos; & the Idæan Curetes were her countrymen & came with her & her brother Atymnus into Crete, & dwelt in the Idæan cave in her reign, & there educated Iupiter, & found out iron & made armour. And therefore these three, Asterius, Europa & Minos, must be the Saturn Rhea & Iupiter of the Cretans. Minos is usually called the son of Iupiter, but this is in relation to the fable that Iupiter in the shape of a bull (the ensigne of their ship) carried away Europa from Sidon. For the Phœnicians upon their first coming into Greece, gave the name of (Iao-pater) Iupiter to every king; & thus both Minos & his father were Iupiters. And sometimes they gave the name of Iupiter to Minos. For   Echemenes, an ancient author cited by Athenæus, a[160] said that Minos was that Iupiter who committed the rape upon Ganimede; tho others say more truly that it was Tantalus. Minos alone was that Iupiter who was most famous among the Greeks for dominion & justice, being the greatest king in all Greece in those days & the only Legislator. Plutarch b[161] tells us that the people of Naxus, contrary to what others write, pretended that there were two Minoses & two Ariadnes, & that the first Ariadne married Bacchus & the last was carried away by Theseus. But c[162] Homer Hesiod, Thucydides, Herodotus & Strabo knew but of one Minos, & Homer describes him to be the son of Iupiter & Europa, & the brother of Rhadamanthus & Sarpedon, & the father of Deucalion the Argonaut, & grandfather of Idomeneus who warred at Troy, & that he was the legislator of Crete & judge of Hell. Herodotus d[163] makes Minos & Rhadamanthus the sons of Europa contemporary to Ægeus. And Apollodorus e[164] & Hygenus say that Minos the father of Androgeus Ariadne & Phædra, was the son of Iupiter & Europa, & brother of Rhadamanthus & Sarpedon.

Lucian a[165] lets us know that Europa the mother of Minos was worshiped by the name of Rhea in the form of a woman sitting in a chariot drawn by Lyons with a drum in her hand & a corona turrita on her head like Astarte & Isis. And the c[166] Cretans anciently shewed the house where this Rhea lived. And d[167] Apollonius Rhodius tellsus that Saturn, while he reigned over the Titans in Olympus [ a mountain in Crete ] & Iupiter was educated by the Curetes in the Cretan cave, deceived Rhea & by Philyra begot <37r> Chiron. And therefore the Cretan Saturn & Rhea were but one generation older then Chiron, & by consequence not older then Asterius & Europa the parents of Minos. For Chiron lived till after the Argonautic expedition, & had two grandsons in that expedition, & Europa came into Crete above an hundred years before that expedition. Lucian e[168] tells us that the Cretans did not only relate that Iupiter was born & buried among them but also shewed his sepulchre. And Porphyry f[169] tells us that Pythagoras went down into the Idæan cave to see his sepulchre. And Cicero g[170] in numbering three Iupiters saith that the third was the Cretan Iupiter, Saturn's son, whose sepulchre was shewn in Crete. And the Scholiast upon Callimachus h[171] lets us know that this was the sepulchre of Minos. His words are: Ἐν Κρήτη ἐπὶ τῷ τάφω τοῦ Μίνωος ἐπιγέγραπτο ΜΙΝΩΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΔΙΟΣ ΤΑΦΟΣ. τῷ Χρόνῳ δὲ τὸ τοῦ Μίνωος ἀπηλέιφθη ὧστε περιλειφθῆναι ΔΙΟΣ ΤΑΦΟΣ. ἐκ τούτου οὐν ἔχειν λέγουσιν Κρῆτες τὸν τάφον τοῦ Διός. In Crete upon the sepulchre of Minos was written MINOIS IOVIS SEPVLCHRVM. But in length of time MINOIS wore out, so that there remained only IOVIS SEPVLCHRVM & thence the Cretans called in the sepulchre of Iupiter. By Saturn Cicero who was a Latin understood the Saturn so called by the Latins. For when Saturn was expelled {from} his kingdom, he fled from Crete by sea to Italy. And this the Poets exprest by saying that Iupiter cast him down to Tartarus, that is down into the sea. And because he lay hid in Italy, the Latines called him Saturn, & Italy Saturnia & Latium, & themselves Latines. So i[172] Cyprian: Antrum Iovis in Creta & sepulchrum ejus ostenditur. & ab eo Saturnum fugatum esse manifestum est: unde Latium de latebra ejus nomen accepit. Hic literas imprimere et signare nummos in Italia primus instituit, unde ærarium Saturni vocatur; & rusticitatis hic cultor fuit, unde falcem ferens pingitur. And Minutius Felix: Saturnus Creta profugus Italiam metu filÿ sœvientis accesserat, & Iani susceptus hospitio, rudes illos homines & agrestes multa docuit ut Græculus et politus, literas imprimere, nummos signare, instrumenta conficere. Ita Catebram suam quod tuto latuisset, vocari maluit Latium, & urbem Saturniam de suo nomine. Ejus filius Iupiter Cr{e}tæ excluso parente regnavit, illic obijt, illic filios habuit, adhuc antrum Iovis visitur & sepulchrum ejus ostenditur, & ipsis sacris suis hu {m}anitatis arguitur. And Tertullian k[173] : Quantum rerum argumenta docent, nusquam invenio fideliora quam apud ipsam Italiam, in quæ Saturnus post multas expeditiones, post Attica hospitia consedit, exceptus a Iano vel Iane ut Salÿ vocant. Mons quem incoluerat Saturnius dictus. Civitas quam depalaverat Saturnia us nunc est. Tota deni Italia post Oenotriam Saturnia cognominabatur. Ab ipso primum Tabulæ et imagine signatus nummus, et inde ærario præsidet. By Saturns carrying letters into Italy & coyning money, & teaching agriculture & making instruments, & building a town, you may know that he fled from Crete after letters & the coining of money & manual arts were brought into Europe by the Phenicians, & from Attica after agriculture was brought into Greece by Ceres, & so could not be older then Asterius & Europa & her brother Cadmus. And by Italy's being called Oenotria before it was called Saturnia, you may know that he came into Italy after Oenotrus & so was not older then the sons of Lycaon. Oenotrus carried the first colony of the Greeks into Italy, Saturn the second & Evander the third; & the Latines know nothing older in Italy then Ianus & Saturn. And therefore Oenotrus was the Ianus of the Latines, & Saturn was contemporary to the sons of Lycaon, & by consequence also to Celeus Erechtheus Ceres & Asterius. For Ceres educated Triptolemus the <38r> son of Celeus in the reign of Erechtheus, & then taught him to plow & sow corn; Arcas the son of Callisto & grandson of Lycaon ~ received corn from Triptolemus & taught his people to make bread of it: & Procris the daughter of Erechtheus fled to Minos the son of Asterius. In memory of Saturn's coming into Italy by sea the Latins coined their first money with his head on one side & a ship on the other. Macrobius l[174] tells us that when Saturn was dead, Ianus erected an altar to him with sacred rites as to a God, & instituted the Saturnalia, & that humane sacrifices were offered to him till Hercules driving the cattel of Gerion through Italy, abolished that custome. By the humane sacrifices you may know that Ianus was of the race of Lycaon: which character agrees to Oenotrus. Dionysius Halycarnassæus  tells us further that Oenotrus having found in the western parts of Italy a large region fit for pasturage & tillage, but yet for the most part uninhabited, & where it was inhabited, peopled but thinly; in a certain part of it purged from the barbarians, he built towns little & numerous in the mountains:which manner of buildings was familiar to the ancients. And this was the original of towns in Italy{. }

Pausanias tells a[175] us that the people of Elis who were best skilled in antiquities, related this to have been the original of the Olympic games; that Saturn reigned first & had a temple built to him in Olympia, by the men of the golden age: And that when Iupiter was newly born his mother Rhea recommended him to the care of the Idæi dactyli who were also called Curetes. That afterwards five of them called Hercules, Pæonius, Epimedes, Iasus, & Ida came from Ida a mountain in Crete into Elis, & Hercules Idæus being the oldest of them, b[176] in memory of the war between Saturn & Iupiter, instituted the game of racing, & that the victor should be rewarded with a crown of Olive, & there erected an altar to Iupiter Olympius & called these games Olympic: & that some of the Eleans said that Iupiter contended here with Saturn for the kingdom, others that Hercules Idæus instituted these games in memory of their victory over the Titans. For the people of Arcadia c[177] had a tradition that the Giants fought with the Gods in the valley of Bathos ~ ne{a}re the river Alphæus & the fountain Olympias. Before the reign of Asterius, Teutamus his father came into Crete with a colony from Olympia, & upon the flight of Asterius some of his friends might retire into their own country & be pursued & beaten there by the Idæan Hercules. The Eleans d[178] said also that Clymenus the grandson of the Idæan Hercules about 50 years after Deucalions flood, coming from Crete, celebrated these games again in Olympia, & erected there an altar to Iuno Olympia, that is, to Europa, & another to this Hercules & the rest of the Curetes, & reigned in Elis till he was expelled by Endymion d[179] who thereupon celebrated these games again.And so did Pelops d[180] who expelled Ætolus the son of Endymion. And so also did Hercules the son of Alcmena; & Atreus the son of Pelops; & Oxylus. And at length Iphitus made them quadrennial. They might. be. celebrated originaly in triumph for victories, first for Hercules Idæus upon the conquest of Saturn & the Titans, & then by Clymenus upon his coming to reign in the Terra {Curetum}, & then by Endymion upon his conquering Clymenus, & afterwards by Pelops upon his conquering Ætolus, & by Hercules upon his killing Augeas, & by Atreus upon a repulse of the Heraclides, & by Oxylus upon the return of the Heraclides into Peloponesus. This Iupiter to whom they were instituted, had a temple & altar erected to him in Olympia where the games were celebrated & from the place was called Iupiter Olympius. Olympia was a place upon the confines of Pisa neare the river Alpheus.

In the island Thasus where Cadmus left his brother Thasus [181], the Phenicians built a temple to Hercules Olympius, that Hercules whom Cicero b[182] calls ex Idæis cui inferias afferunt. When the mysteries of Ceres were instituted in Eleusis, there were no other mysteries instituted to her & her daughter & daughters husband in the island Samothrace by the Phenician names of Dÿ Cabiri Axieros, Axiokersa, Axiokerses, <39r> that is, the great gods Ceres Preserpina & Pluto. For c[183] Iasion a Samothracian whose sister married Cadmus, was familiar with ceres, & Cadmus & Iasion were both of them initiated in these mysteries. Iasion was the brother of Dardanus & married Cybele the daughter of Meones, king of Phrygia, & by her had Corybas; & c[184] after his death, Dardanus Cybele & Corybas into Phrygia & carried thither the mysteries of the mother of the Gods, & Cybele called the Goddess after her own name, & Corybas called her Priests Corybantes. Thus Diodorus. But Dionysius d[185] saith that Dardanus instituted the Samothracian mysteries, & that his wife Chryses learnt them in Arcadia, & that Idæus the son of Dardanus instituted afterwards the mysteries of the mother of the Gods in Phrygia. This Phrygian Goddess was drawn in a chariot by lions & had a corona turrita on her head & a drumm in her hand like the Phœnician Goddess Astarte, & the Corybantes danced in armour at her sacrifices in a furious manner like the Idæi Dactyli; & Lucian e[186] tells us that she was the Cretan Rhea, that is Europa the mother of Minos. And thus the Phœnicians introduced the practice of deifying dead men among the Greeks & Phrygians. For I meet with no instance of deifying dead men & weomen in Greece before the coming of Cadmus & Europa from Sidon.

From these originals it came into fashion amongst the Greeks κτερίζειν parentare, to celebrate the funerals of dead parents with festivals & invocations & sacrifices offered to their ghosts, & to eterct magnificent sepulchres in the form of temples with altars & statues to persons of renown, & there to honour them with sacrifices & invocations. Every man might do it to his ancestors, & the cities of Greece did it to all the eminent Greeks, as to Europa the sister, to Atymnus the brother, & to Minos & Rhadamanthus the nephews of Cadmus; to his daughter Ino, & her son Melicertes; to Bacchus the son of his daughter Semele, Aristarch{u}s the husband of his daughter ~ Autonoe, Iasion the brother of his wife Harmonia, Hercules a Theban & his mother Alcmena; to Danae the daughter of Acrisius; to Æsculapius & Palemocrates the son of Machaon; to Pandion & Theseus kings of Athens, Hippolytus the son of Theseus, Pan the son of Penelope, Proserpina, Triptolemus, Celeus, Trophonius, Castor, Pollux, Helena, Menelaus, Agamemnon, Amphiaraus & his son Amphilochus, Hector & Alexandra the son & daughter of Priam; Phoroneus, Orpheus, Protesilaus, Achilles & his mother Thetis, Ajax, Arcas, Idomeneus, Meriones, Æacus, Melampus, Britomartis, Adrastus, Iolaus, & divers others. They deified their dead in divers manners according to their abilities & circumstances & the merits of the person; some only in private families, as housholdgods or Dÿ Penates, others by erecting gravestones to them in publick to be used as altars for annual sacrifices, others by building also to them sepulchres in the form of houses or temples, & some by appointing mysteries & ceremonies & set sacrifices & festivals & initiations, & a succession of Priests fro observing & performing those institutions in the Temples & handing them down to posterity. Altars might begin to be erected in Europe a little before the days of Cadmus for sacrificing to the old God or Gods of the colonies, but Temples began a little after. For a[187] Æacus the the son of Ægina, who was two generations older then the Trojan war was one of the first, some say the first who built a temple in Greece. Oracles came from Ægypt into Greece about the same time as did also the custome of forming the images of the Gods with theeir leggs bound up in the shape of the Ægyptian Mummies. For idolatry began in Chaldea & Ægypt & spread thence into Phœnicia & the neighbouring countries long before it came into Europe; & the Pelasgians propagated it in Greece by the dictates of the Oracles. The countries upon the Tigris & the Nil{e} being exceeding fertile, were first frequented by mankind & grew first into kingdoms, & therefore began first to adore their dead kings & Queens. Hence came the Gods of Laban, the Gods & Godesses called Baalim & Ashteroth by the Canaanites, the Dæmons & Ghosts to whom they sacrificed, & the Moloch to whom they offered their children in the days of <40r> Moses & the Iudges. Every city & kingdom set up the worship of its own founder & kings, & by alliance & conquest they spread this worship & at length the Phenicians brought into Europe the practice of deifying the dead, & Sesostris by conquest spread the worship of the twelve Gods of Egypt into all his conquests, & made them more universal then the consecrated Gods of any other nation{ . } had been before, so as to be called Dÿ magni majorum gentium. He conquered Thrace, & Amphictyon the son of Prometheus brought the twelve Gods from Trace into Greece. Herodotus b[188] tells us that they came from Egypt. And by the names of the cities of Egypt dedicated to many of these Gods you may know that they were of an Egyptian original. And the Egyptians (c[189] according to Disdorus) usually represented, that after their Saturn & Rhea reigned Iupiter & Iuno the parents of Osiris & Isis{ . }

By all this it may be understood that as the Egyptians who deified their kings bega{n} their kingdom with{. } the reign of their Gods & Heros recco{n}ing Menes the first man who reigned after their Gods: so the Cretans had the ages of their Gods & Heroes, calling the first four ages of their deified Kings & Princes the golden silver brazen & iron ages. Hesiod a[190] describing the four ages of these Gods & Demigods of Greece, represents them to be four generations of men each of which ended when the men then living grew old & dropt into the grave, & tells us that the fourth ended with the warrs of Thebes and Troy. And so many generations there were between the destruction of Troy & the coming of the Phœnicians into Greece who introduced among the Greeks the practise of deifying dead men. Apollonius Rhodius saith that when the Argonauts came to Crete, they slew Talus a brazen man wh{o} remained of those that were of the brazen age & guarded that island. Talus was the son of Minos, & therefore the sons of Minos lived in the brazen age & Minos reigned in the silver age. It was the silver age of the Greeks in which they began to plow & sow corn, & Ceres who taught them to do it flourished in the reign of Celeus Erechtheus & Minos. Mythologists tell us that the last woman with whom Iupiter lay was Alcmena, & thereby they seem to put an end to the reign of Iupiter among mortals (that is to the silver age) when Alcmena was with child of Hercules, who was born in the eighth year of Rehoboam, as above. Chiron was begot by Saturn of Philyra in the golden age when Iupiter was a child in the Cretan cave as above, & this was in the reign of Asterius king of Crete; & therefore Asterius reigned in Crete in the golden age, & the silver age began when Chiron was a child. And unless Chiron was above eighty years old in the time of the Argonautic expedition when he invented the Asterisms, the golden age will reach to the end of Davids reign & might reach five or ten years into the reign of Solomon. The golden age therefore falls in with the reign of Asterius & the silver age with that of Minos. This fable of the four ages seems to have been made by the Curetes in the beginning of the fourth age in memory of the first four ages of their coming into Europe as into a new world; & in honour of their country woman Europa & her husband Asterius the Saturn of the Latines, & of their son Minos the Cretan Iupiter, & grandson Deucalion who reigned till the Argonautic <41r> expedition & is sometimes recconed among the Argonauts & of their great grandson Idemeneus who warred at Troy. Hesiod tells us that he himself lived in the fift age, the age next after the taking of Troy; & therefore he flourished within twenty or thirty years after it. And Homer was of about the same age. For he c[191] lived sometime with Mentor in Ithaca & there c[192] learnt of him many things concerning Vlysses with whom Mentor c[193] had there been personally acquainted. Now Herodotus, the oldest historian of the Greeks now extant, d[194] tells us that Hesiod & Homer were not above 400 years older then himself, & therefore they flourished about 100 {12} 110 or 120 years after the death of Solomon, which agrees with my recconing. Fof the taking of Troy was but one generation earlier.

Mythologists tell us that Niobe the daughter of Phoroneus was the first woman with whon Iupiter lay, & that of her he begot Argus who succeeded Phoroneus in the kingdom of Argus & gave his name to that city. And therefore Argus was born in the beginning of the silver age. But by Iupiter they might here mean Asterius. For the Phœnicians gave the name of Iupiter to every king from the time of their first coming into Greece with Cadmus & Europa untill the invasion of Greece by Sesostris & the birth of Hercules, & particularly to the fathers of Minos, Pelops, Lacedæmon, Æacus & Perseus.

The four first ages succeed the flood of Deucalion, & some tell us that Deucalion was the son of Prometheus the son of Iapetus & brother of Atlas. But this was another Deucalion. For Iapetus the father of Prometheus Epimetheus & Atlas was the brother of Osiris & flourished after the flood of Deucalion.

I have now carried up the Chronology of the Greeks as high as to the first use of letters, & the first plowing & sowing of corn, the first manufacturing of copper & iron, the beginning of the trades of Smiths Carpenters, Ioyn{e}rs, Turners, brickmakers, stonecutters, & Potters in Europe; the first walling of cities about; the first building of Temples, & the original of Oracles in Greece; the beginning of navigation by the starrs in long ships with sails; the erecting of the Amphictyonic Councills; the first ages of Greece called the golden silver copper & iron ages; & the flood of Deucalion which immediately preceeded them. Those ages could not be earlier then the invention & use of the four metalls in Greece from whence they had their names; & the flood of Ogyges could not be much above two or three ages earlier then that of Deucalion. For among such wandering people as were then in Europe there could be no memory of things done above three or four ages before the first use of letters. And the expulsion of the shepherds out of Egypt which gave the first occasion of the coming of people from  Egypt into Greece & of the building of houses & villages in Greece, was scarce earlier then the days of Eli & Samuel. For Manetho tells us that when they were forced to quit Abaris & retire out of Egypt, they went through the wilderness into Iudæa & built Ierusalem. I do not think with Manetho that they were the Israelites under Moses, but rather beleive that they were Canaanites, & upon leaving Abaris mingled with the Philistims their next neighbours, though some of them might assist David & Solomon in building Ierusalem & the Temple{. }

Saul was made king that he might rescue Israel out of the hand of the Philistims who oppressed them 1 Sam. IX.16. & XIII.19, 20. And in the second year of this reign , the Philistims brought into the field against him thirty thousand chariots & six thousand horsmen & foot without number: whereas the Canaaanites had their horses from Egypt, & in the days of Moses all the chariots of Egypt with which Pharaoh pursued Israel were but six hundred Exod. XIV.7. From the great army of the Philistims I seem to gather that the shepherds had newly relinquished Egypt & joyned them. The shepherds might be beaten & driven out of the greatest part of Egypt & shut up in Abaris by Mephramuthosis in the latter end of the days of Eli & some of them fly to the Philistims & strengthen them against Israel in the last year of Eli. And from the Philistims some of them might go to Zidon, & from Zidon by sea to Greece & other places. And afterwards in the beginning of the reign of <42r> Saul the shepherds which still remained in Egypt might be forced by Thummosis or Amosis the son of Mepharmuthosis to leave Abaris & retire in very great numbers to the Philistims. And upon these occasions several of them, as Pelasgus, Cecrops, Inachus, & Lelex, & thence to Asia minor & Greece in the days of Eli Samuel & Saul, & thereby begin to open a commerce by sea between Greece & Sidon  before the coming of the Phenicians from the red sea.

Pelasgus reigned in Arcadia & was the father of Lycaon (according to Pherecides Atheniensis,) & Lycaon died just before the flood of Deucalion. He sacrificed children & therefore was one of the shepherds.

Cecrops might come from Sais to Cyprus & thence to Attica in the days of Samuel, & marry Agraulos the daughter of Actæus & succeed him in Attica soon after, & leave his kingdom to Cranaus in the reign of Saul or the beginning of the reign of David. For the flood of Deucalion happened in the reign of Cranaus.

Inachus is called the son of Oceanus, perhaps because he came to Greece by sea. He might come with his people from Ægypt to Argos in the days of Eli, & seat himself upon the river Inachus so named from him, & leave his territories to his sons Phoroneus Ægialeus & Phegeus in the days of Samuel. For Car the son of Phoroneus built a temple to Ceres in Megara & therefore was contemporary to Erechtheus.

Lelex might come with his people into Laconica in the days of Eli & leave his territories to his sons Myles, Eurotas, Cleson, & Polycaon in the days of Samuel. Myles set up a quern or hand-mill to grind corn, & is reputed the first among the Greeks who did so: but he flourished before Triptolemus, & seems to have had his corn & artificers from Egypt. Eurotas the brother or as some say the son of Myles, built Sparta & called it after the name of his daughter Sparta the wife of Lacedemon & mother of Eurydice. Cleson was the father of Pylas the father of Scyron who marryed the daughter of Pandion the son of Erechtheus & contended with Nisus the son of Pandion & brother of Ægeus for the kingdom, & Æacus adjudged it to Nisus. Polycaon invaded Messene then peopled only by villages, & built cities therein, & called it Messene after the name of his wife.

Of about the same age with Pelasgus Inachus & Lelex was Ogyges. He reigned in Bæotia, & some of his people were Leleges, & either he or his son Eleusis built the city Eleusis in Attica, that is, they built a few houses of clay which in time grew into a city. Acusilaus wrote that Phoroneus was older then Ogyges, & that Ogyges flourished 1020 years before the first Olympiad, as above. But Acusilaus was an Argive & feigned these things in honour of his country. To call things Ogygian has been a phrase amongst the ancient Greeks to signify that they are as old as the first memory of things. Inachus might be as old as Ogyges. But Acusilaus & his followers made Inachus seven hundred years older then the truth; & Chronologers to make out this recconing have lengthened the races of the kings of Argos & Sicyon, & changed several contemporary Princes of Argos into successive kings, & inserted many feigned kings into the race of the kings of Sicyon.

Inachus had several sons who reigned in several places of Peloponnesus & there built towns; as Phoroneus who built Phoronicum afterwards called Argos from Argus his grandson, Ægialeus who built Ægialea afterwards called Syicyon from Sicyon the grandson of Erechtheus, Phegeus who built Phegea afterwards called Psophis from Psophis the daughter of Lycaon. And these were the oldest towns in Peloponnesus. Then Sisyphus <43r> the son of Æolus & grandson of Hellen built Ephyra afterwards called Corinth; & Aëthlius the son of Æolus built Elis. And before th{e}m Cecrops  built Cecropia the cittadel of Athens; & Lycaon built Lycosura recconed by some the oldest town in Arcadia; & his sons who were at least four & twenty in number built each of them a town, except the youngest called Oenotrus, who grew up after his fathers death & sailed into Italy with his people, & there set on foot the building of towns, & became the Ianus of the Latines. And this is recconed the first colony which the Greeks sent abraod. Phoroneus had also several children & grandchildren who reigned in several places & built new towns, as Car, Spartus, Apis. And Hæmon the son of Pelasgus reigned in Hæmonia afterwards called Thessaly & built towns there. And this division & subdivision of territories has made great confusion in the history of the first kingdoms of Peloponesus, & thereby given occasion to the vain glorious Greeks to make those kingdoms much older than they real{l}y were. But by all the recconings above mentioned, the first civilizing of the Greeks & teaching them to dwell in houses & towns, & the oldest towns in Europe could scarce be above two or three generations older then the coming of Cadmus from Sidon into Greece, & might most probably be occasioned by the expulsion of the shepherds out of Egypt in the days of Eli & Samuel & their flying into Greece in considerable numbers. But its difficult to set right the genealogies & chronology of the fabulous ages of {the} Greeks, & I leave these things to be further examined.

Before the Phœnicians introduced the deifying of dead men the Greeks had a Council of Elders in every town for the government thereof, & a place where the elders & people worshipped their God with sacrifices. And when many of those towns for their common safety united under a common Coun{c}ill, they erected a Prytaneum or Court in one of the towns where the Council & people met at certain times to consult of th{e}ir common safety & worship their common God with sacrifices & to buy & sell. The towns where these Councils met the Greeks called δήμοι peoples or communities or corporation towns; & at length when many of these δήμοι for their common safety, united by consent under one common Council, they erected a Prytaneum in one of the δήμοι for the common Council & people to meet in & consult & worship in & feast & buy & sell, & this δήμος they walled about for its safety, & called it τῆν πόλιν the city. And this I take to have been the original of villages, market towns, cities, common Councils, Vestal Temples, Feasts & Fairs in Europe. The Prytaneum (πυρὸς ταμεῖον) was a Court with a place of worship & a perpetual fire kept therein upon an Altar for sacrificing. From the word Ἑστια fire came the name Vesta, which at length the people turned into a Goddess, & so became fire-worshippers like the ancient Persians. And when these Councils made war upon their ~ neighbours, they had a general commander to lead their armies & he became their king.

So Thucydides a[195] tells us that under Cecrops & the ancient kings untill Theseus, Attica was always inhabited city by city, each having Magistrates & Pritanea. Neither did they consult the king when there was no fear of danger, but each apart administred their own common wealth, & had their own Council. Yea some (as the Eleusinians with Eumolpus against Erechtheus) did sometimes make war. But when Theseus a prudent & potent man obteined the kingdom, he took away the courts & magistrates of the other cities & made them all meet in one Council & Prytaneum at Athens. Polemon as he is cited by b[196] Strabo tells us that in this body of Attica, there were 170 δήμοι, one of which was Eleusis. And c[197] Philochorus relates that when Attica was infested by sea & land by the Cares <44r> & Bæoti, Cecrops the first of any man reduced the multitude (that is the 170 towns) into twelve cities whose names were Cecropia, Tetrapolis, Epacria, Decelia, Eleusis, Aphidna, Thoricus, Brauron, Cytherus, Sphettus, Cephissa, & Phalerus: & that Theseus afterwards contracted these twelve cities into one which was Athens.

The original of the kingdom of the Argives was much after the same manner. For saith a[198] Pausanius, Phoroneus the son of Inachus was the first who gathered into one community the Argives who till then were scattered & lived every where apart: & the place where they were first assembled was called Phoronicum the city of Phoroneus. And b[199] Strabo saith that Homer calls all the places which he reccons up in Peloponesus, a few excepted, not cities, but regions because each of them consisted of a convention of many δήμοι, free towns out of which afterwards noble cities were built & frequented. So the Argives composed Mantinea in Arcadia out of five towns, & Tegea out of nine. And out of so many was Heræa built by Cleombrotus or by Cleonymus. So also Ægium was built out of seven or eight towns, Patræ out of seven, & Dyme out of eight; & so Elis was erected by the conflux of many towns into one city.

Pausanias a[200] tells us that the Arcadians accounted Pelasgus the first man & that he was their first king, & taught the ignorant people to build houses for defending {them selves}{themselves} from heat & cold & rain, & to make them garments of skins, & instead of hearbs & roots, which were sometimes noxious, to eat the acorns of the Beach tree: & that his son Lycaon built the oldest city in all Greece. He tells us also that in the days of Lelex the Spartans lived in villages apart. The Greeks therefore began to build houses & villages in the days of Pelasgus the father of Lycaon, & in the days of Lelex the father of Myles, & by consequence about two or three generations before the flood of Deucalion & the coming of Cadmus. Till then b[201] they lived in woods & caves of the earth. The first houses were of clay till the brothers ~ Euryalus & Hyperbius taught them to harden the clay into ~ bricks & to build therewith. In the days of Ogyges, Pelasgus, Æze{u}s, Inachus, & Lelex, they began to build houses & villages of clay, Doxius the son of Cælus teaching them to do it; & in the days of Lycaon, Phoroneus, Ægyaleus, Phegeus, Eurotas, Myles, Polycaon & Cecrops & their sons to assemble the villages into δήμοι & the δήμοι into cities{. }

The Pelasgi spake a language different from the Greek, & Lycaon the son of Pelasgus sacrificed men < insertion from lower down f 43v > And Herodotus a[202] tells us that the Pelasgi consulti{n}g the Oracleof Dodona were the ringleaders in bringing the worship of foreign Gods into Greece, & that some of them inhabiting Samothrace introduced there the mysteries of the Cabiri. And Bochart has shewn that the names of the Dÿ cabiri are Phœnician. And from these things I gather that Pelasgus with his people were < text from f 44r resumes > : & thence I gather that Pelasgus with his people were a branch of the shepherds who came from ~ Ægypt into Pœnicia by sea & thence into Greece, unless. . you had rather say with Hesiod that Pelasgus was a native of Greece. Inachus with his sons Phoroneus & Ægialeus & their people were another branch of theshepherds. For a[203] Herodotus affirms that the old inhabitants of Pelopoponesus before the coming either of Danaus or of Ion the son of Xathus were called Ægialean Pelasgi; & Apollodorus makes Ægialeus to be the grandchild of Oceanus, & by consequence his father Inachus to be the son of Oceanus, . that is, a foreigner from beyond sea. And another branch of the Pelasgi settled in Attica, as I learn from Herodotus b[204] who tells us that the Pelasgi under Cranaus were named Cranai, & under Cecrops Cecropidæ, & under Erechtheus Athenians. As the Greeks called those men Autochthones who were the first inhabitants, & those men <45r> Aborigines c[205] who came from the mountains, so they may seem to have called those men Pelasgi who came from beyond the seas, the names Pelasgus & pelagus being derived from one & the same original: unless you had rather say that the Pelasgi had their name from one or two of their kings called Pelasgus. They were a wandering people & mixed with almost all the nations of Greece , & so might be the first inhabitants {. } who came by sea.

When Oenotrus the son of Lycaon carried a Colony into Italy, a[206] he found that country for the most part un{in}habited & where it was inhabited peopled but thinly: & seizing a part of it, he built towns in the mountains little & numerous as above. These towns were without walls: but after this colony grew numerous & began to want room, they expelled the Siculi & compassed many cities with walls & became possest of all the territory between the two rivers Liris & Tyber. And it is to be understood that those cities had their Coun{c}ils & Pritanea after the manner of the Greeks. For Dionysius b[207] tells us that the new kingdom of Rome as Romulus left it, consisted of thirty Courts or Councills in so many towns, each with the sacred fire kept in the Prytaneum of the Court for the Senators who met there to perform sacred rights after the manner of the Greeks. But when Numa the successor of Romulus reigned, he leaving the several fires in their own Courts, instituted one common to them all at Rome.

When navigation was so far improved that the Phenicians began to leave the sea shore & s{a}il through the Mediterrranean, by the help of the starrs, it may be presumed that they began to discover the islands of the Meiterranean, & for the sake of ~ trafic to s{a}il as far as Greece. And this was not long before they carried away Io the daughter of Inachus from Argos. The Cares first infested the Greek seas with pyracy. And then Minos the son of Europa got up a potent fleet & sent out colonies. For Diodorus a[208] tells u{s} that the Cycla{đ}e Islands (those neare Crete) were at first desolate & uninhabited: but Minos having a potent fleet sent many Colonies out of Crete & peopled many of them. And particularly that the island Carpathus was first seized by the soldiers of Minos. Syme lay wast & desolate till Tripos came thither with a colony under Chthonius. Strongyle or Naxus was first inhabited by the Thracians in the days of Boreas a little before the Argonautic expedition. Samus was at first desert & inhabited only by a multitude of terrible wild beasts till Macarius peopled it, as hie did also the islandes of Chius & Coos. Lesbos lay wast & desolate till Xanthus sailed thither from Lycia with a colony. Tenedos lay desolate till Tennes a little before the Trojan war, sailed thither from Troas. Aristæus who married Autonoe the daughter of Cadmus, carried a colony from Thebes into Cæa an island not inhabited before. the island Rhodes was at first called Ophinusa, being full of Serpents before Phorbas, a Prince of Argos, went thither about the end of Solomon's reign, & made it habitable by destroying the serpents: in memory of which he is delineated in the heavens in the Constellation of Ophiuchus. The discovery of this & some other ~ islands made a report that they rose out of the sea. In Asia Delos emersit et Hiera et Anaphe & Rhodus saith b[209] Ammian. And c[210] Pliny: Claræ iamdudum insulæ Delos & Rhodos memori{æ}{a} produntur enatæ, postea minores, ultra Melon Anaphe{; }{, }inter Lemnum et Hellespontum Nea, inter Nebedum & Teon Alone &c

Diodorus a[211] tells us also that the seven islands called Æolides between Italy & Sicily were desert & uninhabited, till Lipparus & Æolus, a little before the Trojan war, went thither from Italy <46r> & peopled them. And that Malta & Gaulus or Gaudus on the other side of Sicily, were first peopled by Phenicians; & so was Madera without the straits. And  Homer relates that Vlysses found the island Ogygia covered with wood & uninhabited except by Calypso & her maids, who lived in a cave without houses. And it is not likely that great Britain & Ireland could be peopled before navigation was propagated beyond the straits.

The Sica{n}eans were reputed the first inhabitants of Sicily. They built little villages or towns upon the hills, & every town had its own king. And by this means they spread over the country before they formed themselves into larger governments with a common king. Philistus a[212] saith that that they were transplanted into Sicily from the river ~ Sicanus in Spain, & b[213] Dionysius that they were a Spanish people who fled from the Ligures in Italy. He means the Ligures c[214] who opposed Hercules when he returned from his expedition against Gerion in Spain & endeavoured to pass the alps out of Gaul into Italy. Hercules that year got into Italy & made some conquests there & founded the city Croton, & d[215] after winter upon the arrival of his fleet from Erythra in Spain, sailed to Sicily & there left the Sicani. For it was his custome to recruit his army with conquered people, & after they had assisted him in making new conquests, to reward them with new seats. This was the Egyptian Hercules who had a potent fleet & in the days of Solomon sailed to the straits & set up the Pillars & conquered Gerion, & returned back by Italy & Sicily to Egypt, & was by the ancient Gauls called Ogmius, & by the Egyptians e[216] Nilus. For Erythra & the country of Gerion were without the straits. Dionysius f[217] represents this Hercules contemporary to Evander{ . }

The first inhabitants of Crete according to Diodorus a[218] were called Eteocretans: but whence they were & how they came thither is not said in history. Then sailed thither a colony of Pelasgians from Greece. And soon after Teutamus the grandfather of Minos carried thither a colony of Dorians from Laconia & from the territory of Olympia in Peloponnesus. And these several colonies spake several languages, & fed on the spontaneous fruits of the earth, & lived quietly in caves & huts till the invention of iron tools in the days of Asterius the son of Teutamus, &at length were reduced into one kingdom & one people by Minos, who was their first lawgiver & built many towns & ships & introduced plowing & sowing, & in whose days the Curetes conquered his fathers friends in Crete & Peloponesus. The Curetes b[219] sacrificed children to Saturn, & according to c[220] Bochart were Philistims. And Eusebius saith that Crete had its name from Cres, one of the Curetes who nursed up Iupiter. But whatever was the original of the Island, it seems to have been peopled by colonies which spake different languages till the days of Asterius & Minos, & might come thither two or three generations before, & not above for want of navigation.

& the Island Cyprus was discovered by the Phenicians not long before. For a[221] Eratosthenes tells us that Cyprus was at first so overgrown with wood that it could not be tilled, & that they first cut down the wood for the melting of copper & silver, & afterwards when they began to sail safely upon the mediterranean (that is, presently after the Trojan war) they bilt ships & even navies of it. And when they could not thus destroy the wood, they gave every man leave to cut down what wood he pleased, & to possess all the grownd which he cleared of wood. So also Europe at first abounded very much with woods, one of which called the Hercinian, took up a great part of Germany, being full nine days journeys broad & above forty long in Iulius Caesars days. And yet the Europeans had been cutting down their woods to make room for mankind ever since the invention of iron tools in the days of Asterius & Min{o}s.

All these footsteps there are of the first peopling of ~ <47r> Europe & its islands by sea. Before those days it seems to have been thinly peopled from the northern coasts of the Eu{x}ine sea{ . } by scythians who wandered without houses & sheltered themselves from rain & wild beasts in thickets & caves of the earth, such as were the caves in mount Ida in Crete in which Minos was educated & buried, the cave of {Cacus} & the Catacombs in Italy near Rome & Naples, afterwards turned into burying places, the Syringes & many other caves in the sides of the mountains of Egypt, the caves of the Troglodytes between Egypt & the red sea, & those of the Phaurusÿ in Afric mentioned by a[222] Strabo, & the caves & thickets & rocks & high places & pits in which the Israelites hid themselves from the Philistims in the days of Saul. I Sam. XIII.6. But of the state of mankind in Europe in those days there is now no history remaining.

The an{t}iquities of Lybia were not much older the{n} those of Europe. For Diodorus a[223] tells us that Vranus the father of Hyperion & grandfather of Helius & Selene (that is Ammon the father of S{e}sa{c}) was their first king, & & caus{e}d the people who till then w{a}{o}ndered up & down, to dwell in towns & cities, & reducing them from a lawless & savage course of life taught them to use & lay up the fruits of the earth & to do many other things usefull for mans life. And Herodotus b[224] tells us that all Media was peopled by δήμοι{ , } towns without walls, till they revolted from the Assyrians, which was about 267 years after the death of Solomon; & that after that revolt they set up a king over them & built Ecbatane with walls for his seat, the first town which they walled about. And about 72 years after the death of Solomon Benhadad king of Syria c[225] had two & thirty kings in his army against Ahab. And when Ioshuah conquered the land of Canaa{n}, every city of the Canaanites had its own king like the cities of Europe before they conquered one another; & one of those kings (Adoni{b}ezek king of Bezek) had conquered seventy other kings a little before {Iudg. 1.7.} & threfore towns began to be built in that land not many ages before the days of Ioshuah. For the Patriarchs wandred there in tents, & fed their flocks wherever they pleased, the fields of Phenicia not being yet fully appropriated for want of people. The count{ri}es first inhabited by mankind, were in those days so thinly peopled that four kings from the coasts of Shinar & Elam invaded & spoiled the Rephaims & the inha{b}itants of the countried of Moab, Ammon, Edom, & the kingdoms of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, & Zeboim, & yet were pursued & beaten by Abraham with an armed force of only 318 men, the whole force which Abraham & the Princes with him could raise. And Ægypt was so thinly peopled before the birth of Moses, that Pharaoh said of the Israelites: Behold the people of the children of Israel are more & mightier then we : & to prevent their multiplying & growing too strong, caused their male children to be drowned.

These footsteps there are of the first peopling of the earth by mankind not long before the days of Abraham, & of the overspreading it with villages towns & cities, & their growing into kingdoms first smaller & then greater untill the rise of the monarchies of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece, & Rome, the first great empires on this side India. Abraham was the fift from Peleg, & all mankind lived together in Chaldea under the government of Noah & his sons untill the days of <48r> Peleg. So long they were of one language, one society, & one religion. And then they divided the earth, being perhaps disturbed in Chaldea by the rebellion of Nimrod, & forced to leave off building the tower of Babel. And from thence they spread them{s}elves into the several countries which fell to their shares, carrying along with them the laws c{u}stomes & religion under which they had till those days been educated & goverened by Noah & his sons & grandsons. And these laws were handed down to Abraham Melchizedec & Iob & their contemporaries, & for sometime were observed by the Iudges of the ~ eastern countries. < insertion from the top of f 47v > [226] So Iob tells us that adultery was an heinous crime, yea an inquity to be punished by the judges (Iob. XXXI.11) & of idolatry he saith: If I beheld the Sun when it shined or the moon walking in brightness, & my heart hath been secretly inticed or my mouth hath kissed my hand, this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denyed my God. (Iob. XXXI:28.) And there being no dispute between Iob & his friends about these matters: it may be presumed that they also with their countrymen were of the same religion. Melchizedek was a priest of th{e} most high {G}od, & Abraham voluntarily paid tyths to him: which he would scarce have done had they not been of one & the same religion. The first inhabitants of the land of Can{a}a{n} seem also to have been origin{ally} of the same religion & to have continued in it till the death of Noah & the days of Abraham. For Ierusalem was anciently called Iebus & its people Iebusi{t}es ( I Chron. XI.4, 5. Iudg. I.21. 2 Sam. v. 6) & Melchizedek was their high Priest & King. These nations therefore revolted after the d{ays} of Me{l}chizedec to the worship of fals Gods {a}s did also the posterity of Ismael, Esau, Moab, Ammon, & that of Abraham by Keturah. And the Israelites themselves were very apt to revolt. And one reason why Terah went from Vr of the Chaldees {t}o Haran in his way to the land of Canaan & why Abraham Afterwards left Haran & went into the land of Canaan might be to avoyd the worship of fals Gods which in their days began in Chaldea & spread every way from thence but did not yet reach into the land of Canaan. Several of the laws & precepts in which this primitive religion consisted are mentioned in the book of Iob chap. I. v. 5 & chap. XXXI, < text from f 48r resumes > Several of them are mentioned by Iob, chap. 1. v. 5 & chap. 31. videlicet not to blaspheme God, nor to worship the {S}un or Moon, nor to kill nor steal nor commit adultery, nor trust in riches, nor oppress the poor or fatherless, nor curse your enemies, nor rejoyce at their misfortunes: but to be friendly & hospitable & mercifull & {to} releive the poor & needy & to set up Iudges. This was the morality & religion of the first ages, still called by the Iews the Precepts of the sons of Noah. This was the religion of Moses & the Prophets & comprehended in the two great comm{æ}ndments of loving the Lord our God with all our heart & soul & mind, & our neighbour as {our selves}{ourselves}. This was the religion enjoyned by Moses to the uncircumcised stranger within th{e} gates of Israel as well as to the Israelites. And this is the religion of both Iews & Christians to this day, & ought to be the standing religion of all nations, it being for the good of mankind. And Moses adds the precept of being mercifull even to bruit beasts, so as not to suck out their blood nor to cut off their flesh alive with the blood in it, nor to ki{ll} them for the sake of their blood, nor to strangle them but in killing them for food to let out their blood & spill it upon the grownd, Gen. 9.6 & Levit. 17.12, 13. This law was ancienter then the days of Moses, being given to Noah & his sons long before the days of Abraham. And therefore when the Apostles & elders in the Council a{t} Ierusalem declared that the Gentiles were not obliged to be circumcised & observe the law of Moses, they excepted this law of absteining from blood & things stranguled as being an earlier law of God imposed not on the sons of Abraham only but on the strangers within the gates of I{s}rael, on all the sons of Noah, a law imposed originally not on Iews or Christians but even on Gentiles, a law imposed on all nations while they lived together in Shinaar under the dominion of Noah & his sons. And of the {same} kind is hte law of absteining from meats offered to idols or fals Gods, & from fornication. So then the beleiving that the world was framed by one supreme God & is governed by him, & of loving & worshi{p}{p}ping him, & loving our neighbour as our selves, & being mercifull even to bruit beasts, is the oldest of all religions. And the original of letters, agriculture, navigation, music, arts & sciences, metalls{ , } smiths & carpenters, towns & ho{u}ses in Europe was not older then the days of Eli, Samuel & David. And before those days the earth was so thinly peopled & so overgrown with woods, that mankind could not be {m}uch older then is represented in scripture.

<49r>

Cap. II
Chronologia Ægyptiorum a tempore Iovis Ammonis
ad usque regnum Cambyses emendata.

Chap. II.
Of the Egyptian Empire.

<49v> [Editorial Note 1] <50r> <51r>

Chap. II.
Of the Empire of Egypt.

The Egyptians anciently boasted of a very great & lasting Empire under their kings Ammon, Osiris, Bacchus, Sesostris, Hercules, Memnon &c, reaching eastward to the Indies & westward to the Atlantic ocean { ; } & out of vanity have made this Monarchy some thousands of years older then the world. {L}et us now try to rectify the chronology of Egypt by comp{a}ring the affairs of the Egyptians with the synchronizing affairs of the Greeks & Hebrews.

Bacchus the conqueror loved two weomen, Venus & Ariadne. Venus was the mistress of Anchises & Cintyras, & mother of Æneas, who all lived till the destruction of Troy, & the sons of Bacchus & Ariadne were Argonauts as above: & therefore the great Bacchus fl{o}urished but one generation before the Argonautic expedition. This Bacchus a[232] was potent at sea, conquered eastward as far as India, brought his army o{ve}r the Hellespont, conquered Thrace, left music, dancing & poetry there, killed Lycurgus king of Thrace & Pentheus the grandson of Cadmus, gave the kingdom of Lycurgus to Tharops, & one of his minstrells called by the Greeks Calliope to Oeagrus the son of Tharops, & of Oeagrus & Calliope was born Orpheus who sailed with the Argonauts. Thus Bacchus was therefore contemporary to Sesostris. And both being kings of Egypt, & potent at sea, & great conquerors & carrying on their conquests into India & Thrace, they must be one & the same man.

The ancient Greeks who made the fables of the Gods, relate that Io the daughter of Inachus was carried <52r> into Egypt, & there became the Egyptian Isis, & that Apis the son of Phoroneus after death became the God Serapis & so{m}e said that Epaphus was the son of Io. Serapis & Epaphus are Osiris; & therefore Isis & Osiris in the opinion of the ancient Greeks who made the fables of the Gods, were not above two or three generations older then the Argonautic expedition. Dicæsrchus as he {is} cited by the Scholiast{ . } upon Apollanius b[233] {r}epresents them two generations older then Sesostris, saying that after Orus the son of Osiris & Isis reigned Sesonchosis. He seems to have followed the opinion of the people of Naxus who made Bacchus two generations older then Theseus & for that end feign{e}d two Minoses & two Ariadnes. For by the consent of all antiquity Osiris & Bacchus were one & the same king of Egypt. This is affirmed by the Egyptians as well as by the Greeks. And some of the ancient Mythologists, as Eumolpus & Orpheus c[234] called Osiris by the names of Dionysus & Syrius. Osiris was king of all Egypt, & a great conqueror & came over the Hellespont in the day{e}{s} of Triptolemus & subdued Thrace & there kille{d} Lycurgus, & theref{o}r{e} his expedition falls in with that of Bacchus. Osiris Bacchus & Sesostris lived about the same time, & by the relation of historians were {al}l of them kings of all Egypt & reigned at Thebes & adorned that city & were very potent by land & sea. All three were great conquerors & carried on their {c}onquests by land through A{s}ia as far as India. All three came over the Hellespont & were th{e}re in danger of losing their army. All three conquered Thrace & there put a stop to their victori{e}s & returned back from thence into  Egypt. All three left pillars with inscriptions in their conquests. And therefore all three must be one & the same king of Egypt, & this king can be no other then Sesac.  All Egypt including Thebais Æthiopia & Lybia, had no common king before the expulsion of the sheepherds who reigned in the lower Egypt, no conqueror of Syria India Asia & Europe before Sesac. The sacred history admits of no Egyptian conqueror of Palestine before this king.

Thyme{d}es a[235] who was contemporary to Orpheus & wrote a Poesy  called Phrygia, of the actions of Bacchus in very old language & character, said that Bacchus had Libyan weom{e}n in his army, amongst whom was Minerva, a woman born in Libya neare the river Triton, & that Bacchus commanded the men & Minerva the weomen{ . }{ , } Disdorus b[236] calls her Myrina & saith that she was Queen of the Amazons in Libya & there conquered the Atlantides & Gorgons, & then made a league with Orus the son of Isis, [ who was sent to her by his father Osiris for that purpose ] < insertion from f 51v > [sent to her by his father Osiris for that purpose] < text from f 52r resumes > & passing through Egypt subdued the Arabians & Syria & Cilicia, & came through Phrygia [ videlicet in the army of Osiris or Bacchus ] to the Mediterranean, but passing over into Europe was slain with many of her <53r> weomen by the Thracians & Scythians under the conduct of Sipylus  a  Scythian & Mompsus a Thracian wh{o}m Lycurgus king of Thrace had banished. This was that Lycurgus who opposed the passage of Bacchus over the Hellespont & was soon after conquered by him & slain. But afterwards Bacchus met with a repulse from the Greeks under the conduct of Perseus who slew many of his weomen as c[237] Pausanias relates, & was assisted by the Scythians & Thracians under the conduct of Sipulus & Mompsus, which repulses together with a revolt of his brother Da{n}aus i{n} Egypt put a stop to his victories. And in returning home he left part of his men at Colchos & Caucasus under Æetes & Prometheus, & part of his weomen upon the river Thermo{b}don neare Colchos under theyr n{e}w Queens Marthesia & Lampeto. For Dionysius d[238] speaking of the Amazons who were seated at Thermodon, saith that they dwelt originally in libya, & there reigned over the Atlantides, & inv{a}ding their neighbours conquered as far as Europe. And Ammianus e[239] that the ancient Amazons breaking ~ through many nations attackt the Athenians & there receiving a great slaughter retired to Thermodon. And f[240] Iustin that these Amazons had at first [ he means, at their first coming to Thermodon ] two Queens who called themselves daughters of Mars, & that they conquered part of Europe & some cities of Asia [ videlicet in the reign of Minerva ] & then sent back part of their army with great booty [ under their said new Queens; & ] that Marthesia being afterwards slain was succeeded by her daughter Orithya & she by Penthesilea, & that Theseus captivated {&} married Antiopa the sister of Orithya; Hercules made war upon the Amazons who in the reign of Orithya, & Penthesilea they came to the Trojan war. Whence the first wars of the Amazons in Europe & Asia & their setling at Thermodon were but one generation before those actions of Hercules & Theseus & but two before the Trojan war, & so fell in with the expedition of Sesostris. And since they warred in the days of Isis & her son Orus & were a part of the army of Bacchus or Osiris, we have here a further argument for making Osiris & Bacchus contemporary to Sesostris & all three one & the same king with Sesak.

The Greeks reccon Osiris & Bacchus to be sons of Iupiter, & the Egyptian name of Iupiter is Ammon. Manetho in his 11th & 12th Dynasties as he is cited by Africanus &{ , } Eusebius, names these four kings of Egypt as reigning in order: Ammenemes, Gesongeses{ , } or Sesoncho{r}is the son of Ammenemes, Ammenemes who was slain by Euneuchs, & Sesostris who subdued all Asia & part of Europe. Gesongeses & Sesonchoris are corruptly written for Sesonchosis; & the two first of these four kings Ammenemes & Sesonchosis are the same with the two last Ammenemes & Sesostris, that is, with Ammon & Sesak. For Diodorus a[241] saith that Osiris built in Thebes a magnificent Temple to his parents Iupiter & Iuno, & two other Temples to Iupiter, a larger to Iupiter Vranius & a less to his father <54r> Iupiter Ammon who reigned in that city. And b[242] Thymetes above m{e}ntioned, who was contemporary to Orph{e}us wrote expresly that the father of Bacchus was Ammon a king reigning over part of Libya, that is, a king of Egypt reigning over all that part of Libya anciently called Ammonia. Stephanus c[243] saith Πᾶσα ἡ Λιβύη οὕτως ἐζ{α}λεῖτο, ἀπὸ Ἄμμωνος, All Libya was anciently called Ammonia from Ammon. This is that king of Egypt from whom Thebes was called No-Ammon & Ammon-no, the city of Ammon, & by the Greeks Διοσπολις the city of Iupiter Ammon. Sesostris built it sumptuously, & called it by his fathers name. And from the same king < insertion from higher up f 53v > the d[244] river called Ammon, the d[245] people called Ammonÿ, & the e[246] promontory Ammonium in Arabia fœlix had their names. < text from f 54r resumes >

The lower part of Egypt being yearly overflowed with the Nile was scarce inhabited before the invention of corn which made it usefull. And the king who by this invention first peopled it & reigned over it (perhaps the king of the city Mesir where Memphis was afterwards built ) seems to have been worshipped in the Ox or Calf after death by his subjects fro this benefaction. < insertion from the middle of f 53v > For this city stood in the most convenient place to peopl{e} the lower Egypt, from its being composed of two parts seated on each side of the river Nile, might give the name of Misraim to its people. < text from f 54r resumes > And this I take to be the state of lower Egypt till the shepherds or Phenicians who fled from Ioshua conquered it, & were afterwards conquered by the Ethiopians & {fled} into Afric & other places. . For there a[247] was a tradition that some of them fled as far as Afric < insertion from the bottom of f 53v > Saint Austin a[248] confirms this by telling us that the common people of Afric being asked who they were, replied Chanani, that is, Canaanites. Interrogati rustici nostri, saith he, quid sint, Punice respondentes Chanani, corrupta scilicet voce sicut in talibus sole{t}, quid aliud re{s}pondent quam Chananæi? And Procopius b[249] tells us of two pillars in the western parts of Afric with inscriptions signifying that the people were CAnaanites who fled from Ioshua. < text from f 54r resumes > And Eusebius c[251] tells us that these Canaanites flying from the sons of Israel built Tripolis in Afric. And the Ierusalem Gemara d[252] that the Gergesites fled from ~ Ioshua going into Afric. ⟐ < insertion from the middle of f 53v > And Procopius relates their flight in th{i}s manne{r}. Qu{a}ndo ad Mauros nos historia deduxit, congruens nos exponere unde orta gens in Africa sedes fixerit. Quo tempore egressi Ægyptum Hebræi jam prope Palestinæ fines venerant, {nior}tuus ibi Moses vir sapiens dux itin{e}ris. Successor imperÿ factus Iesus Navæ filius, intra Palæstinam duxit popularium agmen, et virtute usus supra humanum m{o}dum, terram occupavit gentibus excisis urbes ditionis suæ fecit, & invicti famam tu{l}it. Maritima ora quæ a Sidone ad Ægypti limitem extenditur, nomen habet Phœnices. Rex unus imperabat ut omnes qui res Phœnicias scripsere consentiunt. In eo tractatu numerosæ gentes erant, Gergesæi, Iebusæi, quos alÿs nominibus Hebræorum annales memorant. Hi ho{m}in{a}{e}s ut impares se advenienti imperat{o}ri videre, derelicto patriæ solo ad finitimam primum venere Ægyptum, sed ibi capacem tantæ multitudinis locum non reperientes, (erat enim Ægyptus ab antiquo fœcunda populis,) {in} Afri{c}am profecti, multis conditis urbibus, omnem eam Herculis columnas us, obtinuerunt: ubi ad meam ætatem sermon{e} Phœnicio utentes habitant. By the language & extreme poverty of the Moors (described also by Procopius) & by their being unacquainted with merchandise & sea affairs, you may know that they were Can{aan}ites ori{gi}nally, & peopled Afric before the Tyrian merchants came thither. These Canaanites coming from the east, pitched their tents in great numbers in the lower Egypt in the reign of Timaus (as e Manetho writes) & easily {s}eized the country & & fortifying {P}elusium {then} called Abaris, th{e}y erected a kingdom there, & reigned long under their own kings Salatis, Bæon, Apagnas, Apophis, etc < text from f 54r resumes > These Phenicians coming from the east {pitch}ed their tents in great numbers in the lower Egypt in the reign of Timaus (as Manetho e[253] writes & easily seized the country & erected a kingdom there & reigned long under their own kings Salatis, Bæon, Apagnas, Apophis, Ianias, Assis, & others successively. And in the mean time the upper part of Egypt called Thebais & Ægypt{u}s according to Herodotus, f[254] & in scripture the land of Pathros, was under other kings reigning perhaps at Coptos & Thebes & This & Syene & Pathros & Elephantis & Heracleopolis & Mesir & other great cities till they conquered one another or were conquered by the Ethiopians. For cities grew great in those days by being the seats of kingdoms. But at length one of these kingdoms conquered the rest & made a lasting war upon the shepherds, & in the reign of its kings Misphra{g}muthosis & his so{n} Amosis or < insertion from lower down f 53v > Thomos{e}s drove themout of Egypt{ . } & made them fly into Syria & Afric & other places, & united < text from f 54r resumes > T{e}homosis drove them out of Egypt & made them fly into Syri{a} & Afric & other places & united all Egypt into one Monarchy, & under their next kings Ammon & Sesak grew into a great Empire. This conquering people worshipped not the kings of the shepherds whom they conquered & expelled, but g[255] abolished their religion of sacrificing m{e}n & after the man{n}er of those ages deified their own kings who founded their new dominion, beginning the history of their empire with the reign & great acts of their Gods & Heros. Whence their Gods Ammon & Rhea (or Vranus & Titæa,) Osiris & Isis, Orus & B{u}baste, & their Secretary Thoth, & Generals Hercules & Pan, & Admiral Iapetus Neptune or Typhon, were all of them Thebans & flourished after the expulsion of the Sheph{er}ds.

<55r>

Homer places Thebes in Ethiopia, & the Ethiopians reported that h[256] the Egyptians were a c{o}lony drawn out of them by Osiris, & that thence it came to pass that most of the laws of Egypt were the same with those of Ethiopia, & that the Egyptians learnt from the Ethiopians the custome of deifying their kings.

Symbol (circle with a dot in it to the right of a cross) in text < insertion from higher up f 55v > When Ioseph enterteined his brethren in Egypt, they did eat at a table by themselves, & he did eat at another table by himself, & the Egyptians who did eat with him were at another table because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the hebrews. For that was an abomination to the Egyptians. gen. XLVIII.32. These Egyptians who did eat with Ioseph, were of the court of Pharaoh:& therefore Pharaoh & his court were at this time genuin{e} Egyptians. And these Egyptians abominated eating bread with the Hebrews at one & the same table. And of these Egyptians & their fellow subjects its said a little after that every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. Egypt at this tim{e} was therefore under the ~ government of the genuine Egptians & not under that of the shepherds.

After the descent of Iacob into Egypt, Ioseph lived 70 years, & so long continued in favour with the kings of Egypt. And 64 years after his death Moses was born. And between the death of Ioseph & the birth of Moses there rose up another king of Egypt who knew not{ . } Ioseph (Exod. I.8.)  But this king of Egypt was not one of the shepherds. For he is called Pharaoh (Exod. I.11, 22.) & Moses to{ld} his successor that if the people of Israel should sacrifice in the land of Egypt, they should sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, & the Egyptians would stone them (Exod. VIII.26) that is, they should sacrifice sheep or oxen, contrary to the religion of Egypt. The shepherds therefore did not reign over Egypt while Israel was there; but either were driven out of Egypt before Israel went down thither, or did not enter into Egypt till after the death of Moses. And the latter must be true if they were driven out of Egypt a little before the building of the temple of Solomon, as Manetho affirm{s}. < text from f 55r resumes > Diodorus a[257] saith, in his 40th Book, that in Egypt there were formerly multitudes of strangers of several natio{n}s who used forreign rites & ceremonies in worshipping the Gods, for which they were expelled Egypt, & under Danaus, Cadmus, & other skilfull comm{a}nders after great hardships came into Greece & other places, but the greatest part of them came into Iudea not far from Egypt, a country then uninhabited & desert, being conducted thitherby one Moses a wise & valiant m{a}n, who after he had possest himself of the country, among other things built Ierusalem & the Temple. Diodorus here mistakes the original of the Israelites as Manetho had done before, confounding their flight into the wilderness under the conduct of Moses, with the flight of th{e} shepherds from Misphragmuthosis & his son Amosis into Phœnicia & Afric, & not knowing that Iudæa was inhabited by Canaanites before the Israeli{t}es under Moses came thither. But however, he lets us know that the shepher{ds} were expelled {from} Egypt by Amosis a little before the building of Ierusalem & the Temple & that after several hardships several of them came into Greec{e} & other places under the conduct of Cadmus & other captains, but the most of them setled in Phenicia next Egypt. We may reccon therefore that the expulsion of the shepherds by the kings of Thebais was the occasion that the Philistims were so numerous in the days of Saul, & that so many men came in those times with colonies out of Egypt & Phenicia into Greece, as Cecrops, Lelex, Inachus, Pelasgus, Æzeus, Ægialeus, Cadmus, Phineus, Membliarius, Atymnus, Aba{s}{t}, Erechtheus, Peteos, Phorbas in th{e} days  of Eli, Samuel, Saul, & David. Some of them fled in the days of Eli from Misphragmuthosis who conquered part of the lower Egypt; others retired from his successor Amosis into Phœnicia & Arabia Petræa in the days of Samuel, & there mixed with the old inhabitants, who not long after being conquered by David, fled from him & the Philistims by sea under the conduct of Cadmus & other captains into Asia minor Greece & Libya to seek new seats{ ; } & there built towns erected kingdoms & set on foot the worship of the dead; & some of those which remained in Iudæa might assist David & Solomon in building Ierusalem & the Temple. Among the forreign rites used by the strangers in Egypt in worshipping the Gods, was the sacrificing of men. For Amosis abolished that custome at Heliopolis. And therefore those strangers were Canaanites such as fled from I{os}hua { . } For the Canaanites gave their seed (that is their children) to Molech, & burnt their sons & their daughters in the fire to their Gods (Deut. XII.31.) Manetho calls them Phenician strangers.

After Amosis had expelled the shepherds & extended his dominion over all Egypt, his son & successor Amenemes or Ammon by much greater conquests laid the foundation of the Egyptian Empire. For by the assistance of his young son Sesostris whom he brought up to hunting & other laborious exercises, he conquered { , } Arabia Troglodytica, & Libya, . And from him all Libya a[258] was anciently called Ammonia. And after his death in the Temples erected to him at thebes & in Ammonia & at Meroe in Æthiopia, they set up Oracles to hi, & made the people worship him as the God that acted in them. And these are the oldest Oracles mentioned in history, the <56r> Greeks therein imitating the Egyptians. For the b[259] Oracle at Dodona was the oldest in Greece, & was set up by an Egyptian woman after the example of the Oracle of Iupiter Ammon at Thebes.

In the days of Ammona body of the Edomites fled from David into Egypt with their young king Hadad as above, & carri{e}d thither their skill in navigation. And this seems to have given occasion to the Egyptians to build a fleet on the red sea neare Coptos, & might ingratiate Hadad with Pharaoh. For the Midianites & Ishmaelites who bordered upon the red sea neare mount Horeb on the south side of Edom, were merchants from the days of Iacob the Patriarch (Gen. XXXVII.28, 36) & by their Merchandice the Midianites abounded with gold in the days of Moses (Nu{m}. XXXI.50, 51, 52) {&} in the days of the Iudges of Israel because they were Ishmaelites (Iudg. VIII.24.) The Ishmaelites therefore in those days grew rich by merchandise. They carried their merchandise on camels through Petra to Rhinocolura & thence to other places. And this trafic at length came into the hands of David by his conquering the Edomites & gaining the Ports of the Red-sea called {E}loth & Esion-Geber. The Egyptians having the art of making linnen cloth, they began about this time to buil{d} long ships with sails in their Port on those seas near Coptos; & having learnt the skill of the Edomites they began now to observe the positions of the stars & the length of the {S}{s}olar year for enabling them to know the position of the starrs at any time & to sail by them at all times without sight of the shoar, And this gave a beginning to Astronomy & Navigation. For hitherto they had gone only by the shoar with oars in round vessels of burden first invented on that shallow sea by the posterity of Abraham. Their old year was the Lunisolar year descended from Noah to all his posterity till those days, & consisted of twelve months each of 30 days according to their Calenda{r}{rr}. And to the end of this calen{da}r year they now added five days & thereby made up the solar year of twelve mon{t}hs & five days or 365 days.

The ancient Egyptians feigned a[261] that Rhea lay secretly with Saturn, & Sol prayed that she might bring forth neither in any month nor in the year; & that M{e}rcury playing at dice with Luna, overcame & took from the Lunar year the 72th part of every da{y}{ÿ}, & thereof co{m}posed five days & added them to the year of 360 days that she might bring forth in them: & that the Egyptians c{e}lebra{te}d those days as the birth days of Rhea's five children, Osiris, Isis, Typhon, Orus senior; & Nephths the wife of Typhon . And therefore according to the o{p}inion of the ancient Egyptians, the five days were added to the Lunisolar Calendar-year, in the reign of Saturn & Rhea the parents of Osiris, Isis, & Typhon; that is, in the reign of Ammon & Titæa the parents of the Titans, or in the ~ latter half of the reign of David when those Titans were born, & by consequence soon after the flight of the Edomites from David into Egypt. But the solstices not being yet {set}led, the beginning of this new year might not be fixed to the vernal equinox befor{e} the reign of Amenophis the successor of Orus.

<57r>

When the Edomites fled from David with their young king Hadad into Egypt, its probable that they carried thither also the use of Letters. For Letters were then in use {a}mong the posterity of Abraham in Arabia Petrea & upon the borders of the red sea, the Law being written there by Moses in a Book & in Tables of stone long before. For Moses marrying th{e} daughter of the Prince of Midian & dwelling with him for{t}y years, learnt them among the Midianites. < insertion from the top of f 57v > And Iob who lived [262] among their neighbours the Edomites mentions the writing down of words as there in use in his days{ , } Iob 19.23, 24. And < text from f 57r resumes > And there's no instance of Letters ( for writing down sounds, ) being in use before the days of David in any other other nation besides the posterity of Abraham. Symbol (circle surmounted by a cross with a second cross on the right side) in text < insertion from higher up f 57v > The Egyptians ascribed this invention to Thoth the secretary of Osiris & therefore Letters began to be used in Egypt in the days of Thoth [263], that is a little after the flight of the Edomites from David, or about the time that Cadmus brought them into Europe.

< text from f 57r resumes >

Helladius a[264] tells us that a man called Oes who appeared in the red sea with the tayl of a fish (so they painted a seaman) taught Astronomy & Letters. And Hyginus b[265] b that Euhadnes who came out of the sea in Chaldæa, taught the Chaldæans Astrology the first of any man; he means Astronomy. And Alexander {Polyhistor}{Poly histor} c[266] tells us from Berosus that Oannes taught the Chaldæans Letters, Mathematicks, Arts, Agriculture, cohabitation in cities, & construction of temples; & that several such men came thither succesively. Oes, Oannes, & Euhadnes seem to be the same name a little varied, & this name seems to have been given in common to several seamen who came thither from tie to time , & by consequence were Merchants & frequented those seas with{e} their merchandise. For the sea was frequented by Merchants long before it began to be frequented by fleets of war. So then Letters, Astronomy, Architecture & Agriculture came into Chaldea by sea, & were carried thither by seamen who frequented the Persian gulph, & came thither from time to time after all those things wer{e} invented & practised in othe countries from whence they came, & by consequence in the days of Ammon & Sesac, David & Solomon, & their successors, or not long before. The Chaldæans inde{e}d made Oannes older the{n} the flood of Xisuthrus: but the Egyptians made Osiris as old, & I make them contemporary. < insertion from the middle of f 57v > The red sea had its name not from its colour but from Edom & Erythra the names of Esau which signify that colour. And some tell us that king Erythra (meaning Esau) invented the vessels [ rates ] in which they navigated that sea{, &} was buried in an Island of that sea neare the Persian gulph. When{c}e it follows that the Edomites navigated that sea from the days of Esau. And there is no need {that} that the oldest Oannes should be older. There were boats upon {r}ivers long before, such as were the ferry-boat which carryed the houshold of David over Iordan. (2 Sam. 19.18.) the boats {of} Charon upon the Nile in Egypt for burying the dead, the boats which carried the Patriarchs over Euphrates & Iordan, & those which {c}arried the first nations over Tigris, Euphrates, Indus, Ganges, Araxes, Tanais, Niper, Danube, & other rivers for peopling the earth, seeking new seats & invading one anothers territories. And after the example of such vessels, Ismael & Midian the sons of Abraham & Esau his grands{o}n might build larger cessels to go to the Islands upon the red sea in searching for new seats, & by degrees learn to navigate that sea as far as to the Persian gulf, . For ships were as old, even upon the Mediterranean, as the days of Iacob Gen. 49.18 Iud. 5.17. {Boats} letters & Astronomy & Architecture seem to have come into Chaldea about the same time that they came into Egypt & Europe, the flight of the Edomites from David being the occasion t{h}ereof. therefore – – < text from f 57r resumes > Its probable {that before} that Letters & Astronomy & the trade of Carpenters were invented by the merchants of the red sea for writing down their merchandise, & keeping their accounts, & guiding their ships in the night by the starrs & building ships, & that they were propagated from Arabia Petrea into Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Asia mino{r}, & Europe, much about one & the same time, the time in which David conquered & dispersed those merch{a}nts. For we hear nothing of Letters before the days of David exc{e}pt among the posterity of Abraham; nothing of Astronomy before the Egyptians under Ammon & Sesac applied themselves to that study, except the Constellations mentioned by Iob who lived in Arabia Petrea among the Merchants: nothing of the trade of Carpenters or good Architecture before Solomon sent Hiram to supply him with such Artificers, saying that there were none in Israel who could skill to hew timber like the Zidonians.

Diodorus a[267] tells us that the Egyptians sent many colonies out of Egypt into other countries, & that Belus the son of Neptune & Libya ~ carried colonies thence into Babylonia, & seating {h}imself on Euphrat{e}s ~ instituted Priests free from ta{xe}s & public expenses after the manner of Egypt, who were called Chaldæans, & who after the example of the Priests & Astronomers of Egypt might observe the starrs. By his being the son of Neptune, he was a seaman like Oannes. And by his being the Belus of the Chaldæans & the son of Neptune & Libya, & a king of Egypt who carried coloni{e}s thence into Ch{a}ldea, he seems to be either Ammon or Sesostris. For pausanias b[268] tells us that the Belus of the Babylonians had his name <58r> from Belus an Egyptian the son of Libya. And c[269] Apollodorus that Belus the son of {N}eptune & Libya & king of Egypt was the father of Ægyptus & Danaus, that is, Ammon. But he tells us also that Busiris the son of Neptune & L{i}sianassa [ Libyanassa ] the daughter of Epaphus, was king of Egypt, & Eusebius calls this king Busiris the son of Neptune & of Libya the daughter of Epaphus: & {here by}{hereby} Busiris they mean Osiris. So then as Sesostris left Colonies of Egyptians at Colchos & mount Cau{c}asus, so he left one or more colonies in Babylonia & there set on foot the Astronomy & sciences of the Egyptians. And this he might begin to do in the days of Solomon in coasting Arabia felix & Persia with his fath{e}rs fleet, & so be the principal Oannes.

Sesostris first warred under his father Ammon, being the Hero or Hercules of the Egyptians during his fathers reign & afterwards their king. Vnder his father whilst he was very young, he invaded Troglodytica & Libya: & by conquering Troglodytica he secured the harbour of the red sea n{ex}t Egypt. And having recruited his army with Troglodytes he invaded Libya & fought the Africans with clubs, & thence is painted with a club in his hand. So a[270] Hyginus: Afri et Ægyptÿ primum fustibus dimicaverunt, postea Belus Neptuni filius gladio belligeratus est, unde bellum dictum est. And after the conquest of Libya (by which Egypt was furnished with horses & furnished Solomon & his friends) he went on – westward upon the coast of Afric in round vessels of burden to search those countries, as far as to the Ocean & island Erythra or Gades in Spain (as Macrobius b[271] informs us from Pan{ya}sis & Phere{c}ides,) & there he conquered Gerion, & at the mouth of the straits set up the famous Pillars.

c[272] Venit ad occasum {o}nundi extrema Sesostris
Then he returned through Spain & the southern coasts of France & Italy with the cattel of Gerion (his fleet attending him by sea) & left in Sicily the Sicani, a people which he had brought from Spain. And hence forward he had Libyans (men & weomen) in his armies. Hitherto the Egyptians used round vessels of burden in the Me{d}iterra{n}ean; whence Hercules was now represented sailing in a cup: but after these things they built a fleet of long ships with sails in these seas on the ~ coast of Libya where there were convenient Ports & timber for shipping, I think in Cyrene at Irasa the c{it}y of
Antæus. For Antæus & his father Neptune in the days of Sesostris governed
Libya & commanded that fleet.

And {before} the death of Ammon, or soon after, Sesostris, having in{c}reased his army with Libyans, subdued the Ethiopi{a}ns southward as far as to the region bearing Cinnamon, & set up a pillar at Dira the straits of the red sea, & there, by the help of his fleet on that sea, passing over, he invaded Arabia felix, & se{a}rched the sea coasts of Persia & India Symbol (circle with a dot in it to the right of a cross) in text < insertion from f 57v > & in those countries set up colum{n}s with inscriptions {&} erected temples to the Gods of Egypt. And thence it came to pass that Iupiter Ammon was worshipped in Ethiopia & Arabia & as far as India according to the poet. [273]

Quamvis Æthiopum populis Arabum  beatis

Gentibus at Indis unus sit Iupiter Ammon

< text from f 58r resumes > And in the fift year of {the}hoboam he {c}ame out of Egypt with a great army of Libyans Troglodytes & Ethiopians & spoiled the Temple, & reduced Iudæa into servitude, & went on conquering eastward towards Ind{i}a which he invaded, & westward as far as Thrace. For God had given him the kingdoms of the countries, 2 Chron. 12.2, 3, 8. In a[274] this expedition he spent nine years, setting up the pillars with inscriptions in all his conquests. And parti{c}ularly he set up two pillars in India i{n} the mountains neare the mouth of the Ganges. So b[275] Dionysius: <59r>

᾽Ενθὰ τε καὶ στῆλαι &c

Vbi etiamnum columnæ Thebi genit{i}{j} B{a}cchi

Stant extremi jux{t}a fluxum Oceani

Indorum intimis i{m}{n} montibus: ubi et Ganges

Clar{a}{æ}m aquam Nyssæam ad planitiem devolvit.

< insertion from the top of f 59v > And on account of all th{e}se conquests, the Arabians worshipped him as a God by the name of B{a}cchus . They worshipped only two Gods Cælus & Bacchus & those were Ammon & S{e}sac, as above. And so also did the people of Meroe. . They ✝[276] worshipped no other Gods but Iupiter & Bacchus, & had an Oracle of Iupiter, & this Iupiter & Bacchus was Iupiter Ammon & Osiris {a}ccording to the language of Egypt.

After Sesostris had conquered Thrace he met with a repulse, & . < text from f 59r resumes > And {in} the 14th year of Rehoboam he returned back into Ægypt leaving Ætes at Colchos & Prometheus at mount Caucasus with part of his army to {d}efend his conquests from the Scythians. c[277] Apollonius Rhodius & his Scholiast tell us that Sesonchosis king of all Egypt (that is Aesak) invading all Asia & a great part of Europe, peopled many cities which he took, & that Æa (the metropolis of Colchos) re{m}ained stable ever since his days, with the posterity of t{h}ose Ægyptians whom he placed there & that they preserved pillars or tables in which all the journeys & the bounds of sea & land were described for the us{e} of them that were to go any whether. These Tables thencefore gave a beginning to Geography. ‖ < insertion from the middle of f 59v > [Editorial Note 2] < text from f 59r resumes > Vpon d[278] his return he divided Egypt by measure amongst the Egyptians, & this gav{e} a beginning to Surveying & Geometry. And {e}[279] Iamblicus derives this division of Egypt & beginning of Geometry, from the age of the Gods of Egypt. He f[280] divided Æ{gypt} {also} into 36 Nomes or Counties, & dug a canale from the Nile to the head city of every Nome, & with the earth dug out of it, he caused the ground of the city to be raised higher, & built a Temple in every city for the worship of the Nome, & in the temples set up Oracles, some of which remained till the days of Herodotus. And by this means the Egyptians of every Nome, were indu{c}ed to worship the great men of the kingdom to whom the Nome the city & the Temple or sepulchre of the God was dedicated. For every Temple had its {pr}oper God & modes of worship & annual festivals at which the Council & people of the Nome met at certain times to sacrifice & regulate th{e} affairs of the Nome, & administer justice, & buy & sell. But Sesac him{s}elf & his wife by the names of Osiris & Isis, were worshipped in all Egypt. And because Sesac to render the Nile more usefull, dug channels from it to all the capital cities of Egypt; that river was consecrated to him, & he was called by its names, Ægyptus, Siris, & Nilus. g[281] Dionysius tells us that the Nile was called Siris by the Ethiopians, & Nilus by the people of Syene. From the word Nahal which signifies a torrent that river was called Nilus: & Diodorus h[282] tells us that Nilus was that king who cut Egypt int{o} Canales to make the river usefull. In scripture the river is called Schichor or Sihor, & thence the Greeks formed the words Siris, Sirius, Ser-Apis, O-Siris. But Plutarch i[283] tells us that the syllable O put before the word Siris by the Greeks, made it scarce intelligible to the Egyptians. ‡ < insertion from lower down f 59v > I have now told you the original of the Nomes of Egypt, & of the religions & temples of the Nomes & of the cities built there by the Gods &c – < text from f 59r resumes > And all this I take to be the true original of the Nomes of Egypt& of the religions & temples of the Nomes, & of the cities built there by the Gods & called by their names. Whence Diodorus l[285] tells us that of all the Province{s} of the world there were in Egypt alo{n}e many cities built by the ancient Gods, as by Iupiter, Sol, Hermes, Apollo, Pan, Eilithyïa, & many others. And m[286] Lucian an Assyrian who had travelled into Pheni{c}ia & Egypt, , tells us that the temples of Egypt were very old, those in Ph{e}nicia built by Cinyras as old, & those in Assyria almost <60r> as old as the former, but not alto{g}ether so old. Which shews th{a}t the monarchy of Assyria rose up after the monarchy of Egypt, as is represented in scripture, & that the Temples of Egypt then standing were those built by Sesostris about the same time that the {tem}ples of Phœnicia & Cyprus were built by Cinyras, Benhadad & Hiram. This was not the first original of idolatry but only the erecting of much more sumptuous temples then formerly to the founders of new kingd{o}ms For temples at first were very small{ . }

Iupiter a{u}{n}gusta vix totus stabal in æde. Ovid. Fast. l. 1. Altars were at first erected without Temple{s}, & this custome ~ continued in Persia till {a}fter the day{s} of Herodotus. In Phenicia they had Altars with little houses for eating the sacrifices much earlier, & these they called High Places. Such was the High Place where Samuel entertein{e}d Saul. Such was the house of Dagon at Ashdod into which the Philistims brought the Ark, & the hous{e} of Baal in which Iehu slew the Pro{phets} of Baal. And such were the High-places of the Canaanite{s} which Moses commanded Israel to destroy. He n[287] commanded Israel to destroy the Altars, Images, High-places, & Groves of the Canaanites, but made no mention of their Temples, as he would have done h{a}d there been any in those days. I meet with no mention of sumptuous Temples before the days of Solomon. New kingdoms began then to build sepulchres to their founders in the form of sumptuous Temples. And Such Temple{s} Hiram built in Tyre, Sesac in all Egypt & Benhadad in Damascus.

For when a[288] David smote Hadad-Ezer king of Zoba{k}{h} & slew the Syrians of Damascus who came to assist him; Rezon fled from his Lord Hadad-Ezer, & gathering a band of men became their capitane, & reign{e}d in Damascus over Syria. He is called Hezion (1 King 15.18) & his successors (mentioned in history) were Tabrimon Hadad or Benhadad I, {Benhadad II} Hazael, Benhadad III, * * & Resen th{e} son of Tab{e}al. . Syria became subject to Egypt in the days of Tabrimon & recovered her liberty under Benhadad I, & in the days of Benhadad {I}II till the reign of the last Rezen they became subject to Israel. And in the ninth year of Hoshea king of Iudah, Tiglathpileser king of Assyria cap{t}ivated the Syrians & put an end to their ~ kingdom. Now Iosephus b[289] tells us that the Syrians till his days, worshipped both Adar (that is Adad or Benhadad) & his successor Hazael as Gods for their benefactions, & for building Temples by which they adorned the city Damascus. For, saith he, they daily {celebrate} solemnities in honour of these kings, & boast th{e}ir antiquity, not knowing that they were novel, & lived not above eleven hundred years ago. It seems these kings built sumptuous sepulchres for themselves, & were wo{r}shipped therein. Iustin c[290] calls the first of these two kings Damascus, saying that the city had its name from him, & that the Syrians in honour of him worshipped his wife Arothes as a Goddess, using her sepulchre for a Temple.

Another instance we have in the kingdom of Byblus. In the a[291] reign of Minos king of Crete when Rhadamanthus the bro{t}her of Minos carri{e}d colonies from Crete to the Greek islands, & gave the islands to his captains, he gave Lemnos to Thoas or Theias or Thoantes the father of Hypsipyle a Cretan worker in metalls, & by consequence a disciple of the Idæi Da{c}tyli, & perhaps a Phœnician: for the Idæi Dactyli & Telchines & Corybantes brought their arts & sciences from Phœnicia, and
<61r> Suidas b[292] saith that he was descended from Pharmacus king of Cyprus; Apollodorus; that he was the son of Sandochus a Syrian: And Apollonius Rhodius, c[293] that Hypsi{pyl}e gave Iason the purple cloak which the Graces made for Bacchus who gave it to his son Thoas the father of Hypsipyle & king of Lemnos. Thoas ma{rri}ed d[294] Calycopis the mother of Æneas & daughter of Otreus king of Phrygia, & for his skill on the harp was called C{i}nyras, & was said to be ex{c}eedingly beloved of Apollo or Orus. The great Bacchus loved his wife, & e[295] being caught in bed with her in {P}hrygia, appeed him with wine & composed the matter by making him king of Byblus & Cyprus, & then came over the Hellespont with his army & conquered Thrace. < insertion from higher up f 661v > And to these things the Poets allude in feigning that V{ulcan} fell from heaven into Lemnos, & that Bacchus f[296] appeas{e}d {him} with wine & reduced him back into heaven. He fell from the heaven of the Cretan Gods wh{e}n he went from Crete to Lemnos to work in metalls & was reduced back into heaven when Bacchus made him king of Cyprus & Byblus. < text from f 61r resumes > Thoas reigned in Byblus & Cyprus till the tim{e}s of the Trojan war, living to a very great age & becoming exceedingly rich. And after the death of his wife Call{i}{y}copis, g[297] he built temples to her at Paphos & Amathus in Cyprus, & at Byblus in Syria, & insti{tuted} Priests to her with sacred rites & lustful Orgia: whence she becam{e} the Dea Cypria & the Dea Syria. And from Temples ere{c}t{e}d to her in these & other places she was also called Paphia, Amathusia, Byblia, Cytharea, Salaminia, Gnydia, Ery{c}ina, I{d}alia. Fama tradit a {Ci}nyra consecratum ~ vetustissim{u}m Paphiæ Veneris templum, {D}eam ipsam conceptam mari huc appulsam. Tacit. Hist. l. 2. p. 338. From her sailing from Phrygia to the island Cythara & from thence to be Queen of Cyprus, she was said (by the Cyprians) to be born of the froth of the sea, & {was} painted sailing upon a shell. C{i}nyras deified also his son Gingris by the name of Adonis. And for assisting the Egyptians with armour its probable that he himself was deified by his friends the Egyptians by the name of [ Baal-Canaan ] Vulcan. For Vulcan was celebrated chiefly by the Egyptians & was a king according to ~ Homer, & reigned in Lemnos; & Cinyras was an inventor of arts h[298] & found out copper in Cyprus, & the smith's hammer & anvil & tongues & laver, & imployed workmen in making armour & other things of brass & iron, & was the only king celebrated in history for working in metalls & was king of Lemnos & the husband of Venus: all which is the charact{e}r of Vulcan. And th{e} Egyptians about the time of the death of Cinyras (videlicet in the reign of their king Amenophis) builta very sumptuous temple at Memphys to Vulcan, & near it a smaller temple to Venus hospita, not an Egyptian woman but a forreigner, not Helena but Vulcan's Venus. For Herodotus For i[299] Herodotus tells us that the region round about this temple was inhabited by Tyr{ian} Phenicians, & that k[300] Cambyse{s} going ⭗ < insertion from lower down f 61v > {n}ot Helena but Vulcans Venus And i[301] Bo{chart} s{ai}th Phœniciam Venerem in Ægypto pro peregrina habitam. And Herodotus k[302] saith further that Cambyses going into the Temple of Vulcan at Memphis, very much derided the statue of Vulcan for its littleness. For, saith he, this statue of Vulcan is most like those Gods which the Phœnicians call Patæci, & carry about in the forepart of their ships in the form of Pigmys. < text from f 61r resumes >

And as the Egyptians Phenicians & Syrians in those days deified their Kings & Princes, so upon their coming into Asia minor & Greece with Cadmus & Sesostris, they taught th{o}se nations to do the like, as hath been shewed above.

In those days the writing of the Thebans & Ethiopians was in hieroglyphicks. And this way of writing seems to have spread into the lower Egypt before the Days of Moses. For thence came the worship of their Gods in the various shapes of birds beasts & fishes, forbidden in the second commandment. Now this emblematical way of {w}riting gave occasion <62r> to the Th{e}bans & Ethiopians, who in the days of Samuel David Solomon & R{e}hoboam conquered Egypt & the nations round about & erected a great Empire, to represent & signify their conquering Kings & Princes, not by writing down their names, but by making various hieroglyphical figures; as by painting Ammon with {R}amms horns to signify the king who conquered Libya a country abounding with sheep; his father Amosis with a sith to signify that king who conquere{d} the lower Egypt, a country abounding with corn; his son Osiris by an Ox because he taught the conquered nations to plow with {O}{Ö}xen; & Bacchus with Bull's horns for the same reason, & with grapes because he taught the nations to plant vines, & upon a Tiger because he subdued India; Orus the son of Osiris with a harp to signify the Prince who was eminently skilled on that instrument; Iupiter upon an Eagle to signify the sublimity of his dominion, & with a Thunder{b}olt to represent him as a warrior; Venus in a chariot drawn with two Doves to represent her amorous & lustfull; Neptune with a Trident to signify the Co{m}mander of a Fleet composed of three squadrons; Ægæon (a giant) with 50 hea{ds} & 100 han{d}s to s{ig}nify Neptune wit{h} his men in a ship of 50 oars; Thoth with a dogs head & wings at his cap & feet & a Caduceus writhen about with two serpents to signify a man of craft & an Embas{s}adour who reconciled two contending nations; Pan with a Pipe & the leggs of a Goat to signify a man delighted in piping & dancing; & Hercules with pillars & a club because Sesostris set up pillars in all his conquests, & in the reign of his father Ammon fought against the Libyans with clubs. This is that Hercules who (according {to} b[304] Eudoxus) was slain by Typh{o}n, & (according to c[305] to Ptolomæus Hephæstion) was called Nilus, & who conquered Ge{r}ion with his three sons in Spain & set up the famous Pillars at the mouth of the straits called Hercul{e}s his pillars. For Diodorus d[306] mentioning three Hercules, the Egyptian, the Tyrian, & the son of Al{cme}na, saith that the oldest flourished among the Egyptians & having conquered a great part of the world, set up the pillars in Afric. And Vasæus e[307] : that Osiris called also Dionysius, came into Spain & conquered G{e}rion, & was the ~ first who brought Idolatry into Spain. Strabo f[308] tells us that the Ethiopians called Megabares, fought with clubs. And some of the Greeks did so till the times of the Trojan war. Now from this hieroglyphical way of writing it came to pass that upon the division of Egypt into Nomes by Sesostris, the great men of the kingdom to whom the Nomes were dedicated, were represented in their Sepulchres or Temples of the Nomes by various Hieroglyphicks, as by an Ox, a Cat, a Dog, a Cebus, a Goat, a Lyon, a Scarabæus, an Ichneumen, a Crocodile, an Hippopotamus, an Oxyrinchus, an Ibis, a Crow, a Hawk, a {Leek}, & were worshipped by the Nomes in the shape of these creatures.

<63r>

The Atlantides related [309] that Vranus was thei{r} first king & reduced them from a salvage course of life & caused them to dwell in towns & cities & to use & lay up the fruits of the earth, & that he reigned over a great part of the world & by his wife Titæa had eighteen children among which were Hyperion & Basilea the parents of Helio & Selene; that the brothers of Hyperion slew him & drowned his son Helio [ the Phaeton of the anc{ients} in Erida{nus} m{eani}ng the Nile, & divided his kingdom amongst themselves; & the country bordering upon the oce{a}n fell by lot to Atlas, from whom the people were called Atlantides. By Vranus or Iupter Vranius, Hyp{e}rion, Basilea, Helio & Selene I understand Iupiter Ammon, Osiris, Isis, Orus & Bu{b}aste. And by the sharing of the kingdom of Hyperion among his brothers the Titans, I understand the division of the earth among the Gods mentioned in the Poem of Solon.

For Solon having travelled into Egypt & conversed with the Priests of Sais about their antiquities, wrote a Poem of what he had learnt, but did not finish it. And this Poem fell into the hands of Plato, who relates out of it that at the mouth of the straits near Hercules's pillars there was an island called Atlantis, the people of which nine thousand years before the days of Solon reigned over Libya as far as Egypt & over Europe as far as the Tyrrhene sea. And all this force collected into on{e} body invaded Egypt & Greece & whatever was conteined within the pillars of Hercules, but was resisted & stopt by the Athenians & other Greeks, & thereby the {rest} ofthe nations not yet conquered were preser{v}ed. He saith also that in those days the Gods [ having finished their conquests ] divided the whole earth amongst thems{e}lves, partly into larger partly into smaller portions, & instituted Temples & sacred rites to them{se}lves, & that the island of Atlantis fell to the lot of Neptune, who made his eldest son Atlas king of the whole Island, a part of which was called Gadir; & that in the history of the said wars mention was made of cecrops, Erechtheus, Erechthoni{u}s & others before Theseus, & also of the weomen who warred with the men & of the habit & statue of Minerva, the study of war in those days being common to men & weomen. By all these circumstances it is manifest that these Gods were the Dÿ magni majorum gentium, & lived between the age of Cecrops & Theseus, & that the wars which Sesostris with his brother Neptune made upon the nations by the sea & land, & the re{s}istance he met with in Greece & the following invasion of Egypt by Neptune, are he{r}e described, & how the captains of Sesostris shared his conquests amongst themselves, as the captains of Alexander the great did his conquests long after; & instituting Temples {&} Priests & sacred rites to themselves, caused the nations to worship them after death as Gods: & that the island Gadir or Gades with all Libya as far as Egypt fell to the lot of him who after death was deified by the name of Neptune. For in that island (if I mistake not) Homer places Calypso the daughter of Atlas presently after the Trojan war, when Vlysses being shipwra{ckt}, esca{p}ed thither. For Vlysses seems to have sailed westward as far as to th{e city Lisbon} (V{lyssippoe to} which he gave his name. Homer calls this the Ogygian island, & places it 18 or 20 days sail westward from {P}hea{c}ia or Corcyra: & so many days sail Gades is from Corcyra recconing with the ancients a thousand stadia to a days sail. And {if} Vlysses did not take the shortest course he might be above 30 or 40 days in sailing {thither.} This island is by Homer described a small one, {d}estitute o{f} {s}hipping & cities, & inhabited only by Calypso & h{e}r weomen who dwelt i{n} a cave in the midst of a wood, there being no men in the island to assist Vlysses in building a new ship, & to accompany <64r> him thence. And the time when the Gods made war & shared the earth & caused themselves to be worshipped as Gods, is by Solon limited to the age of Neptune the father of Atlas & grandfather of Calypso, & so was but two generations before the destruction of Troy. This is that Neptune who with Apollo or Orus fortified Troy with a wall in the reign of Laomedon the father of Priamus, & left many natural children in Greece some of which were Argonauts & others were contemporary to the Argonauts: & therefore he flourished one generation before the Argonautic expedition, & by consequence about 400{d[310]} years before Solon went into Egypt. But the Priests of Egypt in those 400 years had magnified the stories & antiquity of their Gods so {ex}ceedingly as to make them nine thousand years older then Solon & the island of Atlantis bigger then all of Afric & Asia together & full of people. And because in the days of Solon this great island did not appear, they pretended that it was sunk into the sea with all its people. Thus great was the vanity of the Priests of Egypt in magnifying the antiquities.

The Cretans affirmed that a[311] Neptune was the first man who set out a fleet, having obteined this Prefecture of [ his father ] Saturn; whence posterity recconed things done in the sea to be under his government, & mariners honoured him with sacrifices. The invention of tall ships with sails b[312] is also ascribed to him. He was first worshipped in Afric, as Herodotus c[313] affirms, & therefore reigned over that Province. For his eldest son Atlas who succeeded him was not only lord of the island Atlantis, but also reigned over a great part of Afric giving his name to the people called Atl{an}tÿ & to the mountain Atlas & the Atlantic Ocean. The d[314] outmost parts of the earth & promontories & {whatever}{what ever} border{e}d upon the sea & was washed by it, the Egyptians called Nephtys; & on the coasts of Marmorica & Cyrene Bochart & Arius Montanus place the Naphtuim a people sprung from Misraim Gen. 10.13. And thence Neptune & his wife Neptys might have their names, the words Neptune, Neptys, & Naphtuim signifying the King Queen & people of the sea coasts. < insertion from the middle of f 63v > The Greeks tell us that Iapetus was the father of Atlas, & Bochart derives Iapetus & Neptunus from the same original. < text from f 64r resumes > He & his son Atlas are celebrated in the ancient fables for making war upon the Gods of Egypt: as where Lucian e[315] saith that Corinth being full of fables tells the fight of Sol &Neptune, that is of Apollo & Python, or Orus & Typhon; & where Agatharcides f[316] relates how the Gods of Egypt fled from the Gyants till the Titans came in & saved them by putting Neptune to flight: & where Hyginus g[317] tells the war between the Gods of Egypt & the Titans commanded by Atlas. The Titans are the posterity of Titæa, some of which under Hercules assisted the Gods others{ . } under Neptune & Atlas warred against them: for which reason, saith Plutarch, h[318] the Priests of Egypt abominated the sea & had Neptune in no honour. By Hercules I understand here the General of the forces of Thebais {&} Ethiopia whom the Gods or great men of Egypt called to their assistance against the Giants or great men of Libya who had slain   Osiris & invaded Egypt. For i[319] Diodorus saith that when Osiris made his expedition over the world he left his kinsman Hercules general o{f} his forces over <65r> all his dominions & Antæus governour of Libya & Ethiopia. Antæus reigned over all Afric to the Atlantic ocean, & built Tingis or Tangieres. Pindar k[320] tells us that he reigned at Irasa a town of Libya where Cyrene was afterwards built. He invaded Egypt & Th{eb}ais: for he was beaten by Hercules & the Egyptians near Antea or Antæopolis a town of Thebais, & Diodorus l[321] tells us that this town had its name from Antæus whom Hercules slew in the days of Osiris. Hercules overthrew him several times & every time he grew stronger by recruits from Libya his mother earth. But Hercules intercepted his recruits & at length slew him. In these wars Hercules took the Libyan world from Atlas, & made Atlas pat tribute out of his golden Orchard the kingdom of Afric. Antæus & Atlas were both of them sons of Neptune, both of them reigned over all Libya & Afric between mount Atlas & the mediterran{ea}n to the very Ocean, both of them invaded Egypt & contended {wit}h Hercules in the wars of the Gods: & therefore they are but two names of one & the same man. And even the name{s} Atlas in the oblique cases seems to have been compounded of the name Antæus & some other word put ~ before it. The invasion of Egypt by A{n}{r}tæus Ovid hath relation into where he ma{k}es Hercules say – sævo alimenta parentis Antæo e{r}ipui. This war was at length composed by the inter{v}ention of Mercury who in memory thereof was said to reconcile two contending serpents by casting his Embassadors rod between them. And thus much concerning the ancient state of Egypt Libya & Greece ~ desrcibed by Solon.

< insertion from the top of f 65v > The mythology of the Cretans differed in some things from that of Egypt & Libya. For in the Cretan mythology Cœlus & Terra or Vranus & Titæa, were the parents of Saturn & Rhea, & Saturn & Rhea were the parents of Iupiter & Iuno, & Hyperion Iapetus {&} the Titan{s} {w}ere one generation older th{e}n Iupiter. And Saturn was expelled his kingdom & castrated by his son Iupiter: which fable hath no place in the mythology of Egypt. < text from f 65r resumes > During the reign of Sesac, Ieroboam being in subjection to Egypt, set up the Gods of Egypt in Dan & Bethel, & Israel was without {a} teaching Priest, & without law, & the nations were in great adversity. For in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of nation, & {c}ity of city: for God did vex them sore{ , }{ . } {2} Chron. XV.3, 5, 6. But in the fift year of Asa the land of Iudah became quiet from war & had quiet ten years; & Asa took away the Altars of strange Gods, & brake down the Images, & built the fenced cities of Iudah with walls & towers & gates & barrs, having rest on every side, & got up an army of 580000 men, with which in the fifteenth year of his reign he met Zerah the Ethiopian who came out against him with an army of a thousand thousand Ethiopians & Libyans. The way of the Libyans was through Egypt, & therefore Zerah was now l{o}rd of Egypt. They fought at Maresha near Gerar between Egypt & Iudea, & Zerah was beaten so that he could not recover himself. And from all this I seem to gathe{r} that Osiris or Sesac was slain in the fift year of Asa, & thereupon Egypt fell into civil wars being invaded by the Libyans & defended by the Ethi{o}pians for a time, & after eight or nine years more, being invaded by the Ethiopians who slew Orus the son & successor of Sesac (& the Phaeton of the ancients,) drowning him in the Nile, & seized his kingdom. By these civil wars of Egypt the land of Iudah had rest ten years. Sesostris reigned long, Manetho saith 4{8} years, & by this recconing he began his reign about the 17th year of Solomon; & Orus his son was drowned & Egypt ~ subdued by the Ethiopians in or before the 15th year of Asa. For ~ Pliny a[322] tells us: Ægyptiorum bellis attrita est Æthiopia vicissim imperrita{n}do {serviendo} clara et potens, etiam us ad Trojana bella Memnone regnante. Ethiopia might reign over the <66r> upper part of Egypt as far as Thebes till Ammon or his father conquered it. For Homer places Thebes in Ethiopia. Then it {s}erved Egypt till the death of Sesac & no longer. For Herodotus b[323] tells us that he alone enjoyed the Empire of Ethiopia. Then the Ethiopians became free & soon after under Zerah & {Amenophis} became lords of Egypt & Libya,

When Asa by his victory over Zerah became safe from Egypt, he assembled all the people & they offered sacrifices out of the spoiles, & entred into a covenant upon oath to seek the Lord; & in lieu of the vessels taken away by Sesac he brought into the house of the Lord the things which he & his father{s} had dedicated, the gold, & the silver, & the vessels. 2. Chron. 15.

When Zerah was beaten so that he could not recover himself, the a[324] people of the lower Egypt revolted from the Ethi{opian}s, {& sending to Ierusalem} called in to their assistance 200000 Iews & Phenicians & under the conduct of one Osarsiphus a Priest of Egypt x < insertion from the middle of f 65v > (called Vsorthon Osorchon &Osorchos &Hercules Æg{y}ptius by Manetho) < text from f 66r resumes > (called Vsorth{on} by Manetho) , caused the Ethiopians now under memnon to re{t}ire to Memphys, where Memnon turned the river Nile into a new channel, built a bridge over it, & fortified that pass, < insertion from the middle of f 65v > & enlarging the city called it by his own name [ building also in the old channel between the two parts of the old city Mesir, a new city so as to make one city of the whole, which he called after his own name ] Amenoph. And thence came its names Menoph, Moph, Noph, Menophis, Memphis. This place being fortified, he went back – < text from f 66r resumes > he {&} his young son Ramesses, came down with an army from Ethiopia, conquered the lower Egypt, & drove out the Iews & Phenicians . And this action the Egypt{i}an writers & their followers call the second expulsion of the shepherds, taking Osarsiphus fro Moses. Manetho saith that the shepherds kept Egypt 511 years. C{o}unt backwards those years from the expulsion of the Iews, & the kingdom of the Shepherds in Egypt will begin about six or eight years after the expul{s}ion of the Canaanites by Ioshua.

< insertion from lower down f 65v > Historians a[325] tell us that Sard{u}{s} the Son of the Libyan Hercules, went with a Colony from Libya to Sardinia & gave his name to that Island. The Libyan H{e}rcules was he who contended with Antæus. Sesostris left him governour of the regions above Ægypt & he came down from thence to assist the Gods against the Giants. Which makes it probable that Sardus was {either} the same man with Zerah or his son, & fled from Osarsiphus into Libya & thence into Sardinia about the same time that Amenophis retired into the upper Egypt & fortified Memphis against the same Osarsiphus. < text from f 66r resumes > Tithonus a beautifull youth the elder brother of Pria{m}, went into Ethiopia, being carried thither among many captives by Sesostris: & the Greeks before the days of Hesiod feigned that Memnon was his son. Memnon therefore in the opinion of those ancient Greeks, was one generation younger then Tithonus & was born after the return of Sesostris into Ægypt suppose about 16 or 20 years a{fter} the death of Solomon. . He is said to have lived very long, & so might dye about 90 or 100 years after Solomon as we recconed above. His mother (called Cissia by Æschylus) in a statue erected to her in Egypt, a[326] was represented the daughter the wife & the mother of a king, & therefore he was the son of a king: which makes it probable that Zerah whom he succeeded in the kingdom of Ethiopia might be his father.

Historians a[327] agree that Menes reigned in Egypt next after the Gods{ , } & built Memphys & the magnificent Temple of Vulcan. . He built Memphis over against the place where Gran Cairo now stands, called by the Arabian historians Mesir. he built only the body of the Tem{p}le of Vulca{n}, & his successors Ramesses or Rhompsinitus, Mæris, Asychis, & Psa{mm}iticus built the western northern e{a}stern & southern Porticos thereof. Psammiticus who built the last Portico of this Temple reigned three hundred years after the victory of Asa over Zerah, & it is not likely that this Temple could be above three hundred years in building, or that any Menes could be king of all Egypt{ . } before the expulsion of the shepherds. The last of <67r> the Gods of Egypt was Orus with h{is} mother Isis & sister Bubaste & secretary Thoth & Vn{k}le Typhon, &the king who reigned next after all their deaths & built M{e}mphis & the {temple} of Vulcan, was Memnon or Amenophis, called by the Egyptians Amenoph, & therefore h{e} is M{e}nes. For the names Amenoph or Menoph & Menes do not much differ. And from Amenoph the city Memphys said to be built by Menes had it's Egyptian names Moph, Noph, Menoph or Menuf as it is still called by the Arabian {h}istorians. The {necessity} of {fortifying} this place against Osarsiphus gave occasion to the {b}uilding of it.

In the time of the revolt of the lower Egypt under Osarsiphus & the retirement of Amenophis into Æthiopia, Ægypt being then in the greatest distraction the Greeks built the ship Argo & sent in it the flower of Greece to Æ{e}tes at Colchos & to many other Princes on the coasts of the Euxine & Mediterranean seas. And this ship was built after the pattern of an Egyptian ship with 50 oars in which Danaus with his 50 daughters a few years before came from Egypt into Greece, & was the first long ship with sails built by the Greeks. And such an improvem{e}nt of navigation with a designe to send the flower of Greece to many Princes upon the sea coasts of the Euxin & Mediterranean seas was too great an undertaking to be set on foot without the concurrence of the Princes & States of Greece & pe{rh}aps the approbation of the Amphictyoni{c} Council. For it was {done} by {the dictate of the Oracle. } This Council met every half year upon state affairs for the welfare of Greece, & therefore {k}new of this expedition, & might sen{d} the Argonauts upon an Embassy to the said Princes, & for concealing their design{e} might make the fable of the golden fleece in relation to the ship of Phrixus whose ensign was a golden ram And probably their designe was to notify th{e} distraction of Egypt & the invasion thereof by the Æthiopians & Israelites to the said Princes & to perswade them to take that opportunity to revolt fro{m} Egypt & set up for themselves, & make a league with the Greeks. For the Argonauts went a[328] through the kingdom of Colchos by land to the Armenians, & a[329] through Armenia to the Medes : which could not have been done if they had not made friendship with tha nations through which they {pa}ssed. They visited also Laomedon king of the Trojans, Phineus king of the Thracians, {Ci}zicus king of the Doleans, Lycus king of the Mariandini, & the coasts of Mysia & Taurica Ch{e}rsonesus, & the nations upon the Tanais[330] , & the people about Byzantium, & the coasts of Epire, Corsica, Melita, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, & Gallia upon the Mediterrranean; & from thence they c[331] crossed the sea to Afric & there conferred with Eurypylus king of Cyrene. And d[332] Strabo tells us tha{t} in Armenia & Media & the neighbouring places {t}here were frequent monuments of the expedition of Iason; as also about Sinope & its sea coasts & Propontis & the Hellespont, & in the Mediterranean. And a message by the flower of Greece to so many nations could be on no other account then state policy. These nations had been {i}nvaded by the Egyptians, {b}ut after this Expedition we hear no more of their continuing in {S}{s}ubjection to Egypt.

The a[333] Egyptians originally lived on the fruits o{f} the earth & fared h{a}rdly & absteined from animals, & therefore abominated shepherds. Me{ne}s taught them to adorn their b{eds} & tables with ric{h} furniture & carpets, & brought in amongst them a sumptuous delicious & voluptuous way of li{fe}. And about an hundred {years} after his death, Gnephactus one {o}f his successors cursed him for doing it, & to reduce the luxury of Egypt caused the curse to be entered in the Temple of Iupiter at Th{e}bes. And by this curse the <68r> honour of Menes was diminished among the Egyptians{ . }

The kings of Egypt reigned first at Thebes & then at Memphys, & Thebes was famous in Homers days having been the royal city of Ammon, Osiris, Orus, Memnon, & Ramesses: but Memphys & her mira{c}les w{er}e not yet celebr{a}ted in Greece. For Homer celebrates only Thebes as in its glory. After menes had built Memph{y}s, Mœris the successor of Ramesses adorned it & made it the seat of the kingdom; & this was almost two generations after the Trojan war. Cinyras, th{e} Vulcan who married Venus & under the kings of Egypt reign{e}d over Cyprus & part of Phenicia & made armour for those kings, lived till after the times of the Trojan war. And upon his death, Menes or Memnon might deify him & found the famous Temple of Vulcan in that city for his worship, but not live to finish it. In a plane b[334] not far from Memphys are many small Pyramids, said to be built by Venephes or Enephes; & I suspect that Venephes & Enephes have been corruptly written for Memphis or Amenophis, the letters AM being almost worn out in some old Manuscript. For after the example of these Pyramids the following kings Mœris & his successors built others much larger. The plane in which they were built was the burying place of that city as ~ appears by the Mummies there found; & therefore the Pyramids were the sepulchral monuments of the kings & Princes of that city. And by these & such like works the city grew famous soon after the days of Homer, who ther{ef}ore flourished in the reign of Ramesses.

Herodotus a[335] is the oldest historian now ext{a}nt who wrote of the antiqu{i}ties of Egypt & had what he wrote from the Priests of Egypt. And Diodorus who wrote almost 400 years after him, & had his relations also from the Priests of Egypt, placed many nameles kings between those whom Herodotus placed in continuall succession. The Priests of Egypt had therefore between the days of Herodotus & Diodorus out of vanity very much incr{ease}d the numb{e}r of their kings. And what they did after the days of Herodotus they began to do before his days. F{o}r he tells us that they recited to {h}im out of their books the names of 330 kings who reign{e}d after Menes, but did nothing memorable except Nitocris & Mœris the last of them. After Mœris he reccons Sesostris, Pheron, Proteus, Rh{a}mpsinitus, Cheops, Cephren, Mycerinus, Asychis, Anysis & Nechus, Sabacus, Anysis again, Sethon, twelve contemporary kings, Psammiticus, Nechus, Psa{m}{sn}mis, Ap{rie}s, Amasis & Psammenitus. < insertion from f 67v > The Egyptians had before the days of Solon made their monarchy 9000 years old, & now th{e}y reccon to {H}erodotus a succession of 330 kings reigning so many generations (that is about 11000 years) {b}efore Sesostris. But th{e} kings who reigned long before Sesostris might reign over many little king{d}oms in several parts of Egy{p}t before the rise of their Monarchy & by consequence before the days of Eli & Samuel, & so are not under our consideration: & these names may have bee{n} multiplied by corruption. Symbol (circle with a dot in it to the left of a cross) in text < insertion from f 67v > And some of them (as Athothes or Thoth the secre{t}ary of Osiris, Tosor{th}rus or Æsculapius a physitian who invented building with square stones, Thuor or Polybus the husband of Alcandra,) were only Princes of Egypt. < text from f 67v resumes > If with Herodotus we omit the names of those kings who did nothing memorable, & consider only those whose actions are recorded, & who left splendid monu{m}ents of their having reigned over Egypt (such as were Temples, Statu{e}s, Pyramids Obelisks & Palaces d{e}dicated or ascribed to them) these kings reduced into du{e} order will {give us} all or almost all the kings of Egypt from the days of the expulsion of the shepherds & founding of the Monarchy downwards to the conquest of Egypt by Cambyses For Sesostris reigned in the age of the Gods of Egypt being deified by the names of Osiris, Hercules & Bacchus as above; & therefore Menes Nito{c}ris & Mœris are to be placed after him. Mœris is represented contemporary to Hercules the son of Alcmena by Herodotus. For b[336] he reccons both of them almost 900 years older then himself. And by this recconing Mœris was younger then Sesostris. ‡ < text from f 68r resumes > < insertion from the middle of f 67v > Menes & his son Ramesses reigned next after the Gods, & therefore Nitocris & Mœris reigned after Ramesses. < text from f 68r resumes > For Sesostris reigned in the a{g}e of the Gods of Egypt being deified by the nam{es} of Osiris Hercu{les}& Bacchus as above: & therefore Menes Nitocris & Mœris are to be placed after him. Menes & his son Ramesses or {Rhampsinicus} reigned next after the Gods & Mœris is set down immediat{e}ly before Cheops three times in the Dynasty of the kings of Egypt composed by Eratosthenes, & once in the Dynasties of Manetho: & in the same Dynasties Nitocris is set after the builders of the great Pyramids. According to H{er}odotus her brother reign{ed} before {her &} w{as s}lain & she revenged his death, & according to Sync{e}llus she built the third Pyramid. And thence I gather <69r> that the kings of Egpt mentioned by Herodotus, ought to be placed {next after Misphgmuthosi & Amosis} in this order. Ammon, Sesostris, Pheron, Proteus, Menes, Rhampsinitus, Mœris, Cheops, Cephren, Mycerinus, Nitochris, Asychis, Anysis& Nechus, Sabacus, Anysis again, Sethon, twelve contemporary kings, Psam{m}iticus, Ne{chu}s, Psammis, Apries Amasis, Psammi{nit}us. ‡ < insertion from higher up f 68v > Ægypt being at first di{v}ided into many little kingdoms like other nations, & those kingdoms growing bigger & bigger till they all united into one Monarchy, some of the chief kingdoms which flourished {next} before the rise of that Mon{a}rchy (su{p}pose in the days of Eli & the Iudges) seem to have been those of Mi{z}raim, Thebes, & Coptus, that is, the lower Egypt called Miz{r}aim from the old capital Mizraim, as above, & Aeria from the capital of the shepherds Abaris or Ἀούαρις; Thebes with its territory Thebais called Æthiopia [ Αἶα Θήβων ] by Homer; & Co{ptus} with its territory called Αἶα {Κ}όπτου the land of Copus, whence {b}[337] came the name of Egypt. And these three differed in their language before {they} became united And then the Coptic prevailed & became the language of all Egy{p}t till the times of the Greek & Latine Empires:

But how it prevail{e}d is uncertain. For there is no distinct account now remaining of the actions changes & fall of those kin{g}doms. Meph{r}amuthosis or his predecessors reduced all the upper Ægypt into one kingdom. He & his successor Amosis expelled the shepherds in the days of Eli & Samuel. Ammon & Sesa{c} in the days of David Solomon & Rehoboam made Thebes their royal seat & extended the monarchy w{e}stward to the lesser Syrt{e}s & the river Titon & even to the mouth of the straits, southward {in}to Æthiopia above the Catara{c}ts & into Arabia felix, eastward into India as far as the river Ganges, & northward to Cau{ca}sus the black sea & Thrace& Sesac dividing Ægypt into Nomes made Coptus {the} hear city of one of the nomes.

Pheron is by Herodotus a[338] called the Son & Successor of Sesostris, & so seems to be the same king with Orus. For Herodotus b[339] tells us also that Orus, called Apollo by the Greeks , was the son of Osiris, & reigned the last of the Gods, being slain & succeeded by Typhon. Pliny calls him Nuncoreus. < text from f 69r resumes >

Pheron is by Herodotus a[340] called the son & successor of Sesostris, & so seems to be the same king with Orus . For Herodotus b[341] tells us that Orus ({called} Apollo by the Greeks) was {the son} of Osiris & reigned the last of the Gods, be{i}ng slain & su{cceed}ed by Typhon. Pliny calls him Nun{e}oreus.

Proteus reigned in the lower Egypt when Paris sailed thither And at that time Amenophis was king of Egypt & Ethiopia. But Proteus might be Governour of some part of the lower Egypt under him. For Homer places Proteus upon the sea coasts & makes him a sea-God, & calls him the servant of Neptune & Herodotus saith that he rose up from among the common people, & that Pr{o}teus was his name translated into Greek: & this name in Greek signifies only a Prince or President.

Amenophis reigned next after Orus & Isis the last of the Gods, & about 50 or 52 years after the death of Solomon by conquering Osarsiphus who had revolted from him, became king of all Egypt. He ordered the worship of the Gods of Egypt & built a Palace at Abydus, & the Memnonia at This & Susa. # < insertion from the middle of f 69v > & the magnificent temple of Vulcan in Memphis, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ the building with cut stones being found out before by Tosor{}thros, the Æsculapius of Egypt. < text from f 69r resumes > the {buildings of} square stones being found out before by Tosortho{u}s the {Æ}{A}sculapius of Ægypt. He is by corruption of his name called Menes, Mines, Minæus, Minies, Mineus, Mn{e}vis, Enephes, Venephes, Phamenophis, Osymandes, Ismandes, Imandes, Memnon, Arminon. After he had built Memphys & the Temple of Vulcan, he was succeeded by his son called by Herodotus Rhampsinitus, & by others Ramses, Ra{mi}ses, Rameses, Ramesses, Ramestes, Rham{p}ses, Remphis . Vpon an Obelisk erected by this king in Helio{p}olis & sent to Rome by the Emperor Constantius, was an inscription interpreted by Hermapion an Egyptian Priest, expressing that the king was long lived, & reigned over a great {p}art of the earth. And Strabo {} an eye witness ~ tells us that in the monum{e}nts of the kings of Egypt above the Memnonium were inscriptions upon Obelisk{s} expressing the riches of the kings & their reigning as far as Scythia Bactria India & Ionia. And Tacitus a[342] tells us from an inscription seen at Thebes by Cæsar Germanicus & interpreted to him by the Egyptian Priests, that this king Ramesses had an army of 700000 men, & reigned over Libya, Ethiopia, Media, Persia, Bactria, Scythia, Armenia, Cappadocia, Bithynia, Lycia. This king was very covetous, & a great collector of Taxes, & one of the richest of all the kings of Egypt. He built the western Portico of the Temple of Vulcan, & mœris built the northern Portico thereof more sumptuously & therefore reigned after Amenophis & his son Ram{esse}s. . Mœris also inheriting the riches of Ramesses, made the Lake of Mœris with two great Pyra{m}ids of brick in the midst of it, & the Labyrinth adjoyning which was a very magnificent structure. And for preserving the division of Egypt into equal shares amongst his soldiers, this king wrote a book of surveying which gave a beginning to Geometry. He is called also Maris, Myris, Meres, Marres, Smarres, & corruptly (by {c}hanging Μ into Α, Τ, VI, Σ, ΥΧ, Λ, &c) Ayres, Tyris, {B}y{i}res, Soris, Vchoreus, Lachares, Labaris, , &c.

Diodorus a[343] places Vchoreus between Osimandes & Myris & says that he built Memphys & fortified it to admiration with a mighty rampart of earth, & a broad & dep trench which was filled with the water of the Nile , & made < insertion from the bottom of f 69v > & made there a vast & deep lake for receiving the water of the Nile in the time of its overflowing, < text from f 69r resumes > & built palaces in the city : & that this place was so {commodiously} seated that most of the kings who reigned after him pre <70r> ferred it {b}efore Thebes &removed the Court from thenc{e} to this place, so that the magnificence of Thebes from that time began to decreas{e} & that of Memphys to increase till Alexander king of Macedon built Alexandria. These great works of Vchoreus & those of Mœris savour of one & the same genius, & were certainly done by on{e} & the same king distinguished into two by a corruption of the name as above ‡ < insertion from higher up f 69v > For This Lake of Vchoreus was certainly the same with that which was called the Lake of Mœris. < text from f 70r resumes > . Or else Vchoreus might fortify the city & build the Palaces, & then Mœris might add the Lake & Pyramids {& Labyrinth. }

After the example of the {t}wo brick Pyramids maed by Mœris the three next kings Cheops, Cephren & Mycerinus built the three great Pyramids. Cheops shut up the Temples & prohibited the worship of the Gods of Egypt, designing no doubt to have been worshipped himself after death. He is called also Chembis, Chemmis, , Suphis, Saop{h}is, Siphoas, Siphaosis, Soiphis, Siphuris, Anoiphis, Anoisis, . He built the first of the three great Pyramids which stand together, & his brother or Cerp{heres} Cephren or built the second &his son Mycerinus founded the third. This last king was {celebrated} for clemency & justice. He shut up the dead body of his daughter in a hollow Ox & caused her to be worshipped daily with odours. He is called also Cheres, Cherinus, Bicheres, Moscheres, Mencheres. He died before the third Pyramid {w}as finished & his sister & succe{s}sor Nitocris finished it. Then reigned Asychis who built the eastern Portico of the Temple of Vulcan very splendidly, & among the small Pyramids a large Pyramid of brick made of mud dug out of the lake of Mœris. And these are the kings who reigned at memphys & spent their time in adorning that city untill Egypt lost all her dominion abroad & became again divided into several small kingdoms, Symbol (circle with a dot in it to the right of a cross) in text < insertion from the middle of f 69v > one of which was in Thebais (or according to Africanus in Sais) under Gnephactus (otherwise called Technatis & Neochabi{s}) & his son & successor Boccharis. < text from f 70r resumes > one of which was in Thebais under Gnephactus & Boccharis.

Diodorus recites the same kings of Egypt with Herodotus but in a more confused order, & repeats some of the twice or thrice under various names & omits others. . His kings are these. Iupiter (Ammon) & Iuno, Osiris & Isis, Horus, Menes, Busiris I, Busiris II, Osymanduas, Vchoreus, Myris, Sesoosis I, Sesoosis II, Amasis, Actisanes, Mendes or Marrus, Proteus, Remphis, Chembis, Chepren, Micerinus or Ch{e}rinus, Gnephactus, Boccharis, Sabacus, Twelve contemporary kings, Psammiticus, * * Vaphres, Amasis. In reciting the kings which follow Actisanes & some of those which precede him, namely Menes Myris, Sesoosis I & Sesoosis II, Diodorus agrees with Herodotus. Amasis & Actis{a}nes an Ethiopian who conquered him I take to be the same with Anysis & Sabacus in Herodotus. And Busiris is the same with Osiris, the Greeks deducing the names from the Egyptian lamentations O-Siris, Bu-{S}iris. For Diodorus saith that the tumb of Osiris where they sacrificed red men was called Busiris; & the building of Thebes he ascribes to both Osiris & Busiris. These things being understood, the kings mentioned by Diodorus {if} you allow but {one} Busiris {& one} {Sesoosis} may be reduced to this order. Iupiter Ammon & Iuno. Osiris, Busiris, or Sesoosis, & Isis. Horus, [ Busiris II, or Sesoosis II. ] Menes or Osimanduas. Remphis or Ramesses. Vchoreus, {or} Myris. or Mendes or Marrus. Ch{e}mbis. Cephren. Mycerinus. * . * . Gnephactus. Boccharis & Amasis. Actisanes or Sabacus. * . Twelve contemporary kings. Psammiticus. * . * . Vaphr{e}s. Amosis. And this race of kings, if you insert Nitocris, Asychis, Seth{o}n, Nechus & Psammis in their proper places, will agree with that of Herodotus.

Whilst Gnephactus or Tnephactus & his son Boccharis reigned in the upper Egypt, others reigned in {sev}eral parts of the lower Egypt: as Anysis or Amosis at Anysis or Hanes (Isa. 30.4.) Stephanates Nechepsos & Nechus at Sais; Petuba{st}es Osorchon & Psammus at Tanis or Zoan: And <71r> Egypt being weakened by this division, was invaded & conquere{d} by the Ethiopians under Sabacus or Saba{c}on who slew Boccharis & Nechus & made Anysis fly. The Olympiads began in the reign of Pent{e}bastes & the {Æra} of Nabonassar in t{h}e 22{th} year of Boccharis according to Africanus, & there{f}ore the division of Egypt into many kingdoms was a little before.

After the study of Astr{o}nomy was set on foot for the {us}e of Navigation, & the Egyptians by the Heliacal risings & settings of the sta{r}rs had determined the length of the solar year of 365 days, & by other observations had fixed the solstic{e}s & formed the fixt stars into Asterisms (all which was done in the reign of Ammon Sesack & Memnon) it may be presumed that they continued to observe th{e} motions of the Planets. For they called them after the names of their Gods, & Nechepsos or Nicepsos king of Sais by the assistance of Petosiris a Priest of Egypt, invented Astrology grounding it upon the asspects of the Planets & the qualities of the men & weomen to whom they were dedi{c}ated. And in the reign of Nabonasser, in whose days the Ethiopians under Sabacus, invaded Egypt; {t}hose Egyptians who fled from him to Babylon (a place formerly subject to Egypt,) carried thither the Egyptian year of 365 days & the study of Astronomy& Astrology, & founded the Æra of Nabonassar in the E{gyptian} years dating it from the first year of that kings reign, which was the 22th year of Boccharis according to Africanus, & beginning the year on the same day with the Egyptians. From the 15th year of Asa in which Zerah was beaten & Menes or Amenophis began his reign, to the beginning of the Æra of Nabonasser; were 200 years; & this interval of time allows room for 10 or 11 reigns of kings, at about 18 or 20 years to a reign one with another. And so many reigns there were according to the account set down above out of Herodotus & Diodorus, & therefore that account, as it is the oldest, so it agrees with the course of nature, & leaves no room for the great intervalls of nameless kings which we have omitted.

In the Dynasties of Manetho Sevechus is made the successor of Sabacus, & perhaps he is the Sethon of Herodotus. For Sabacus is that So or Sua with whom Hoshea King of Israel c{o}nspired against the Assyrians in th{e} fourth year of Hezekiah, Anno Nabonass. 24. Herodotus tells us that Sabacus after a long reign of fifty years relinquished Egypt voluntarily, & that Anysis who fled from him returned & reigned again in the lower Egypt, & was succeeded by Sethon, & that Sethon went to Pelusium against the army of Sennacherib, & was releived by a great multitude of mise which eat the bowstrings of the Assyrians; in memory of which the statue of Sethon (seen by Herodotus) was made with a mouse in its hand. A mouse was the Egyptian symbol of destruction, & the mouse in the hand of Sethon signifies only that he overcame the Assy{r}ians with a great destruction. The scriptures inform  us that when Sennacherib invaded Iudea & beseiged Lachish & Libnah (which was in the 14 year of Hezekiah, Anno Nabonass. 34) the king of Iudah trusted upon Pharaoh king of Egypt, that is, uopn Sethon, & that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia cam{e} out also to fight against Sennacherib (2 King. 18.21 & 19.9.) Which makes it probable that when Sennacherib heard of the kings of Egypt & Ethiopia coming against him [344], he went from Libnah towards Peleusium to oppose them, & was there surprized & set upon in the ni{g}ht by them both, & routed with as great a slaughter as if the bowstrings of the Assyrians had been eaten by mise. . Some think that the Assyrians were smitten by lightning or by a fiery wind which sometimes comes from the southern parts of Chaldea. After this <72r> victory that Tirhakah succe{e}ding Sethon, carried his arms westward through Libya & Afric to the straits mouth, & was perhaps succeeded by Merres or Ammerres, tho Herodotus tells us that the Priests of Egypt recconed Sethon the last king of Egypt who reigned before the division of Egypt into twelve contemporary kingdoms, & by consequence before the invasion of Egypt by the Assyrians.

For Asserhadon king of Assyria in the 67th or 68th year of Nabonasser, after he had reigned about 30 years over Assyria, invaded the kingdom of Babylon, & then carried into captivity many people from Babylon & Cutha & Ava  & Hamath & Sepharvaim placing them in the regions of Samaria & Damascus. And from thence they carried into Babylonia & Assyria the remainder of the people of Israel & Syria which had been left there by Tiglathpileser. This captivity was {6}5 years after the first year of Ahar (Isa. 7.1, 8 & 2 King. 15.37 & 16.5) & by consequence in the twentieth year of Manasses, Anno Nabonass. 69. And then Tar{t}an was se{n}t by Asserhadon with an army against Ashdod or Azoth, (a town at that tim{e} subject to Iudea {2} Chron. 26.6) & took it. (Isa. 20.1.) And this post being secured, the Assyrians beat the Iews & captivated Manasses, & subdued Iudea. And in these wars Isaiah was sawn asunder by the command of Manasses for prophesying against him. Then the Assyrians invaded & subdued Egypt & Ethiopia, & carried th{e} Egyptians & Ethi{o}pians into captivity, & thereby put an end to the reign of the E{th}iopians over Egypt ( Isa. 7.18 & 8.7 & 10.11, 12 & 19. {2}3 & 20.4.) In this war the City N{o–}Ammon or Thebes which had hiterto continu{ed} in a flourishing condition was misesrably wasted & l{e}d into capt{ivi}ty as is described by Nah{um}, chap. 3.8, 9, 10. . For Nahum wrote after the last invasion of Iudea by the Assyrians ( chap. 1.15.) & therefore describes this captivity as fresh in memory. And this & other following invasions of Egypt under Nebuchadnezzar & Ca{m}byses put an end to the glory of that city. Asserhadon reigned over the Egypti{a}ns & Ethiopians three years (Isa 20.3, 4) that is untill his death which was in the year of Na{b}onassar 81, & then {as} Egypt remained subject to twelve contemporary Kings who s{ha}red the kingdom between them & reigned together fifteen ye{ar}s, (including , I think, the three years of Asserhadon bec{a}use the Egyptians do no{t} re{c}con among their kings,) & then Psammiti{c}us who was one of them conquere{d} all the rest. He built the last Portico of the Temple of Vulcan founded by ~ Menes about 260 years before, & reigned 54 years including the 15 years of the twelve kings. For he was one of them. Then reigned his son Nechaoh or Nechus 17 years, Psammis six years, Vaphres Apries, Eraphius, or Ho{p}hra 25 years, Amasis 44 years & Psammiticus six months. Egypt was subdued by Nebuchadnezzar in the last year but one of Hophra, Ann{o} Nabon{a}ss. 178, & remained in subjection to babylon 40 years, (Ier. {3}{4}.30 & Ezek. 19.12, 13, 14, 17, 19.) that is, almost all the reign of Amasis a plebeian set over Egypt by the conqueror. The 40 years ended with the death of Cyrus: f{o}r he reigned over Egypt & Ethiopia according to Xenophon. At that time therefore those nations recovered their libert{y}, but after four years more they were invaded & conquered by Cambyses, anno Nabonass. 223, & have ever since remained in servitude, as was predicted by th{e} Prophets.

The division of Egypt into more kingdoms then one both before & after the war of Sennacherib, & th{e conquest of Egypt} by the Assyrians the Prophet Isaias [345] seems to allude unto in the{se} words. I will set, saith he, the Egyptians against the Egyptians, & they shall fight every one agai{n}st hi{s} neighbour, city {a}gainst city & kingdom against kingdom, & the <73r> spirit of Egypt shall fail. – And the Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a cruel Lord [ videlicet Asserhadon ] & a fierce king shall reign over them. – Surely the Princes of Zoa{n} [ Tanis ] are fools, the counsel of the wise Counsellours of Pharaoh is become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wis{e}, the son of the ancient kings. – The Princes of Zoan are become fools: th{e} Pri{nce}s of Noph [ Memphis ] are deceived, they have also seduced Egypt, they that were the st{a}y of the Tribes thereof In that day there shall be a high way out of Egypt into Assyria, & the Egyp{t}ians shall serve the Assyrians.

Pliny tells us that the Egypti{an} Obelisks were of a sort of stone dug neare Syene in Thebais, & that the first Obelisk was made by Mitres (that is Misphris or Mephres Misphramuthosis) ) who reigned in Heliopolis, & afterwards oth{e}r kings made others, Sachis (that is, Sesochis or Sesac) four, each of 48 cubits in l{en}gth, Ramises (. Ramesses) two, Smarres (that is Marrus or Mœris) one of 48 Eraphius (or Hophra) one of 48, & Nectabis (or Nectenabis) one of 80. Mephres therefore extended his dominion over all the upper Egypt from Syene to Heliopolis. He descended I think from the kings of Coptos, & conquered Heliopolis. And His successors Mephr{amutho}sis & Amosis Th{u}mmosis or Tethmosis conquered the lower Egypt ex{pelling} the sheph{e}rds, & then reigned Ammon & Sesac who erected the first great Empire in the world: & these four, Amosis, Ammon, Sesac & Orus reigned in the four ages of the great Gods of Egypt, & Amanophis was the Menes who reigned nex{t} after them & was succeeded by Ramesses {&} Mœris, & {some time} after by Hop{hra}

<74r>

I have now recited all the kings of Egypt who reigned after Mephramuthosis, Amosis, & Ammon, till the conquest of Egypt by the Persians, & did any thing memorable. And herein I have followed the earl{y} tradition of the priests of Egypt recited by Herodotus the oldest author extant who wrote of the affairs of Egypt, & in my opinion the most authentic. For he went a[347] to Memphis Heliopolis & Thebes to inform himself of the Priests of all these cities abo{u}t their antiquities. All these kings of Egypt & only these are named by him, & they are sufficient to take up the above mentioned interval of time without any straining. And if hehath named some of them in wrong order, he had that order from the priests of Egypt themselves. Vpon deifying their kings they gave them new names, & Sesostris they called Sihor, which name the Greeks turned into Osiris. And placing Osiris among their Gods, & endeavouring to make their Gods vene{r}able for antiquity, at length they made them many thousands of years older then Sesostris, & between them & Sesostris placed some of their kings. But this error being rectified by reuniting the persons of Osiris & Sesostris, & those of Orus & Pheron, & those of Menes & Amenophis; the list of the kings of Egypt set down by herodotus proves right.

Egypt was conquered by the Ethiopians under Sabacon about the beginning of the Æra of Nabonassar, that is, about three hundred years before Herodotus wrote his history. And almost eighty years after that conquest it was conquered again by the Assyrians under Asserhadon. And the history of Egypt set down by Herodotus, from the time of this last conquest, is right both as to the number & order & nam{e}s of the kings, & as to the length of their reigns. And therein he is now followed by historians, being the only an{c}ient author who hath given us so good an history of Egypt for that intervall of time. And if his history of the earlier times is less accurate, it was because the archives of Egypt had suffered much during the reign of the Ethiopians & Assyrians. And it is not likely that the Priests of Egypt who lived two or three hundred years after the days of Herodotus could mend the matter. On the contrary, after Cambyses had carried away the records of Egypt, the priests were dayly feigning new kings to make their Gods & nation look ancient, as is manifest by comparing Herodotus with Diodorus siculus & both of them with wh{at} Plato relates out of the poem of Solon, which poem makes the wars of the great Gods of Egyp{t} against the Greeks to have been in the age of Ce{c}rops, Erechtheus, & Erechthoniu{s, } & a little before those of Theseus; these Gods at that time instituting temples & sacred rites to themselves. And therefore I have chosen to rely upon the stories related to Herodotus by the priests of Egypt in those days , & corrected only by the poem of Solon so as to make the Gods of Egypt no older then Cecrops & Erechtheus, & the temple of Vulcan not above 280 years in building; then to correct Herodotus by Manetho, Eratosthenes, Diodorus, & others, who lived after the Priests of Egypt had completed their antiquities much more then the{y} had done in the days of Herodotus.

<75r>

Chap. III
Of the Assyrian Empire.

<77r>

Chap. III.
Of the Assyrian Empire.

As the Gods or ancient Kings & Princes of Greece Egypt & Syria of Damascus have been made much ancienter then the truth, so have those of Chaldea & Assyria. For Diodorus {a}[348] tells us that when Alexander the great was in Asia the Chaldeans recconed 473000 years since they first began to observe the stars. And C{t}esias & the ancient Greek & Latin writers who copy from him have made the Assyrian Empire as old as Noah's flood within 60 or 70 years & tell us the names of all the kings of Assyria downwards from Belus & his feigned son Ninus to Sardanapalus the last king of that Monarchy. But th{e} names of his kings, except two or three, have no affinity with the names of the Assyrians mentioned in Scripture. For the Assyrians were usually named after their Gods Bel or Pul, Chaddon, Haddon, Adon or Adonis, Melech or Moloch, Atsur or Assur, Nebo, Nergal, Merodach; as in these names, Pul, Tiglath-Pul-Assur, Salmon-Asser, Adra-melech, Shar-asser, Asser-haddon, Sardanapalus or Asser-hadon-pul, Nabonasser, or Nabo-adon -asser, Bel-adan, Chiniladon or Chen-el - adon, Nabo -pul-asser, Nebu-chadon-asser, Nebuzaradon or Neboasser-adon, Nergal-ass{e}r, Nergal-shar-asser, Labo-asserdach, Sheseb-asser, Beltes-asser, Evil-merodach, ~ Shamgar-nebo, Rabsaris or Rab-asser, Nebus-shashban, Mardocempad or Merodach-empad. Such were the Assyrian names; but those in Ctesias are of another sort, except Sardanapalus whose name he had met with in Herodotus. He makes Semiramis as old as the first Belus, but Herodotus tells us that she was but five ~ g{e}nerations older then the mother of Labynitus. He represents that the city Ninus was founded by a man of the same name, & Babylon by Semiramis: whereas either Nimrod or Asser founded those & other cities without giving his own name to any of them{ . } He makes the Assyrian Empire continue about 1360 years, whereas Herodotus tells us that it lasted but 500 years, & the numbers of Herodotus concerning those old times are all of them too long. He makes Nineveh destroyed by the Medes & Babylonians, three hundred years before the reign of Astibares & Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed it & sets down the names of seven or eight feigned kings of Media between the destruction of Nineveh & the <78r> reigns of Astibares & Nebuchadnezzar, as if the Empire of the Medes erected upon the ruins of the Assyrian Empire had lasted 300 years, whereas it lasted but 72. And the tru{e} Empire of the Assyrians described in ~ scripture, whose kings were Pul, Tiglathpulasser, Salmanasser, Senacherib, Asserhadon &c he mentions not tho much nearer to his own times: which shews that he was ignorant of the antiquities of the Assyrians. Yet something of truth there is in the bottom {of} s{o}me of his stories as there uses to be i{n} Romances: as that Ni{nev}eh was destroyed by the Medes & Babylonians, that Sardanapalus was the last king of the Assyrian Empire, & that Astibares & Astyages were kings of the Medes. But he has made all things too ancient, & out of vain glory taken too great a liberty in feigning names & stories to please his reader.

When the Iews were newly returned from the Babyloni{a}n captivity, they confessed their sins in this manner. Now therefore our God – – – – –let not all the trouble seem little before thee which hath come upon us, on our kings, on our Princes, on our Priests, & on our Prophets, & on our fathers, & on all thy people since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day (Nehem. IX.32.) that is, since the time of the kingdom of Assyria, or since the rise of that empire. And therefore the Assyrian empire arose when the kings of Assyria began to a{ff}lict the inhabitants of Palestin{e} : which was in the days of Pul. He & his successors afflicted Israel & conquered the nations round about; & upon the ruin of many small & ancient kingdoms erected their empire, conquering the Medes as well as other nations. But of these conquests {Ct}esias knew not a word, no not so much as the names of the conquerors, or that there was an Assyrian empire the{n} standing. For he supposes that the Medes reigned at that time, & that the Assy{ri}an empire was at an end above 250 years before it began.

However, we must allow that Nimrod founded a kingdom at Babylon, & perhaps e{x}tended it into Assyria. But this king{dom} was but of small extent if compared with the Empires which rose up afterwards. And if it had been greater yet it was but of short continuance, it being the custome in thos{e} early ages, for every father to divide his territories amongst his sons. So {Ch}am was king of all Afric & Iaphet of all Asia minor & Europe, but they left no standing kingdoms. < insertion from lower down f 77v > The four kings who in the days of Abraham invaded the southern coast of Canaan came from the countries where Nimrod had reigned & perhaps were some of his posterity who had shared his conquests. And – – < text from f 78r resumes > After the days of Nimrod we hear no more of the Assyrian Empire , or of Nineveh or Babylon till the days of Ionah. In the time of the Iudges of Israel{ , } Mesopotamia was under its own king (Iud. III.8) & th{e} king of Zoba reigned on both sides the river Euphrates till David conquered him (2 Sam. VIII & X.) The kingdoms of Israel, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Philistia, Zidon, Damascus & Hamath the great, continued subject to other Lords then the Assyrians till the reign of Pul & his successors & so did the house of Eden (Amos. 1.5. 2 King. XIX.12.) & Haran or Carrhæ (Gen. XII. 2 King. XIX.12) & Sephar{v}aim in Mesopotamia & Calneh near Bagdad (Gen. X.10. Isa. X.8. 2 King. XVII.31.) . Sesac & Memnon were great conquerors in the east but in their histories there's not a word of any opp{osi}tion m{ade to them by an} Assyrian Empire then standing. O{n} the contrary Susiana, Media, Persia, Bactria, Armenia, Cappadocia &c were conquered by them <79r> & continued subject to the kings of Egypt till after th{e} long reign of Ramesses the son of Memnon as above. Homer mentions Bacchus & Memnon kings of Egypt & Persia, but knew nothing of an Assyrian empire. Ionah prophesied when Israel was in affliction under the king of Syria, & this was in the latter part of th{e} reign of Ieh{o}ahas & first part of the reign of Ioas kings of Israel, & I think in the reign of Mœris the successor of Ramesses king of Egypt, & about sixty years before the reign of Pul. And Nineveh was then a city of large e{xtent} but full of past{u}res for cattel, so that it conteined but about 120000 persons. It was not yet grown so great & potent as not to be terrified at the preaching of Ionah, & to fear being invaded by its neighbours & ruined within 40 days. It had now revolted from the dominion of Egypt & had got a king of its own; but its king was not yet called king of Assyria but only king of Nineveh (Ionah III.6, 7) 7amp; his Proclamation for a fast was not published in several nations, nor in all Assyria, but only in Nineveh & perhaps in the villages thereof. But{ . . } soon after when the dominion of Nineveh was established at home & exalted over all Assy{r}ia properly so called, , & this kingdo{m} began to make war upon the neighbouring nations, its kings were no longer called kings of nineveh but kings of Assyria.

Amos prophesied in the reign of Ieroboam the son of I{o}as king of Israel soon after Ieroboam had subdued the kingdoms of Damascus & Hamath, that is, about ten or twenty years before the reign of {Pul} ; & a[349] h{e} thus reproves Israel for being lifted up by those conqu{es}ts Ye which rejoyce in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not ta{k}en to us horns by our strength? {B}e{h}od I will raise up against you a nation, o house of Israel, saith the Lord, & the{y} shall afflict you from the entring in of Hamath unto the river of the wilderness. God here threatens to raise up a nation against Israel. but what nation he names n{o}t. That he conceals till the Assyrians should appear & discover it. In the prophesies of Isaiah, Ieremiah, Ezekiel, Hos{e}a, Micah, Nahum, Zephany, & Zechary, which were written after this Monarchy grew up, its openly named upon all occasions: but in this of Amos not once, though the captivity of Syria & Israel be the subject of the Prophesy, & that of Israel be often threatned. He only saith in general that Syria should go into captivity unto Kir, & that Israel notwithstanding her present greatness, should go into captivity beyond Damascus, & that God would raise up a nation to afflict them, meaning that he would raise up above them from a lower condition, a nation whom they yet feared not. For so the Hebrew word מקם sig{ni}fies when applied to men, as in Amos V.2. 1 Sam. XII.II. Psal. CXIII.7. Ier. X.20, & L.32. Hab. 1.6. Zech. XI.16. Amos mentions the Assyrians not once. At the writing of t{h}is prop{h}esy they made no great figure in the world, but were to be raised up{ . } against Israel, & by consequence rose up in the days of Pul & his successors. For after Ieroboam had c{on}quered Damascus & Hamath, his successor Menahem destroyed Tipsah with its territories upon Euphrates because they opened not to him. And therefore Israel continued in its greatness till Pul (probably grown formidable by some victories) caused Mena{hem} to buy his peace. Pul therefore reigning presently after the <80r> prophesy of Amos, & being the first upon record who began to fulfill it, may {be} justly recconed th{e} first conqueror & found{e}r of this Empire. For God stirred up the spirit of Pul & the {S}{s}pirit of Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, 1 Chron. V.20.

The same prophet Amos, in prophesying against Israel threatned them in this manner with what had lately befallen other kingdoms. Pass ye, saith a[350] he, to Calneh & see, & from thence go down to Hamath the great, then go down to Gath of the Philistims. {B}e they better than these kingdoms? Amos. VI.2. These kingdoms were not yet conquered by the Assyrians except that of Calneh or Chalonitis upon Tigris between Babylon & Nineve{h}, Gath was newly vanquished by Vzziah king of Iudah, (2 Chron. 26) & Hamath by Ieroboam king of Israel. (2 King. 14.) And while the Prophet in threatning Israel with the Assyrians, instances in desolations made by other nations, & mentions no other conquest of the Assyrians then that of Chalonitis neare Nineveh, it argues that the king of Nineveh was now beginning his conquests, & had not yet made any great progress in that vast career of victories which we read of a few years after.

For about seven years after the captivity of the ten Tribes when Sennacherib wa{rr}ed in Syria (which was in the 16th Olympiad,) he a[351] sent this message to the king of Iudah. Behold thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all nations by destroying them utterly, & sh{a}lt thou be delivered? Have the Gods of the nations delivered whom the Gods of my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan & Haran & Reseph & the children of Eden which were in [ the kingdom of ] Thalassar? {W}here is the king of Hamath, & the king of Arpad, & the king of the city of Sepha{r}vaim, & of Henah & Ivah? And Isaiah b[352] thus introduceth the king of A{s}sy{r}ia boasting. Are not my princes altogether as kings? Is not {C}alno [ or Calneh ] as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arphad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath found the kingdoms of th{e} idols, & whose graven images did exce{ll} them of Ierusalem & of Samaria; shall not I as I have done unto Samaria & her idols do so to Ieru{+}{}salem & her idols? All this desolation is re{c}ited as fresh in memory to terrify the Iews, & these kingdoms reach to the borders of Assyria, & to shew the largeness of the conquests they are called all lands, that is, all round about Assyria. It was the manner of the kings of Assyria, for {p}reventing the rebellion of people newly conquered, to captivate & transplant those of several countries into one another's lands, & intermix them variously. And thence it appears c[353] that Halah & Habor & Hara & Gozan & the cities of the Medes into which Galil{e} & Samaria were transplanted, & K{iv} into which Damascus was trans{planted} & Babylon & Cuth or the Susanchites & Hamath & Ava & Sepharvaim & the Dinaites & the Apharsathchites & the Tarpelites & the Archevites & the Dehavites & the Elamites or Persians, part of all which nations were led captive by Asserhadon & his predecessors into Samaria, were all of them conquered not long before.

In these conquests are involved on th{e} west & south side of Assyria the kingdoms of Mesopotamia whose royal seats were Har{a}n or Carrhæ, & Carchemish or Circulium, & Sepharvaim a city upon Euphrates between Babylon & Nineveh called Sipparæ by {Be}rosus Abyd{e}nu{s} & Polyhistor & Sipphar{a}{æ} by Ptolomy, & the kingdoms of Syria seat{e}d at Samaria, Damascus, Gath, Hamath, Arpad & Rezeph a city placed by Ptolomy neare Thapsacus. On the south side & south-east side were Babylon & Calneh or Calno <81r> a city which was founded by Nimrod w{h}ere Bagdad now stands & gave the name of Chalonitis to a lar{g}e region under its government; & Thalassar or Talatha a city of the ~ children of Een placed by Ptolomy in Babylonia upon the common stream of Tigris & Euphrates, which was therefore the river of Paradise, & the Archevites at {Æ}recca or Erech a city built by Nimrod on the east side of Pasitigris between Apamia & the Persian gulph, & the Susanchites at Cuth or Susa th{e} metropolis of Susiana. On the east were Elymais & some cit{i}es of the Medes, & Kir a city & large re{g}ion of Media between Elymais & Assyria (Isa XXII.6) called Kirene by the Chalde Paraphrast & Latine Interpreter & Carine by Ptolomy. On the nort{h} east were Habor or Chaboras a mountanous region between Assyria & Media, & the Apharsachites or men of Arraphachitis a region originally peopled by Arphaxad & placed by Ptolomy at the bottom of that mountain next Assyria. And on the north between Assyria & the Gordi{œ}{æ}an mountains was Halah or Chaldach the Metropolis of Calachene. And beyond these upon the Caspian sea{ , } was Gozan called Gauzania by Ptolomy. Thus did these new conquests extend every way from the province of Assyria to considerable distances, & make up the great body of that Monarchy: so that well might the king of Assyria boast how his armies h{a}d destroyed all lands. All these a[354] nations had till now their several Gods, & each accounted his God the God of his own land & the defender thereof against the Gods of the neighbouring countries, & particularly against that of Assyria; & therefor{e} they were never till now united under the Assyrian Monarchy: but being small kingdoms the king of Assyria easily overflowed them. Know ye not , b[355] saith Sennacherib to the Iews, what I & my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? – – – – – – for no God of any nation or kingdom was able to deliv{e}r his people out of my hand & out of the hand of my fathers: how then shall your God deliver you out of mine hand? He & his fathers therefore Pul, Tiglathpulasser & Salmonasser were great conqu{e}rours, & with a current of victories had newly overflowed all nations round about Assyria, & thereby set up this Monarchy.

Between the reigns of Ieroboam II & his {s}on Zecharias there was an interregnum of about {ten} or twelve years. And the Prophet Hoseah a[356] in the time of that interregnum, or soon after, mentions th{e} king of Assyria by the name of Iarib, & another conqueror by the name of Salman. And perhaps Salmon might be the first part of the name of Salmanasser, & Iarib (or Irib (for it may be read both ways) the last part of the name of his successor Sennacherib. But {whoever}{who ever} these Princes were, it appears not that they reigned before Salmanasser. Pul (or Belus) seems to be th{e} first who carried on his conquests beyond the Province of Assyria. {H}e conquered Calneh with its territories in the r{e}ign of Ieroboam (Amos. I.1 & VI.2 & Isa. X.8, 9) & invaded Israel in the reign of Menahen (2 King. XV.19) but stayed not in the land, being bought off by Menahen for a thousand tal{e}nts <82r> of silver. In his reign t{h}erefore the kingdom of Assyria was advanced on this side Tigris. For he was a gre{a}t warrior, & seems to have conquered Haran & Carchemish & Reseph & Calneh & Thalassar & might found or enlarge the city Babylon.

Herodotus tells us that one of the {g}ates of Babylon a[357] wa{s} called the gate of Sem{i}ramis, & that she adorned the w{alls} of the city & the Temp{les} & that she b[358] was five generations older then Nitocris the mother of Laby{ni}tus or Nabonnedus the last king of Babylon & therefore she flourished six generations or 200 years before Nabonnedus & by conse* < insertion from higher up f 81v > quence in the reign of Pul & his succ{e}ssor Tiglathpileser. And the followers of Ctesias tell us that she built Babylon & was the wi{d}dow of the son & successor of Belus the founder of the Assyrian empir, that is the widdow of one of the sons of Pul. But c[359] Berosus a Chaldæan blames the Greeks for ascribing the building of Babylon to Semiramis. And other authors ascribe the building of this city to Belus himself, that is to Pul. So Curtius d[360] tells us: Semiramis Babylonem condiderat vel ut plerique credidere Belus, cujus regia ostenditur . And Abydenus, e[361] who had his history from the ancient monuments of the Chald{e}ans, writes: Belum ferunt B{b}ylonem mœnibus cinxisse quæ tempore aboleta fuerunt, {&} Nebuchonosorum deinceps nova mœnia æneis portis distinct{a} struxisse quæ ad us Macedonum imperium steterunt . And so Dorothæus an ancient Poet of Sidon. < text from f 82r resumes > quence in the reign of Tiglathpileser the succe{ss}or of {Pul}. And the followers of C{t}esias tell us that she built Babylon & was the widdow of the so{n} & s{u}cce{ss}or of Belus the founder of the Assyrian Empire, . Other authors as{c}ribe th{e} building of Babylon to Belus himself, that is to Pul. So Curtius c[362] tells us: Semiramis Babylonem condiderat, vel ut pleri credidere belus cujus regia ostenditur. And Abydenus d[363] : Λέγεται Βῆλον Βαβυλῶνα ι περιβαλειν . τῷ χρόσνω δὲ τῷ ἰζνευμένῳ ἀφανισθμῆαι. τειχίσα{ι} δὲ ἆυθις Ναβουχοδονοσορον , &c. Fama est Belum Babylonem mœnibus cinxisse, quæ tempore abo{le}ta sunt; & Nebuchadonosorum nova mœnia strixi{ss}e æn{e}is portis distincta quæ ad us Macedonum imperium steterunt . And so Dorotheus f[364] , a{n} ancient{s} Poet of Sidon

Ἀρχᾶιη Βαβυλῶν Τυρίου Βήλοιο πόλισμα

The ancient city Babylon built by the Tyrian Belus

: that is, by the Syrian or Assyrian Belus; the words Tyrian Syrian or Assyrian being ✝ < insertion from the middle of f 81v > anciently used promiscuously for one another. Herennius g[365] < text from f 82r resumes > all of them derived from Tsor the Phenician name of the city Tyre. Herennius g[366] tells us that it was built by the son of Belus; & this son might be Nabonasser. After the conquest of Calneh, Thalaee{e}r & Sipparæ, Be{l}us might begin to build Babylon & leave it to his younger son & his Widdow , & the son might erectthe temple of Iupiter Belus to his father. For all the kings of Babylon in the Canon of Ptolomy, are called Assyrians & Nabonassar is the first of them. And Nebuchadnezzar h[367] recconed {h}is fami{ly} himself descended from Belus, that is, from the Assyrians by Isaiah. Behold , saith he, the land of the Chaldeans. This people was not till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness , [ that is, for the Arabians ] they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof. Isa. XXIII.13.

Tiglathpileser the second king of Asyria warred in Phœnicia, & captivated Galilee with the two Tribes & an half in the days of Pekah king of Israel, & placed them in Halath & Habor & Hara & at the river Gozan, places lying on the western borders of Media between Assyria & the Caspian sea (2 King. XV.29 & {1} Chron. V.26.) & about the fift or sixt year of Nabonassar, he came to the assistance of the king of Iudah against the kings of Israel & & Syria, & overthr{e}w the kingdom of Syria which had been seated at Damascus ever since the days of king David, & carried away the Syrians to Kir in Media, as Amos had prophesied, & placed other nations in the regions of Damascus (2 King. XV.37 & XVI.5, 9. Amos. I.5. Ioseph. Antiq. l. 9. c. 13.) Whence it seems that the Medes were conquered b{e}fore, & that the Empire of the Assyrians was now grown great. For the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria & the spirit of Tiglathpileser king of Assyria <83r> to make war. 1 Chron. V.26.

Salmanasser (called Enemesser by Tobit ( chap. 1) invaded a[368] all Phœnicia, took the city Samaria, & captivated Israel, & placed them in Chalach & Chabor by the river Gozan & in the cities of the Medes. And Hosea b[369] seems to say that he took Arbela. And his successor Senacherib said that his fathers had conquered also Gozan & Haran (or Carrhæ) & Reseph (or Resen,) & the children of Eden, 7amp; Arpad or the Arradÿ. 2 King. XIX.12.

Sennacherib the son of Salmanasser in the 14th year of Hezekiah, invaded Phœnicia & took several cities of Iudah & attempted Ægypt; & Sethon or Se{v}echus king of Egypt & Tirhakah king of Æthiopia coming against him, he lost in one {n}ight 185000 men, as some say by a plague, or perhaps by lightning or a fiery wind which blows sometime{s} in the neighbouring deserts, or as others, by being dis{a}rmed by mise eating their bowstrings, or rather by being surprized by Sethon & Tirhakah. For the Egyptians in memory of this action erected a Statue to Sethon holding in his hand a mouse th{e} Egyptian symbol of destuction. Vpon this defeat Sennacherib returned in hast to Nineveh & a[370] his kingdom became troubled so that Tobit could not go into Media. And he was soon after slain by two of his sons who fled into Armenia, & his son Asserhadon succeeded him. At that time did Merodach Bal{a}d{i}n or Mardocempad king of Babylon send an embassy to Hezekiah king of Iudah.

Asserhadon corruptly called Sarchedon by Tobit (ch. I.21) & Assardin by the Seventy, began his reign a[371] {a}t Nineveh about the year of Nabonassar 37, & a[372] at Babylon in the year of Nabonassar 68; &then peopled Samaria with captives brought from several parts of his new conquests, the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, the Elamites, (Ezra IV.2, 9) & therefore he conquered & reigned over all these nations. Pekah & Rezin kings of Samaria & Damascus invaded Iudea in the first year of Ahaz; & within 65 years after, that is, in the 20th or 21th ye{a}r of Manasseh, Samaria c{e}ased to be a people (Isa. VII.8,) videlicet by carrying the remainder of Samaria into captivity &placing these nations in their room. Then he invaded Iudea, took Azot, carried Manasses captive to Babylon, & b[373] captivated also Egypt, Thebais & Ethiopia above Thebais. And by this war he seems to have put an end to the reign of the Ethiopians over Egypt in the year of Nabonassar 77 or 78.

In the reigns of Sennacherib & Asserhadon, th{e} Assyrian Empire seems arrived at its greatness, being united under o{n}e Monarch, & conteining Assyria, Media, Apolloniatis, Susiana, Chaldea, Mesopotamia, Cilicia, Syria, Phœnicia, Egypt, Ethiopia, & part of Arabia, & reaching eastward into Elymais & Parætacene a Province of the <84r> Medes. And if Chalach & Habor be Colchos & Iberia (as some think, & as may seem probable from the circumcision used by those nations in the days of [374] Herodotus) we are also to add t{h}ese two Provinces with the two Armenias Po{n}tus & Cappadocia, as far as the river Halys. For Herodotus tells us that the people of Cappadocia as far as to that river were called Sy{ri}ans by the Greeks both before & after the days of Cyrus, {&} that the Assyrians were also called Syrians by the Greeks.

Yet the Medesrevolted from the Assyrians in the latter end of the reign of Sennacherib, I think upon the slaughter of his army neare Egypt & his flight to Nineveh. For at that time the estate of Sennacherib was troubled so that T{o}bit could not go into Media a{s} he had done before (Tobit. 1.15.) And sometime after, Tobit advised his son to go into Media where he might expect peace, while Nineveh according to the prophesy of Ionah, should be destroyed.

Ctesias wrote that Arba{ces} a Mede being admitted to see Sardanapalus in his palace, & observing his voluptuous life amongst weomen, revolted with the Medes, & in conjunction with Belesis a Babylonian overcame him & caused him to set fire to his palace & burn himself. But he is contracdicted by other Authors of better credit. For Duris a[375] & many others wrote that Arbaces upon being admitted into the Palace of Sardanapalus & seing his effeminate life slew himself. And Cle{i}tarchus that Sardanapalus dies of old age after he had lost his dominion over Syria, suppose by the revolt of the western nations. And Herodotus that the Medes revolted first & defended their liberty by force of arms against the Assyrians without conquering them; & at their first revolting had no king, but after some time set up Dejoces over them & built Ecbatane for his residence; & that Dejoces reigned only over Media & had a peaceable reign, but his son & successor Phraortes made war upon his neighbours; & that the Syrians also & other western nations at length revolted from the Assyrians being encouraged thereunto by the example of the Medes, who according to Herodotus were the first of the conquered nations that revolted, & that after this revolt Phraortes invaded the Assyrians but was slain by them in that war after he had reigned 22 years.

Now Asserhadon seems to be the Sardanapalus who died of old age after the revolt of Syria, the name Sardanapalus being derived from Asser-hadon-pu{l} . Sardanap{alus} was the son of Anacyndaraxis, Cyndaraxis or Anabaxaris king of Assyri{a} , & this name seems to have been corruptly written for Sennacherib the father of Asserhadon. . Sardanapalus built Tarsus & Anchiale in one day, & therefore reigned over Cilicia before the revolt of the western nations. And if he be the same king with Asserhadon, he was succeeded by Saosduchinus in the year of Nabonassar 81. And by this revolution Manasses was set at liberty to return home & fortify Ierusalem. And the Egyptians also after the Assyrians had harrassed Egypt & Ethiopia three years (Isa. XX.34) were set at liberty, & conti{nue}d under twelve contemporary kings of their own nation as above. The Assyrians invaded & conquered the E{g}yptians the first of the three years, & reigned over them two years more: & these two years are the interregnum which Africanus (from Manetho) places next before the twelve kings. The Scythians of Touran or Turqu{e}stan beyond the river Oxus began in those days to infest Persia, & by one of their inrodes might give occasion to the revolt of the western nations.

In the year of Nabonassar 101 Saosduchinus was succeeded at Babylon by Ch{y}niladon, & I think at {N}ineveh by that Nebuchadnezzar who is mentioned in the book of Iud{e}th. For the history of that king suits best with these times. For there it is said that Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians who reigned at Nineveh that great city, in the twelft year of his reign, made war upon Arphanad king of the Medes, & was then left alone by a defection of the auxiliary nations of Cilicia, Damascus, Syria, Phœnicia, Moab, Ammon, & Egypt; & without their help routed the <85r> army of the Medes & slew Arphaxad. And Arphaxad is there said to have built Ecbatane & therefore was either Dejoces or his son Phraortes who might finish the city founded by his father.
And Herodotus tells the same story of a king of Assyria who routed the Medes & slew their king Phraortes, & saith that in the time of this wa{r} the Assyrians were lef{t} alone by the defection of the auxiliary nations, being otherwis{e} in good {c}ondition. Arphaxad was therefore the Phraortes of of Herodotus, & by consequence was slain neare the beginning ofthe reign of Iosiah. For this war was made after Phenicia Moab, Ammon, & Egypt had been conquered & revolted (Iudeth I.7, 8, 9) & by consequence after the reign of Asserhadon who conquered them. It was made when the Iews were newly returned from captivity & the vessels & altar & temple were sanctified after the profanation (Iudeth IV.3,) that is, soon aft{e}r Manasseh their king had been carried captive to Babylon by Asserhadon, & upon the death of that king or some other change in the Assyrian Empire, had been released with the Iews from that captivity, & had repaired the altar & restored the sacrifices & worship of the Temple (2 Chron. XXXII.11, 13, 16) In the Greek version of the book of Iudeth (Chap. V.18) it is said that the Temple of God was then cast to the ground; but this is not said in Ierom's Version, & in the Greek Version (ch. IV.3) & XVI.20) it is said that the Vessels & the Altar & the House were then sanctified after the prophanation, & in both Versions (ch. IV.11) the Temple is represented standing.

After this war Nebuchadnezzar king of Assyria in the 13th year of his reign (according to the Version of Ierom) sent his captain Olofernes with a great army to avenge himself on all the west country because they had disobeyed his commandment; & Olofernes went forth with an army of 12000 horse 7amp; 120000 foot of Assyrians Medes & Persians, & reduced Cilicia & Mesopotamia & Syria & Dam{a}scus & part of Arabia & Ammon & Edom & Madian, & then came against Iudæa. And this was done when the government was in the hands of the High Priest & Ancients of Israel (Iudeth IV.8, & VII.23) & by consequence not in the reign of Manasseh or Amon but when Iosiah was a child. In times of prosperity the children of Isr{a}el were apt to go after fals Gods & in times of affliction to repent & tu{rn} to the Lord. So Manasseh a very wicked king, being captivated by the Assyrians, repented; & being released from captivity restored the worship of the true God. And so when we are told that Iosiah in the eighth year of his reign while he was yet young{ ; }{ , } began to seek after the God of David his father (2 Chron. XXXIV. 3,) & in the twelft year of his reign began to purge Iudah & Ierusalem from idolatry, & to destroy the High-places & Groves & Al{t}ars & Images of Baalim, we may understand that these acts of religi{o}n were occasioned by impending dangers & escapes from danger. When Olofernes came against the western nations & spoiled them, then were the Iews terrified, & they fortified Iudea & cried unto God with great ferven{c}y, & humbled themselves in sackcloth, & put ashes on {t}h{e}ir heads, & cryed unto the God of Israel th{a}t he would not give their wives & their children & cities for a prey, & the Temple for a profanatio{n} ; & the High-priest & all the Priests put on sackcloth & ashes & offered daily burnt offerings with vows & fre{e} gifts of the people (Iudeth IV.) & then began Iosiah to seek after the God of {h}is father David. And after Iudeth had <86r> slain Olofernes & the Assyrians were fled & the Iews who pursued them were returned to Ierusalem; they worshipp{e}d the Lord & offered burnt offerings & gifts & continued feasting before the sanctuary for the space of thre{e} months (Iudeth XVI.18;) & then did Iosiah purge Iudah & Ierusalem from Idolatry. Whence it seems to me that the eighth year of Iosiah fell in with the fourteenth or fifteenth of Nebuchadono{s}or, & that the twelft year of Nebuchodonosor in which Phraortes was slain was the fift or sixt of Iosiah. Phraortes reigned 22 years according to Herodotus, & therefore succeeded his father Dejoces about the 40th year of Manasses anno Nabona{ss} 89, & was slain by the Assyrians Anno Nabonas. 111. . Dejoces reigned 53 years according to Her{o}dotus, & these years began in the 16th year of Hezekiah, which makes it pro{b}able that the Medes dated them from the time of their revolt. And according to all this recconing the reign of Nebuchadonosor fell in with that of Chiniladon: which makes it probable that they were but two names of one & the same king. For in the book of Iudeth I do not find the Babylonians among the revolting nations.

[376] Soon after the death of Phraortes the Scythians under Madyes or Medus invaded Media & beat the Medes in battel (anno Nabonass. 113) & , went {thence} towards Egypt but were met in Phœnicia by Psammiticus & bought off, & returning reigned over a great part of Asia: but in the end of about 28 years were expelled, many of their Prince{s} & Commanders being slain, in a feast by the Medes under the conduct of Cyaxeres just befo{r}e the destruction of Nineveh, & the rest were soon after forced to retire.

The last king of Assyria, called Sarac by Po{l}yhistor, was contemporary to Nabopolassar king of Babylon, & to Astyages the successor of Phraortes in the kingdom of the Medes. For Nebuchadnezzar the son of Nabopolasser married Amyite the daughter of Astyages & sister of Cyaxxer{e}s . And by this marriage the two kings ha{v}ing contracted affinity they conspired against the Assyrians, & being old their sons Nebuchadnezzar & Cyaxeres led th{e} armies of the two nations against Nineveh, slew Sarac destroyed the city & shared the kingdom of the Assyrians. This victory the Iews refer to the Chaldeans, the Greeks to the Medes, Tobit, Polyhistor Iosephus & Ctesias to both. It gave a beginning to the great successes of Nebuchadnezzar & Cyaxeres, & laid the foundation of the two collateral Empires of the Babylonians & Medes, these being branches of the Assyrian Empire. And thence the time of the fall of the A{s}syrian Empire is determined, the conquerors being then in their youth. In the reign of Iosiah, when Zephany prophesied, Nineveh & the kingdom of Assyria were standing, & their fall was predicted by that Prophet (Zeph. I.1 & II.13) & in the end of his reign Pharaoh Nechoh king of Egypt, the successor of Psammiticus, went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates to fight against Carchemish or Circutium, & in his way thither slew Iosiah (2 King. XXIII.29. 2 Chron. XXXV.20.) & therefore the last king of Assyria was not {y}et slain. But in the third & fourth year of Iehojakim the successor of Iosiah, the two conquerors having taken Nineveh & finished their war in Assyria {p}rosecuted the conquest westward, & leading their forces against the king of Egypt as an invader of their right of conquest, they beat him at Carchemish, & took from him <87r> whatever he had newly taken from the Assyrians (2 King. XXIV. 7. Ier. XLVI.2. Eupolemus apud Euseb. Præp. l. IX. c. 35,) & therefore we cannot err above a year or two if we refer the destruction of Nineveh & fall of the Assyrian Empire to the second year of Iehojakim, Anno Nabonass: 140. The name of the last king Sarac might perhaps be contracted from Sarchedon, as this name was from Asserhadon, Asserhadonpul, or Sardanapal{u}s.

While the Assyrians reigned at Nineveh, Persia was divided into several kingdoms. And amongst others there was a kingdom of Elam which flourished in the days of Hezekiah, Manasses, Iosiah, & Iehojakim kings of Iudah & fell in th{e} days of Zedekiah (Ier. XXV.25 & XLIX.34, & Ezek. XXXII.24.) This kingdom seems to have been potent, & to have had wars with the kings of Touran or Scythia beyond the river Oxus with various su{cce}ss, & at length to have been subdued by the Medes & Babylonians, or one of them. For while Nebuchadnezzar warred in the west, Cyaxeres recovere{d} the Assyrian Provinces of Armenia Pontus & Cappadocia, & then they went eastward against the Provinces of Persia, & Parth{ia. } Whether the Pischdadians whom the Persians reccon to have been their oldest kings, were kings of the kingdom of Elam or of the Assyrians, & whether Elam was conquered by the Assyrians at the same time with Babylonia & S{usiana} in the reign of Asserhadon & soon after {r}evolted , I leave to be examined.

<88r>

Chap. IV.
Of the Babylonian Empire.

By the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the Kingdoms of the Chaldeans & Medes grew great & potent. The reigns of the kings of the Chaldeans are stated in Ptolomy's Canon: for understanding which you are to note that every kings reign in that Canon began with the last Thoth of his predecessor & ended with the last Thoth of his own reign, as I gather by comparing the reigns of the Roman Emperors in that Canon with their reigns recorded in years months & days by other authors. Whence it appears from that Canon that Asserhadon died in th{e} year of Nabonassar 81, Sao{s}duch{e}us his successor in the year 101, Chiniladon in the year 123 , Nabopolasser in the year 144 & Nebuchadnezzar in the year 187. All these ki{ngs} reigned successively over Babylon, & This last king died in the 37th year of Iehojakins captivity (2 King. XXV.27) & therefore Iehojakin was captivated in the 150th year of Nabonasser

This captivity was in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign over Iudea (2 King. XXIV.12) & eleventh of Iehojakim's. For the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was the fourth of Iehojakim's (Ier. XXV.1) & Iehojakim reigned 11 years before this captivity (2 King. XXIII.36. 2 Chron. XXXVI.5) & Iehoj{a}kin three months ending with the captivity. And the 10th year of Zedekiah t{h}at is the 10th year of Iehojakins captivity was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (Ier. XXXII.1) & the 11th year of Zedekiah in which Ierusalem was taken, was the 19th of Nebuchadnezzar (Ier. LII.5, 12) & therefore Nebuchadnezzar began his reign in Iudea in the year of Nabonasser 142 that is, two years before the death of his father Nabopolasser being they made king by his {father} . & Iehojakim succeeded his father Iosiah in the year of Nabonasser 139, & Ierusalem was taken & the Temple burnt in the year of Nabonasser 160.

The reign of Darius Hystaspis by the Canon & the consent of all Chronologers & by several eclipses of the Moon, began in spring in the year of Nabonassar 227 . And in the fourth year of king Darius, in the 4th day of the ninth month which is the month Chisleu, when the Iews had sent unto the house of God – saying, should I weep in the fift month as I have done these so many years? the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land & to the Priests <89r> saying, when ye fasted & mourned in the fift & seventh month even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me ? Zech. VII. Count backwards those seventy years in which they had fasted in the fift month for the burning of the Temple & in the seventh for the death of Gedaliah: & the burning of the Temple & death of Gedaliah will fall upon the fift & seventh Iewish Months in the year of Nabonassar 160 as above.

As the ChaldeanAstronomers counted the reign of their kings by the years of Nabonassar beginning with the month Thoth , so the Iews (as their authors tell us) counted the reign of theirs by the years of Moses beginning every year with the Month Nisan . For if any king commenced his reign a few days before this month began, it was ~ recconed to him for a whole year & the beginning of this month was accounted the beginning of the second year of his  reign. And according to this recconing the first year of Iehojakim began with the month Nisan Anno Nabonass. 139, tho his reign might not really begin till five or six months after; & the fourth year of Iehojakim & first of Nebuchadnezzar (according to the recconing of the Iews) began with the month Nisan Anno Nabonass. 142; & the first year of Zedekiah & of Iehojakins captivity & ninth year of Nebuchadnezzar began with the month Nisan in the year of Nabonassar 150, & the {ten}th year of Zedekiah & 18th of Nebuchadnezzar {b}egan with the month Nisanin the year of Nabonassar 159. Now in the ninth year of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Iudea & the cities ~ thereof, & in the tenth month of that year & tenth day of the month, he & his host besieged Ierusalem (2 King. XXV.1. Ier. XXXIV.1. & XXXIX.1, & LII.4.) From this time to the tenth month in the second year of Darius are just 70 years, & accordingly on the 24th day of the eleventh month of this second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, & the Angel of the Lord said, O Lord of hosts, How long wilt tho{u} not have mercy on Ierusalem & on the cities of Iudah against which thou hasst had indignation these {threescore}{three score} & ten years . Zech. I.7, 12. So then the ninth year of Zedekiah in which this indignation against Ierusalem & the cities of Iudah began, commenced with the month Nisan in the year of Nabonassar 158 & the eleventh year of Zedekiah & 19th of Nebuchadnezzar in which the city was taken & the Temple burnt comme{nce}d with the month Nisan in year of Nabonassar 160 as above.

By all these charact{e}rs the years of Iehojakim Zedekiah & Nebuchadnezzar seem to be sufficiently deter{mine}d, & thereby the chronology of the Iews in the old Testament is connected with that of later times. For between the death of Solomon & the ninth year of Zedekiah wherein Nebuchadnezzar invaded Iudea & began the sieg{e} of Ierusalem, there were 390 years, as is manifest both by the prophesy of Ezekiel chap. IV & by summing up the years of the kings of iudah; & from the ninth year of Zedekiah inclusively to the vulgar æra of Christ were 590 years: both which numbers with half the reign of Solomon make up a thousand years. [And from the middle of Solomon's reign back to the death of Eli, loss of the Ark & beg{in}ning of the reign of Samu{e}l, were an h{u}ndred years, & from thence to the birth of Abraham were 900 years, whereof the reign of the Iudges <90r> took up 350, that of Moses 40, & the conquering of Canaan by Ioshua 6. Whence arise some useful Epochas, as that of Samuel beginning 1100 years before the vulgar Æra of Christ, & that of Abraham beginning 2000 years before it. ]

[377] In the end of the reign of Iosiah, Anno Nabonass 139, , Pharaoh Necho the successor of Psammiticus came with a great army out of Egypt against the kings of Assyria , & being denyed passage through Iudea, beat the Iews at Megiddo or Magdolus before Egypt, slew Iosiah their king, marched to Carchemish or Cercutium a town of Me{sopo}tamia upon Euphrates, & took it, possest himself of the cities of Syria, sent for Iehoahaz the new king of Iudah to Riblah or Antioch, deposed him there, made Iehojakim king in the room of Iosiah, & put the kingdom of Iudah to tribute.

But the king of Assyria being in the mean time besieged & subdu{e}d by Assuerus king of the Medes & Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, & the conquerors bei{n}g thereby intituled to the cou{nt}ries of Assyria Mesopotamia & Syria, they led their victorious forces against the king of Egypt. For Nebuchadnezzar assisted a[378] by Astibares (that is, Assueru o{r} {Cyaxeres},) king of the Medes, in b[379] the third year of Iehojakim, came with an army a[380] of Babylonians, Medes, Syrians, Moabites & Ammonites to the number of 10000 cha{ri}ots 180000 foot & 120000 horse, & laid wast Samaria Galil{e}e Scythopolis & the Iews in Galeatis, & besieged Ierusalem & took king Iehojakim alive c[381] & bound him in chains for a time, & carried to Baby{l}on Daniel & others of the people & part of wha{t} gold & silver & brass they found in the Temple. And in d[382] the 4th year of I{e}hojakim (which was in the 20th of Nabopolasser) they routed the army of Pharaoh Necho at Carchemish & by pursuing this wa{r} took from the king of Egypt wheatever perteined {t}o him from the river of Egypt to the river of Euphrates. This king of Egypt Berosus e[383] calls the Satrapa of Ægypt & {}losyria & Phœnicia, , and this victory over him put an end to his reign in Cælosyria & Phœnici{a} & gave a beginning to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar there. . And by these conquests over Assyria & Syria the Babylonian Empire was erected.

Whilst Nebuchadnezzar was acting in Syria, a[384] his father Nabopolasser died having reigned 21 years, & Nebuchadnezzar upon the news thereof hav{i}ng ordered his affairs in Syria returned to {B}abylon leaving the captives & his army with his servants to f{o}llow him. And from hence forward he applied himself sometimes to war, conquering Sitacene, Susiana, Arabia, Edom, Egypt & some other countries; sometimes to peace, adorning the Temple of Belus with the spoiles he had taken, & the City Babylon with magnificent walls & gates & stately <91r> palaces & pensil{e} gardens  as  Berosu{s} relates, & among other things cut the new rivers Naarmalcha & Pallacopas above B{abylon} & built th{e} city Teredon.

Iudea was now in servitude under the king of Babylon, being invad{e}d & subdued in the third & fourth years of Iehojakim, {&} Iehojakim served him three years & then turned & rebelled (2 King. XXIV.1.) While {Neb}uchadnezzar & the army of the Chaldeans continued in Syria, Iehojakim was under compulsion. {A}fter they returned to Babylon Iehojakim continued in fidelity three years, that is during the 7th 8th & 9th years of his reign, & then rebelled in the 10th . Whereupū Nebuchadnezzar [385] in the return or end of the year, that is in spring, sent & besieged Ierusalem, captivated Iehojaki{n} the son & successor of Iehojakim, spoiled the Temple, & carried away to Babylon the Princes, craftsmen, Smiths, & all that were fit for war, & when none remained bbut the poorest of the people ma{de} Zedekiah their king & bound him upon oath to serve the king of Babylon. This was in spring in the end of the eleventh year of Iehojakim & beginning of the year of Nabonasser 150. [386]

[387] Zedkiah notwithstanding his oath revolted & made a covenant with the king of Egypt, & thereupon Nebuchad{n}ezzar in the ninth year of Zedekiah invaded Iudea & the cities thereof, & in the tent{h} Iewish month of that year besieged Ierusalem again, & in the eleventh year of Zedekiah in {t}he 4th & 5t months, after a siege of one yeare & an half, took & burnt the city & temple. [388]

Nebuchadnezzar after he was made king by his father reigned over Phenicia & Cælosyria 45 years , & after a[389] the death of his father 43 years, & after b[390] the captivity of Iehojakim 37, & then was succeeded by his son Evilmerodach. [391] Ierome tells us that Evilmerodach reigned seven years in his fathers life while his father eat grass with oxen & after his fathers restauration was put in prison with Ieconiah king of Iudah till the death of his father & then succe{e}ded in the thr . In the fift year of Iechoniahs captivity, Belshazzar was next in dignity to his father Nebuchadnezzar, & was designed to be his successor (Bar{u}ch. 1.2, 10, 11{ , }{ . }12, 14) & therefore Evilmerodach was {ev}en then in disgrace. [392] Vpon his coming to the throne  he brought his friend & companion Ieconiah out of pri{s}on in the 27th day of the 12th month, so that Nebuchadnezzar died in the end of winter, anno Nabonass. 187.

Evilmerodach reigned t{w}o years after his fathers death & for h{i}s lust & evil manners was slain by his sisters husband Nergalasser, an. Nabonass. 1{8} , according to the Canon.

Nergalasser in the name of his young son Laboasserdach the grandchild of Nebuchadnezzar {r}eiged four years (according to the Canon & Berosus) including the short reign of Laboasserdach alone. For Laboasserdach (according to Berosus & Iosephus) reign{e}d nine months after the death of his father, & the{n} for his evil ma{nne}rs was slain in a feast by the conspiracy of his friends with {N}abonidus a Babylonian to whom by consent they gave the kingdom: but these nine months are not recconed apart in the Canon.

Nobon{idu}s (according to th{e} Canon) began his reign in the year <92r> of nabonassar 193, reiged sev{e}nteen years & ended his reign in the year of Nabonassar 210, being then vanquished & Babylon taken by Cyrus.

Herodotus a[393] calls this last king of Babylon Labynitus, & says that he was the son of a former Labynitus & of Nitocris an eminent Queen of Babylon. By the father he understands {T}{t}hat Labynitus who (as he tells us) was king of Babylon when the great eclips of the {S}{s}un predicted by Thales put an end to the five years war between the M{e}des & Lydians, & this was the great Nebuchadnezzar. But {the great} {Nebuc}hadnezzar was the grandfather of the last king Daniel calls the {last king of Babylon} Belshaz{z}ar & saith that Nebuchadnezzar was his fathe{r} And Iosephus b[395] tells us that Bel{sh}azzar the last king of Babylon was called Naboa{n}del by the Babylonians, & reigned seventeen years, & therefore he is the sa{me} king with Nabonnidus or Laby . nitusnitus. And this is more agreeable to sacred writ then to make Nabo{nn}idus a stranger to the royal line For all nations were to serve Nebuchadnezzar & his poste{ri}ty till the very time f his land shou{ld} come & many nations should serve themselves of him Ier. 27.7. ‡ < insertion from the top of f 92v > Belshazzar was born & lived in honour bef{ore} the fift year of Iehojaki{n}s cap{ti}vity which was the eleventh year of Nebuchadnezzars reign & therefore he was above 34 years old at the death of Evil{mer}odach, & so could be no other king then Nabo{m}ibus. For Labassard{ach} the grand{s}on of Nebuchadne{z}zar was a child under tuition when he reigned. Yet it is {no}t necessa{r}y {th}at {B}elshazzar should be the {immediate} so{n of} Nebuchadnezzar. Nitocris might be the wife of Evilmerodach & Belshazzar their son supposing Nebuchadnezzar above 25 years old at the taking of {Nineveh.} . And this is consonant to the prophesy that all nations should serve Nebuchadnezzar & his son & his son's son till the time of his land should come Ier. 27. For {B}elshazzar was the only king of Babylon who can be called th{e} son of the son of Nebuch{a}dn{e}zzar. < text from f 92r resumes >

Herodotus [397] tells us that there were two famous Queens of Babylon, Semiramis  & Nitocris, & that the latter was more skilfull. She observing that the kingdom  of the Medes having subdued many cities & amongst {o}thers Nineveh, was become great & potent, intercepted & fortified the passages out of Media into Babylonia; & the river which before was streight {S}{s}he made crook{e}d with great windings that it might be more sedate & less apt to overflow. And on the south side of the river above Babylon in imitation of the lake Moeris, she dug a lake every way forty miles broad to receive the water of the river  & keep it for watering the land. She built also a bridge over the river in the middle of Babylon, turning the stream into the lake till the bridge was built. Philostratus [398] saith that she made a bridge under the river two fathoms broad, meaning an arched vault over which the river flowed. He calls her Μήδεια a Mede. <93r> < insertion from the middle of f 92v > But Nit{o}cris seems to have be{e}n another woman, who in the reign of her her son Laby{ni}tus a voluptuous {&} vicious King, took care of his a{ff}airs, & for securing his kingdom against the Medes did the works above mentioned. This is that Queen mentioned in Daniel chap. v. 10. < text from f 93r resumes >

Iosephus [399] relates out of the Tyrian records that in th{e} reign of Ithobalus king of T{yre} that city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar thirteen years together. In the end of that siege Ithobalus their king was slain (Ezek. 28.8, 9, 10) & after him according to the Tyrian recor{d}s reigned Ba{a}l ten years, Ecnibalus & Chelbes one year, Abbarus three mon{th}s Mitgo{ni}us & Gerastratus six years, Balatorus one year, Merbalus four years & Iromus twenty years; & in the 14th year of Iromus say the Tyrian Records, the reign of Cyrus began in Babylonia. Therefore the siege of Tyre began 48 years & some months before the reign of Cyrus in Babylonia. It began when Ierusalem had been newly taken & burnt with the Temple (Ezek. 26) & by consequenceafter the 11th year of Iehojakin's captivity or 160th year of Nabonassar & therefore the reign of Cyrus in Babylonia began after the year of Nabonassar 20{8} . It ended before the eight & twentith year of Iehojakin's captivity or 176th year of Nabonassar (Ezek. 29.17) & therefore the reign of Cyrus in Babylonia be{g}{a}n before the year of Nabonassar 211. By this argument the first year of Cyrus in Babylonia was one of the two intermediate years, 209, 210. Cyrus invaded Babylonia in the year of Nabonassar 209. Babylon e[400] held out, & the next year was taken (Ier. 51.39, 57) by diverting the river Euphrates & entring the ci{t}y through the emptied channel (Herod. l. 1. Xenophon l. 7) & by consequence after midsummer. For the river by the melting of the snow in Armenia overflows yearly in the beginning of summer but in the heat of summer grows low. And that night was the king of Babylon slain ({X}enophon l. 7. Dan. 5. Ioseph. Antiq. l. 12) & Darius the Mede or king of the Medes took the kingdom being about threescore & two years old. So then Babylon was taken a mont{h} or two after the summer solstice in the year of Nabonassar 210, as the Canon also represents, & as has been otherwise determined above.

After the taking of Babylon Cyrus went to the king of the Medes at Ecbatane & succeeded him in the kingdom & reigned over all Media & Persia seven years as Xenophon relates; but over Babylonia he reigned {nine} years, two years under the king of the Medes & seven years alone, & in the first year of his reign over the <94r> whole Empire he set the Iews at liberty to return from Babylon to Ierusa{l}em & rebuild their Temple. For the Iews remained in captivity at Babylon untill the reign of the kingdom of Persia, (2 Chron. XXXVI.20) & were set at liberty in the first year of the reign of Cyrus king of Persia over all the kingdoms of the earth, Ezra I.1, 2, 3 . Cyrus then reigning at Ecbatane over the Medes Ezra. VI.2.

Now in the first year of Nebuchadnezzars reign over Iudea & fourth of Iehojakim's, Ieremiah prophesied that the land of Iudea & the nations round about should serve the king of Babylon seventy years, & at the end of seventy years God would punish the king of Babylon & make the land of the Chaldeans desolate (Ier. XXV.1, 11, 12) & thereby bring back the Iews from captivity (Ier. XX{L}X.10.) From the year of Nabonass{a}r 140 which was the second year of Ieho{j}akim in which Nineveh was destroyed & the Empire of the Ass{y}rians fell & that of Babylon was erected upon its ruins, unt{o} the year of Nabonassar 210 in which Babylon was taken by the Medes, there were just 70 years. And from the year of Nabonassar 142 which was the fourth year of Iehojakim & first of Nebuchadnezzar in which this prophesy was given, unto the year of Nabonassar 212 which was the first year of Cyrus in which the Iews returned from captivity, there were also just 70 years. For there was a 70 years which ended with the fall of Babylon (Ier. XXV.11, 12, 13, 14) & another 70 years which lasted till the reign of the kingdom of Persia & ended with the return of the captivity in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia Ier. XXIX. 10 & 2 Chron. XXXVI.20, 21, 22, 23. and the fulfilling of the first seventy years might enable Daniel in the first year of Darius to understand by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Ieremiah the Prophet that he would accom{p}lish seventy years in the desolations of Ierusalem (Dan. {I}X.2) which desolations began with the first year of Nebuchadnezzar & ended with the captivity in the first of Cyrus.

Some dat{e} the 70 years from the Captivity of Iehojakin, others from that of Zedekiah, but they ar{e} plainly the duration of the {do}minion of the kingdom of Babylon over the nations & ended with the fall thereof 2 Chron. XXXV{I} 21, 22. Ier XXV.1, 12. Yet the ancient Iews counted {a}lso a seventy years from the beginning of the war in the 9th year of Zedekiah to the bulding of the sec{on}d Temple in the 2d year of Darius Hystaspis (Zech. {I}.12.) & another seventy years from the taking of Ierusalem & burning of the Temple in the 11th year of Zedekiah to the fourth year of the same Darius (Zech. VII.5.) In these 70 years the Iews fast{ed} in the 5t month on account of the conflagration of the Temple in that month. And when they had fasted seventy years they sent to the house of the Lord to enquire of the Priests & Prophets whether they should continue that fast any longer. This message was in the fourth year of Darius in the ninth month, (in the end of the year of <95r> Nabonassar 230) & therefore the last fast of the seventy was in the fift month of the same year: which month was just seventy years after the conflagration of the Temple, as we noted abov{e} .

Now it is very remarkable that this proph{es}y was the cause of its own fulfilling. Isaiah tw{o} hundred years before, called Cyrus by name & prophesied that God said of him, Cyrus is my shepherd, he shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Ierusalem, Thou shall be built & to the Temple Thy foundation shall be laid &c (Isa. 44.28) & Ieremy predicted the time when Cyrus should conquer Babylon & do this; & these prophesies being made known to Cyrus, so soon as he was freed from subjection to Darius & succeeded him in the throne, he put forth a Proclamation throughoout all his kingdom in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, & he hath charged me to build him an house at Ierusalem which is in Iudah. Who is there among you of all his people, his God be with him & let him go up to Ierusalem which is in Iudah & build the ho{u}se of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God) which is in Ierusalem . Ezra. 1. And this proclamation being laid up among the Records in the Palace at Ecbatane in Media, was issued from th{e}n{c}e by Cyrus reign{ing} ther{e} after the conquest of Darius.

The extent of the Babylonian Empire was much the same with that of Nineveh after the revolt of the Medes . Berosus saith that Nebuchadnezzar held Egypt Syria Phœnicia & Arabia, & Strabo adds Arbela to the territories of Babylon, & saying that Babylon was anciently the Metropolis of Assyria he thus describes the limits of the Assyrian Empire{ , }{ . } Contig{u}ous , saith he, to Persia & Su{s}iana ar{e} the Assyrians. For so they call B{ab}ylonia & the greatest part of the region about it: part of which is Atturia (wherein is Nineveh) & Apolloniatis & Elymais & Par{e}tica & Chalonetis by the mountain Zagrus, & the fields neare Nineveh, & Dolomena, & Chalachena, Chazena, Adiabena, & the nations of Mesopotamia neare the G{or}dieans & Mygdones about Nisibis unto Zeugma upon Euphrates, & a large region on this side  Euphrates inhabited by the Arabians & Syrians properly so called as far as Cilicia & Phœnicia & Libya & the sea of Egypt & the sinus Issicus . And a little after, describing the extent of the Babylonian region, he bounds it on the north with the Armenians & Medes unto the mountain Zagrus, on the east {w}ith Susa Elymais & Paretica (inclusively,) on the south with the Persian Gulph & Chaldea, & on the west with the Arabes Scenitæ as far as Adiabena & Gordiæa. Afterwards speaking of Susiana & Sitacene a region between Babylon & Susa, & of Parætica & Cossæa & Elymais & of Gabiana & Massabatica <96r> & Corbiana Provinces of Elym{ais} , & of the Sagapens & Silocens two little adjoyning Provinces, he concludes: And these are the nations which inhabit Babylonia eastward. To the north are Media & Armenia [ exclusively ] & westward are Adiabene & Mesopotamia [ inclusively. ] The greatest part of Adiabene is plane, t{h}e same being a part of Babylonia. In some places it borders on Armenia. For the Medes Armenians & Babylonians  warred frequently on one another . Thus far Strabo.

When Cyrus took Babylon, he changed the kingdom into a Satrapy or Province: whereby the bounds were long after known. And by this means Herodotus [401] {g}ives us an estimate of the bigness of this Monarchy by its proportion to that of the Persians, telling us that whilst every region over which the king of Persia reigns is distributed for the nourishment of his army besides the tributes; the Babylonian region nourishes him four months of the twelve in the year & all the rest of Asia eight. So the power of this region is equival{e}nt to the third part of Asia, & its Principality (which the Persians call a Satrapy) is far the best of all the Provinces . To this estimate of Herodotus may be added Egypt. For after the siege & taking of Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar invaded & with a great slaughter conquered {&} cpativated Egypt (Ezek. 29.18, 19 , & chap. 30, 31, 32, 7amp; Ier. 43) & {the Egyptians} {slew P}haraoh Hophr{a} or Vaphres {the successor of Psammis the successor of Nechao} (Ezek. XXXI.18 & XXXII.31, 32 & Ier. XLIV.30 & XLVI.25, 26) after whom reigned Amasis who served the king of Babylon 40 years (Ezek. XXIX.11, 13) that is till the death of Cyrus; & then revolting reigned four years more. After which Egypt was subdued by Cambyses & has almost ever since remained in servitude.

Babylon a[402] was a square city of 120 furlongs or 15 miles on every side, compassed first with a broad & deep ditch & then with a wall 50 cubits thick & 200 high. Euphrates flowed through the middle of it southward a few leagues on this side Tigris, & in the middle of one half westward stood the kings new Palace built by Nebuch{ad}nezzar & , in the middle of the other half {stood} the Temple of Belus with the old Palace between that Temple & the river. {Wh}o founded this Palace {is uncertain whether Semiramis or Nabonassar or Asserhadon is uncertain. This temple was dedicated to that Belus who first set a foot} . This was that belus who b[403] first set a foot c[404] the study of the stars in Chaldea ‡ < insertion from the middle of f 96v > He was recconed the progenitor of Nebuchadnezzar & might b{e} Pul the founder of the Assyrian empire, or perhaps Sesac. For Babylon is sometimes g[405] called Sesac & the Belus of the Chaldeans was the Bacchus of the Ara{bians} & Pausanias h[406] tells us that the Belus of the Babylonians had his name from Belus an Egyptian the son of Libye; < insertion from f 96v > And Diodorus (l. 1.      ) [407] that Belus who is recconed the son of Neptune & Libya {c}arried colonies into Babylonia, & placing his seat upon Euphrates instituted Priests after the manner of the Egyptians exempt from taxes & public duties, whom the Babylonians call Chaldeans; who after the example of the Priests, Philosophers & Astronomers in Egypt observe the starrs. This practise of obser{v}ing the stars began in Egypt in the days of Ammon as above, & was propagated from thence in the reign of Sesac into Afric Europe & Asia by conquest, & then Atlas formed the sphere of the Libyans & Chiron that of the Greeks & the Chald{e}ans also made a sphere of their own. Ægypt reigned long over Susa & might reign as long over Chaldea, & when she lost her dominion abroad & brake into several kingdoms at home & was soon after conquered by Sabacon, some of th{e} Egyptians might fly from him to their brethren in Chaldea & carry thither Astrology & the Egyptian year & set up the Æra of Nabonassar & for the sake of Astrology observe the stars there as diligently as they had done before in Egypt. And at that time Nabonassar or his or his predec{ess}or might invite the Arabian{s} to people Babylo{n} & build the old Palace & before it erect the Temple of Belus in imitation of the Egyptian Pyramids, & on the top of it make an obse{r}vatory for the Chaldeans to observe the starrs. . < text from the middle of f 96v resumes > < text from f 96r resumes > . He was recconed the d[408] progenitor of {Ne}buchadnezzar, & might be Pul the founder of the Assyrian Empire or PerhapsSesac . For Babylon is sometimes called Sesac, & , & the Belus of the Chaldeans was the Bacchus of the Arabians, & Pausanias (l. 4. c. 23) tells us that the Belus of the B{a}bylonians had his name from Belus an Egyptian the son of {L}ibye. Its probable therefore that Sesac left a Colony at Babylon which set up his worship & erected this temple to him. Now this Temple e was square {} This Temple e[409] was square{ , } of two furlongs in each side & had in the middle a solid tower or Pyramid a furlong square , & a furlong high, with seven retractions which made it appeare like eight towers standing upon one another & in the eighth Tower was a Temple with a bed & a golden table kept by a woman after the manner of the Egyptians in the Temple of Iupiter Ammon in Thebes. They went up to th{e} top of it by steps on the outside & there observed the stars.

The Babylonians were extremely addicted to Sorcery Inchantments Astrology & Divinations (Isa. XLVII.9, 12, 13. DAn. II.2 & V.11) & to the worship of Idols (Ier. L.2, 40) & to ~ feasting wine & weomen. Nihil Vrbi ejus corruptius moribus, nec ad irritandas inliciendas immodicas voluptates instrucius. Liberos conjuges cum hospitibus stupro coire, modo pretium flagicÿ detur, ~ parentes mariti patiuntur. Convivales ludi tota Perside Regibus, Purpuratis cordi sunt. Babylonÿ maxime in vinum & quæ {eb}rietatem seq{u}untur effusi sunt. Feminarum convivia ineuntium in principio <97r> modestus est habitus: {d}ein summa quæ amicula exuunt, paulatim pudorem profanant: ad ultimum (honos auribus sit) ima corporum velamenta projiciunt. Nec meretricum hoc dedecus est se{d} matronarum virginum apud quas comitas ha{b}etur vulgati corporis vilitas . Q. Curtius lib. V. cap. 1. And this leudness of their weomen was incouraged even by their religion. For[410] it was the custome for their weomen once in their life to sit in the Temple of Venus for the use of strangers: which Temple they called S{uc}coth Benoth the temple of weom {e}{a}n. And when any woman was once sat there, she was not to depart till some stranger threw money into her bosom took her away & lay with her. And the money be{in}g for sacred uses, she was obliged to accept it how little so ever & follow the stranger. This leudness voluptuousness sorcery & i{do}latry is alluded unto in the description of the great whore of Babylon, (Apoc. 1{7} , 18.) & so are the rivers of Babylonia & the great deserts between Iudea & Babylon.

The Iews in their return from the Babylonian captivity brought back with them the names of the Chal{d}ean months, n{o}t those of the months of the solar year of Nabo{n}assar, but those of the ~ ancient Luni-solar year {o}f the Chaldees. And so the Samaritans, when they were transplanted by Salmanassar, brought with them into Samaria the year 7amp; Æra of the Assyrians. This year was Lunisolar, & the Assyrian names of the months used by the Samaritans were the same with the Chaldean names used by the Iews: so that the Assyrian year seems to have spread with their Empire. Scaliger informs us that the Samaritans still use the Epocha of these years, & some of them suppose it the Epocha or Æra of Salmanassar, others the Æra of the desoation & captivity of Samaria. It mi{gh}t be the Æra of one of the kings of Assyria but of what king the Samaritans know not. It began ({ , } according to Scaliger) four entire years before the Olympiads & therefore was the Æra of Pul{ . } As the Babylonians had the Æra of Nabonassar the founder of their kingdom so the Assyrians might have the Æra of Pul their first great Conq{ueror} & founder of their Empire. For he reigned & made war in the beginning {of} th{is} Æra. For in the ninth year of this Æra Menahen king of Israel began to reign, & in or near the beginning of his reign destroyed Thapsach a town upon Euphrates, fro not opening to him, & thereupon Pul came against Israel, & Menahen gave him 1000 talents to desist & confirm the kigndom to him. From the beginning of this Æra of the Assyrians their Monarchy stoo{d} 173 years to the destruction of Nineveh & 70 years more to the fall of Babylon.

The Temple of Solomon being destroy{e}d by the Babylonians, it may not be amss to give a description of th{a}t edifice befor{e} we proceed.

[411] The Temple looked eastward & stood in a square area called the separate place, & [412] before it stood the Altar in the cent{e}r of another square areacalled the inner cou{r}t or court of the Priests, & these two square areas {b}eing parted only by a marble rail, made an area 200 cubits long from west to east & 100 cubits broad. [413] This area was compassed on the west with a wall & on the other three sides with a pavement fifty cu{bits} broad upon which stood the buildings {f}or the Priests And the pavement & buildings were encompassed on the outside wit{h} a mar{b}le rail before the cloysters. . The whole made an area 250 cubits long from west to east & 200 broad, <98r> & was compassed with the outward court called also {the} great court or court of the people, which was an hu{n}dred cubits broad on every side. [414] For there were but two courts built by Solomon. And the outward court was about four cubits lower then the inward and was compassed on the west with a wall & on the other three sides with a pavement fifty cubits broad, upon which stood the buildings for the people. [415] All this was th{e} Sanctuary & made a square area 500 cubits long & 500 broad, & was compassed with a walk called the Mountain of the House. [416] And this {W}{w}alk being fifty cubits broad, was compassed with a Wall six cubits broad & six high & six hundred long on every side{ . } [417] And the cubit was about 21 1/2 or almost 22 inches of the English foot, being the sacred cubit of the Iews, which was an hand breadth, or the sixt part of its length bigger then their common cubit.

[418] The Altar stood in the center of the whole, & in the buildings of both courts over against the middle of the altar [419] eastward southward & northward were Gates 25 cubits broad between the buildings & 40 lon{g} , with Porches of ten cubits more looking towards the peoples court, which made the whole length of the Gates fifty cubits cross the pa{vem}ents. Every Gate had two doors one at either end ten cubits wide & twenty high with Posts & Thresholds six cubits broad. Within the Gates was an area 28 cubits long between the thresholds & 13 cubits wide: & on either side of this area were three Posts each six cubits square & twenty high, with arches five cubits wide between them : all which Posts & Arches filled the 28 cubits between the doors; & their breadth being added to the thirteen cubits mad{e} the breadth of the Gates 25 cubits. These Posts were hollow & had rooms in them with narrow windows for the Porters, & a step before them a cubit broad. And the walls of the Porches being six cubits thick were a{l}so hollow for several uses. [420] At the east Gate of the peopl{es} court called the Kings Gate were six Porters; at the south Gate were four & at the north Gate were four. [421] The people went in & out at the south & north Gates, the East Gate was opened only for the King, & {i}n this Gate he ate the sa{c}rifices. [422] There were also four Gates or doors in the western wall of the mountain of the house. [423] Of these the most northern called Shallecheth, or the Gate of the causey, led to the Kings Pal{a}ce, the valley between being filled up with a causey. The next Gate called Parbar led to the suburbs Mil{l}o. The third & fourth Gates called Asuppim led the one to Millo, the other to the city Ierusalem, there being steps down into the valley & up again into the city. At the Gate Shallecheth were four Porters: at the other three Gates were six Porters, two at each Gate. The house of Porters who had the charge of the north gat{e} of the peoples court had also the charge of the Gates Shallecheth & Parbar, <99r> and the house of the Porters who had the charge of the south Gate of the peoples court, had also the charge of the other two Gates called Asuppim.

[424] They came through these Gates into the mountain of the house & went up from the Mountain of the house to the Gates of the peoples court by seven steps, & from the peoples court to the Gates of the Priests court by eight steps; & [425] the arches in the sides of the Gates of both courts led into cloysters under a double building supported by three rows of marble pillars which butted directly upon the middles of the square Posts & ran along from thence upon the pavements towards the corners of the courts; the axes of the pillars in the middle row being eleven cubits distant from the axes of the pillars {of} the other two rows on either hand, & the building joynin to the sides of the Gates. The pillars were thrree cubits in diameter below, & their bases four cubits & an half square. [426] The Gates & buildings of both courts were alike & faces one another, the cloysters of all the buildings & the porches of all the Gates looking towards the peoples court. The row of pill{a}rs on the backsides of the c{l}oysters adhered to marble walls which bounded the cloysters & supported the buildings. [427] These buildings were three stories high above the cloysters & were supported in each of those stories by a row of Cedar beams or pillars of cedar standing above the middle row of the marble pillars. [428] The buildings on either side of every gate of the peoples court being 187 1/2 cubits long were distinguish{e}d into five chambers on a floor running in length from the Gates to the corners of the c{o}urt, there being in all, thirty chambers in a story where the people ate the sacrifices, or thirty E{x}hedras each of which conteined thr{e}e chambers, a lower, a middle, & an upper. Every Exhedrawas 37 1/2 cubits long, being su{p}ported by four pillars in each row who{s}e bases were 4 1/2 cubits square & the distances between their bases 6 1/2 cubits, & the distances between the axes of the pillars eleven cubits. And where two Exhedras joyed th{e}re the bases of their pillars joyned, the ax{es} of those two pillars being only4 1/2 cubits distant from one another. And perhaps for strengthening the buildi{n}g the space between the axes of these two pillars in the front was filled up with a marble column 4 1/2 cubits square the two pillars standing half out on either side of the square column. [429] And at the ends of these buildings in the four corners of the peoples court, were lit{t}le courts fifty cubits square without their walls & forty within for stair-cases to the buildings & kitchins to bake & boyle the sacrifices for the people, the kitchin being thirty cubits broad & the stair-case ten. The buildings on either side of the Gates of the Priests court were also 37 1/2 cubits long, & conteined each of them one great chamber in a story subdivided into smaller rooms for the great <100r> Officers of the Temple & Princes of the Priests. And in the southeast & northeast corners of this court, at the ends of the buildings were {k}itchins & stair-cases for the great Officers, & perhaps rooms for laying up wood for the altar.

In the eastern Gate of the peoples court sat a court of judicature composed of 23 Elders. The eastern Gate of the Priests court with the buildings on either side was for the High Priest & his Deputy the Sagan & for the Sa{nhed}rim or supreme court of judicature composed of seventy elders. [430] The building or Exh{e}dra on the {e}astern side of the southern Gate was for the Priests who had the oversight of the {c}harge of the Sanctuary with its treasuri{e}s. And these were first two Catholikim who were High Treasurers & Secretaries to the High Pries{t}, & examin{e}d sta{t}ed & prepared all Acts & Accounts to be signed & sealed by him. Then seven Amarcholim who kept the keys of the seven locks of every gate of the Sanctuary, & those also of the treasuries, & had the oversight direction & appointment of all things in the Sanctuary. Then three or more Gisbarim or under Treasurers or Receivers who kept the holy vessels & the publick money & received & disposed of such summs as were brought in for the service of the Temple, & accounted for the same. All these with the High Priest comp{o}se{d} the supreme Council for managing the affairs of the Temple.

[431] Th{e} sacrifices were killed on the northern side of the Altar & fleaed cut in pieces & salted in the northern Gate of the Templ{e} , & therefore the building or Exhedra on the eastern side of this G{at}e was for the Priests who had the oversight of the charge of the Altar & daily service. And these Officers were, He that received money of the people for purchasing things for th{e} sacrifices & gave out tickets for the same; He that upon sight of the tickets delivered the wine flow{e}r & oyle purchased; He that was over the lots whereby every Priest attending on the Altar had his duty assigned; He that upon {S}{s}ight of the tickets delivered out the Doves & Pigeons purchased; He that administred physic to the Priests attending; He that was over the waters; He that was over the times & did the duty of a cryer, calling the Priests or Levites to attend in their ministeries; He that opened the Gates in morning to begin the service & shut them in the evening when the service was done, & for that end received the keys of the Amarcholim & returned them when he had done his duty; He that visited the night watches; He that by a Cymbal called the Levites to their stations for singing; He that appointed the Hymns & set the tune; & He th{a}t took care of the shew bread. There were <101r> also Officers who took care of the perfume, the Veil & the wardrobe of the Priests.

[432] The Exhedra on the western side of the south Gate & that on the western side of the north Gate were for the Princes of the 24 courses of the Priests, one Exhedra for twelve of the Princes & the other Exhedra for the other twelve. And upon the pavement on either side of the separate place were other buildings without cloysters for the 24 courses of the Priests to eat the sacrifices & lay up their garments & the most holy things. Each ~ pavement being 100 cubits long & 50 broad, had buildings on either side {. }of it twenty cubits broad with a walk or alley ten cubits broad between them. [433] The building which bordered upon the separate place was 100 cubits long & that next the peoples court but 50, the other 50 cubits westward being for a stair case & kitchin. [434] These buildings were three stories high & the middle story was narrower in the front then the lower story & the upper story still narrower to make room for Galleries. For they had Galleries before them, & under the Galleries were closets for laying up the holy things, & the garments of the Priests, & these Galleries were towards the walk or alley which ran between the buildings.

[435] They went up from the Priests court to the Porch of the Temple by ten steps & the house of the Temple was twenty cubits broad & sixty long within, or thirty broad & seventy long including the walls, or 70 cubits broad & 90 long including a building of treasure chambers which was twenty cubits broad on three sides of the house. And if the Porch be also included, the Temple was an hundred cubits long. [436] The treasure chambers were built of cedar between the wall of the Temple & another wall without. [437] They were built in two rows three stories high & opened door against door into a walk or gallery which ran along between them & was five cubits broad in every story, so that the breadth of the chambers on either side of the Gallery including the breadth of the wall to which they adjoyned was ten cubits, & the whole breadth of the Gallery & Chambers & both walls was 25 cubits. [438] The chambers were five cubits broad in the lower story, six broad in the middle story & seven broad in the upper story. For the wall of the Temple was built with retractions of a cubit to rest the timber upon. Ezekiel [439] represents the chambers a cubit narrower & the walls a cubit thicker then they were in Solomon's Temple. There were thirty chambers in a story in all {t}ninety chambers & they were five cubits high in every story. [440] The Porch of the Temple was 120 cubits high, & its length from  south to north equalled the breadth of the house. The house was three stories high which made the height of the holy place three times thirty cubits, & that of the most holy three times twenty. The upper rooms were treasure chambers. [441] They went up to the middle ~ chamber by winding stairs in the southern sholder of the house & from the middle into the upper{ . }

Some time after this Temple was built, the Iews added a[442] a new <102r> Court on the eastern side of the Priests Court before the Kings gate & therein built b[443] a covert for the Sabbath. This Court was not measured by Ezekiel, but the dimensions thereof may be gathered from those of the weomens Court in the second Temple built after the example thereof For when Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the first Temple, Zerubbabel by the commissions of Cyrus & Darius built another upon the same area, excepting the outward court which was left open to the Gentiles. [444] And this Temple was sixty cubits long & sixty broad, being only two ~ stories in height & having only one row of treasure chambers about it. And on either side of the Priests Court were double buildings for the Priests, built upon three rowes of marble pillars in the lower story with a rowe of cedar beams or pillars in the stories above. And the cloister in the lower story look{ed} towards the Priests courts. And the separate place & Priests court with their buildings on the north & south sides, & the weomens court at the east end took up an area 300 cubits long & two hundred broad, the altar standing in the center of the whole.

The weomens court was so named because the weomen came into it as well as the men. There were ~ Galleries for the weomen, & the men worshipped upon the grownd below. And in this state the second Temple continued all the reign  of the Persians , but afterwards suffered some alterations, especially in the days of Herod.

This description of the Temple being taken principally from Ezekiels vision thereof, & the ancient Hebrew Copy followed by the seaventy, differing in some readings from the Copy followed by the Editors of the present Hebrew: I will here subjoyn that part of the vision which relates to the outward Court, as I have deduced it from the present Hebrew & the Version of the Seventy  compared together.

Ezek. 40. v.5. And behold a wall on the outside of the House round about [ at the distance of fifty cubits from it: ] & in the mans hand a measuring reed six cubits long by the cubit & an hand breadth. So he measured the breadth of the building [ or wall ] one reed & the height one reed. then came he unto the Gate of the House which looketh towards the east, & went up the seven stairs thereof, & measured the threshold of the Gate which was one reed broad; & the [ Porters ] little chamber one reed long & one reed broad; & the arched passage between the little chambers, five cubits: & the second little chamber a reed broad & a reed long; & the arched passage five cubits: & the third little chamber a reed long & a reed broad: & the threshold of the Gate next the Porch of the Gate within, one reed. And he measured the Porch of the Gate eight cubits, & the Posts thereof two cubits. And the Porch of the Gate was inward [ or towards the great court, ] & the little chambers were [ outwards or ] to the east; three on this side & three on that side [ of the Gate. ] There was one measure of the three, & one measure of the Posts on this side & on that side. And he measured the breadth of the door of the Gate ten cubits: & the breadth of the Gate [ within between the little chambers ] thirteen <103r> cubits: & the limit or margin or step befor{e} the little chambers one cubit [ on this side ] & the step one cubit on that side. And the little chambers were six cubits [ broad ] on this side & six cubits [ broad ] on that side. And he measured [ the whole br{e}adth of ] the Gate from the wall of of one {l}ittle chamber to the wall of another little chamber; the breadth was twenty & five cubits [ through ] door against door. And he made Posts twenty cubits [ high ] & at the Posts of the court there were gates [ or arched passages ] round about. And from the [ eastern ] face of the Gate at the entrance to the [ western ] face of the Porch of the Gate within, there were fifty cubits. And there were narrow windows to the little chambers & to the Porch within the Gate round about, & likewise to the Posts; even windows were round about within: and upon each post were Palm trees{. }Then he brought me into the outward court, & lo there were chambers & a pavement with pillars upon it in the Court round about: thirty chambers [ in length ] upon the pavement supported with the pi{ll}ars, [ ten chambers on every side in view, the western side being not yet seen: ] & the pavement butted upon the shoulders or sides of the Gates below [ every Gate having five chambers or Exhedræ on either side. ] And he measured the breadth [ {o}f the outward court ] from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inward Court an hundred cubits eastward.

Then he brought me northward, & there was a Gate that looke{d} to{w}ards the north. He measured the length thereof & the breadth thereof, & the little chambers thereof, three on this side & three on that side, & the Posts thereof & the Porch thereof. And it was according to the measures of the first Gate. Its length was fifty cubits & its brea{dth} was five & twenty. And the windows thereof, & the Porch thereof, & the Palm trees thereof [ were ] according to the measures of the Gate which looked to the east. And they went up to it by seven steps: & its Porch was before them, [ that is, inward. ] And there was a Gate of the inward Court over against [ this ] Gate of the north as [ in the Gates ] to the eastward. And he measured from Gate to Gate an hundred cubits.

<104r>

Chap. . V
Of the Empire of the Medes.


We have said that the kings of the Medes before Cyrus, were Dejoces, Phraortes, Astyages, Cyaxeres, & Darius. The three first reigned before the kingdom grew great, the two last were great conquerers & erected the Empire. For Æschylus [445] [446] who flourished in the reigns of Darius Hystaspis & Xerxes & died in the ~ 76th Olympiad, introduces Darius thus complaining of those who perswaded his son Xerxes to invade Greece

They have done a work

The greatest & most memorable, such as never happened,

(For it has emptied the falling Susa)

From the time that king Iupiter granted this honour

That one man should reign over all Asia

Having the imperial scepter.

Μῆδος γὰρ ἦν ὁ πρῶτος ἡγεμὼν στρατοῦ.

Ἄλλος δ᾽ ἐκείνου παῖς τὸ δ' ἔργον ἤνυσε.

Τρίτος δ' ἀπ' ἀυτοῦ Κῦρος ἐυδάιμων ἀνήρ, &c

For he that first led the army was a Mede.

The next who was his son finished the work.

The third was Cyrus a happy man &c.

The Poet here attributes the founding of the Medeo-Persian Empire to the two immediate predecessors of Cyrus, the first of which was a Mede & the second was his son. The second was Darius the Mede the immediate predecessor of Cyrus according to Daniel, & therefore the first was the father of Darius that is Achsuerus, Assue{rus}, Oxyares, Axeres or Cy-Axeres. For Daniel tells us that Darius was the son of Achsuerus (or Ahasuerus as the Masoretes erroneously call him) of the seed of the Medes, that is, of the seed royal. This is that A{ch}suerus who together with Nebuchadnezzar took & destroyed Nineveh according to Tobit: which action is by the Greeks ascribed to Cy-axeres & by E{m}polemus to A{st}ibares. . By this victory over the Assyrians & subversion of their kingdome seated at Nineveh & the ensuing conquests of Armenia Cappadocia & Persia, he began to extend the reign of one man over all Asia, & his son Darius the Mede by conquering the kingdoms of Lydia & Babylon, finished the work, & the thrid king was Cyrus a happy man for his great successes under & against Darius, & large & peaceable dominion in his own reign.

Cyrus lived 70 years according to Cicero & reigned nine years over Babylon according to Ptolemy's Canon & therefore <105r> was 61 years old at the taking of Babylon, at which time Darius the Mede was 62 years old according to Daniel, & therefore Darius was two generations younger then Astyages the grandfather of Cyrus. For Astyages by the common consent of Herodotus & Xenophon [447] gave his daughter Mandane to Cambyses a Prince of Persia, & by then became the grandfather of Cyrus, & Cyaxer{es} was the son of Astyages (according to Xenophon [448]) & gave his daughter to Cyrus. This daughter, saith Xenophon, was reported to be very handsome & used to play with Cyrus when they were both Children, & to say that she would marry him, & therefore they were much of the same age. Xenophon saith that Cyrus married her after the taking of Babylon, but she was then an old woman. It's more probable that he married her while she was young & handsom, & he a young man; & being the kings son in law he led the armies of the kingdom untill he revolted from Darius. So then Astyages, Cyaxeres & Darius reigned successively over the Medes & Cyrus was the grandson of Astyages, & married the sister of Darius & succeeded him.

< insertion from f 104v > Herodotus has inverted {1} the order of the kings Astyages & Cyaxeres making Astyages the father of Mandane to be the son & successor of Cyaxeres. Xenophon has restored the right order & Daniel has added the true name of their successor Darius ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ < text from f 105r resumes > Herodotus has inverted the order of the kings Astyages {&} Cyaxeres, making Astyages the father of Mandane to be the son & successor of Cyaxeres. Xenophon has restored the right order, & Daniel has added the true name of th{e}ir successor Darius# < insertion from f 104v > Yet Cyaxeres had a son named Astyages & this son married Ariene the daughter of Aliattes king of Lydia according to Herodotus: but was not the father of Mandane nor was conquer{e}d by Cyrus. For at his marriage with Ariene (which was in the year of the total Eclips of the Sun Anno Nabona{ss} 147) He could scarce be less then twenty years old & therefore at the taking of Babylon must have bee{n} 82 years old or {a}bove: whereas Darius was then but 62 years old. Daruis was therefore the younger brother of Astyages & might succeed him in the {K}{k}ingdom. For Pausa{ni}as [449] tells us that Astyages the son of Cyaxeres reigned in Media in the days of Alyattes king of Lydia. But whether the younger Astyages reigned a while or died before his father {m}ay be questioned since Æschylus who lived in those times has {o}mitted him. Cyaxeres according to Herodotus reigned 40 years & his successor 35, & Cyrus according to Xenophon seven. Cyrus died anno Nabonass 219, & therefore Cyaxeres died anno Nabonass 177 & began his reign anno Nabonass 137, & his father Astyages reigned 26 years beginning his reign at the death of Phraortes who was slain by the assyrians anno Nabonass. 111 as above. By reason of {the} long reign of Cyaxeres, his son Astyages might dye before him, or if he came to the throne he soon left it to his younger brother Darius{. }I call them brothers because Darius according to Æschylus was the son of of the first great warrior of the Medes. , & according to Daniel, the son of Assuerus.
< text from f 105r resumes > . [450] For at {his} marriage with Ari{ene} (which was in the year of the great Eclips of the sun Anno Nabonass. 147) he could scarce be less then 20 years old, & therefore, at the taking of Babylon must have been above 82 years old. Whereas Darius was then but 62 years old. And therefore I had rather say that Astyages was then dead, & that Darius was ~ either the younger son of Cyaxeres, or his grandson by Astyages & Ariene, born the year after {their} marriage. marriage. Cyaxeres according to Herodotus reigned 40 years & his successor 35, & Cyrus according to Xenophon {seven} And according to this recconing Astyages reigned 26 years & Cyaxeres began his reign anno Nabonass. 137 & was contemporary to Nebuchadnezzar who married his sister & assisted him in his warrs And Darius began his reign Anno Nabonass. 1{4}{7}7. . For Cyrus died anno Nabon. 219 And by reason of the long reign of Cyaxeres his son Astyages died before him. Or if he came to the throne he {let} it quickly to his younger brother Darius.

Of all the kings of the Medes Cyaxeres was the greatest warrior. Herodotus [451] saith that he was much more valiant then his ancestors, & that he was the first who divided the kingdom into Provinces & reduced the irregular & undisciplined forces of the Medes into discipline & order. And therefore by the testimony of Herodotus he was that king of the Medes whom Æschylus makes the first conquerer & founder of the Empire. For Herodotus represents him & Astyages to have been the two immediate predecessors of Cyrus, erroneously putting Astyages in the room of Darius. For Astyages being the grandfather of Cyrus was certainly two generations older then Darius & by consequence he was the predecessor & father of Cyaxeres as is affirmed by Xenophon. This king d{i}d nothing glorious. In his reign , a great body of Scythians commanded by Madyes invaded Media & {Parthia} as above & reigned there about 28 years. But at length his son Cyaxeres circumvented & {slew} their captains in a feast & made the rest fly to their brethren in Parthia, & <106r> immediately after, in conjunction with Nebuchadnezzar, invaded & subverted the kingdom of Assyria & destroyed Nineveh.

[453] In the fourth year of Iehojakim, which the Iews reccon to be the first of Nebuchadnezzar (dating his reign, if I mistake not from his victory over the king of Egypt at Euphrates or from his being made king by his father just before or from the month Nisan preceding, when the Victors had newly shared the Empire of the Assyrians & in prosecuting their victory were invading Syria & Phœnicia & were ready to invade the nations round about, God threatned that he would take all the families of the north (that is the Medes) and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, & bring them against Iudea, & against the nations round about, & utterly destroy those nations, & make them an astonishment & lasting ~ desolations, & cause them all to drink the wine-cup of his fury, & in particular names the kings of Iudah, & Egypt, & the kings of the land of Vz, & of the land of the Philistims, & those of Edom & Moab & Ammon & Tyre & Sidon, & the Isles of the sea, & Arabia & Zimri, & all the kings of Elam, & all the kings of the Medes, & all the kings of the North, & the king of Sesack, & that after 70 years he would also punish the king of Babylon. Here in numbring the nations which should suffer he omitts the Assyrians as fallen already, & names the kings of Elam or Persia & Sesack or Susa as distinct from those of the Medes & Babylonians, & therefore the Persians were not yet subdued, by the Medes, nor the king of Susa by the Chaldeans. And as by the punishment of the king of Babylon he means the conquest of Babylon by the Medes, so by the punishment of the Medes he seems to mean the conquest of Media by Cyrus. <107r> After this, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, that is in the ninth year of Nebuchadnezzar, ✝ < insertion from the top of f 106v > God threatned that he would give the kingdoms of Elam & Moab & Ammon & Tyre & Zidon into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon & that all the nations should serve him & his son & his sons son untill the time of his land should come & many nations & great kings should serve themselves of him (Ier. XXVII.) And at the same time, God..... < text from f 107r resumes > God thus predicted the approaching conquest of the Persians by the Medes & their confæderates. Behold, saith he, I will break the bow of Elam the chief of their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven & will scatter them towards all those winds & there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies & before them that seek their life: & I will bring evil upon them even my fierce anger {, saith the Lord, } & I will send the sword after them till I have consumed them. And I will set my throne in Elam, & will destroy them from thence the {K}ing & the Princes saith the Lord. But it shall come to pass in the latter days, (videlicet in the reign of Cyrus) that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord. Ier. XLIX.54. The Persians were therefore hitherto a free nation under their {own} King, but soon after this were invaded subdued captivated & dispersed into the nations round about, & continued in servitude untill the reign of Cyrus. ‡ < insertion from the middle of f 106v > And since the Medes & Chaldeans did not conquer the Persians till after the ninth year of Nebuchadnezzar, it gives us occasion to enquire what that active warrior Cyaxeres was doing in the ten years next after the taking of Nineveh.

Now Herodotus tells us, that presently after that conquest, Cyaxeres drave out of his kingdom{e} the remainder of the Scythians who had reigned in Asia 28 years & made them retire through the regions between the Caspian & Euxine seas into the regions of Scythia neare the Lake Mæotis, & warred with Alyattes king of Lydia five years conquering all the regions between them as far as the river Halys. For so far the Empire of the Assyrians had extended. And that in the sixt year, of this war in the time of a battel, the two armies were parted by a total Eclips of the Sun which was predicted by Thales, & then the two kings made peace by the mediation of Nebuchadnezzar king of Baby{l}on & Syeunesis king of Cilicia, & the peace was ratifi{e}d by a marriage between Astyages the son of Cyaxeres & Ariene the daughter of Alyattes. This total Eclips fell upon the year of Nabonassar 147 April 28 between 9 & 10 of the clock in the {m}orning as the calculation shews. And therefore th{e} war with Alyattes began in the year of Nabonassar 142 which was the fourth year of Iehojakim the very same year in which Nebuchadnezzar came against Pharaoh Nechaoh & invaded Syria. These two kings therefore as soon as they had taken & destoyed Nineveh, went westward & expelled the Scythians in those parts & seized all the western Provinces of the Assyrians in Armenia, Pontus, Cappadocia, Syria & Palestine & then making peace with Alyattes king of Lydia, went eastward & in the reign of Zedeki{a}h conquered the Persians. < text from f 107r resumes >

Afterwards in the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign or nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, Ezekiel comparing the kingdoms of the east to trees in the garden of Eden, thus mentions their being conquered by the kings of the Medes & Chaldeans. Behold, saith he, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair brancheshis height was exalted above all the trees of the field& under his shadow dwelt all great nationsno tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beautybut I have delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathenI made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall when I cast him down to the grave with them that descend into the pit{;}{:} and all the trees of Eden, the choise & best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went down into the grave with him, unto them that be slain with the sword, & they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. Ezek. XXXI.

The next year Ezekiel in another prophesy, thus enumerates the principal nations who had been subdued & slaughtered by the conquering swords of Cyaxeres & Nebuchadnezzar. Ashur is there & all her company [ videlicet in Hades of the lower parts of the earth where the dead bodies lay buried ] his graves are about him, all of terror in the land of the living. There is Elam [ or Persia ] & all her multitude round about her grave, all of them <108r> slain fallen by the sword which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living, yet have they born their shame with them that go down into the pit. There is Meshech Tubal & all her multitude [ the Scythians ] her graves are round about him all of them uncircumcised slain by the sword tho they caused their terror in the land of the living. There is Edom her kings & all her princes whichwith their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword. There be the Princes of the north all of them, & all the Zidonians which with their terrour are gone down with the slain. Ezek. XXXII. Here by the Princes of the north I understand those on the north of Iudæa & chiefly the Princes of Armenia & Cappadocia who fell in the wars with Cyaxeres made in conquering those countries. & Elam or Persia was conquered by the Medes & Babylonians after the ninth & before the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezz{a}r. And therefore we cannot err much if we place this conquest in the twelft or fourteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Edom Moab Ammon Tyre & Zi{d}on were also conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Ier. 27.3, 6.

After these things Nebuchadnezzar conquered Egypt & Thebais & Libya as is manifest by the prophesies of Ezekiel, & Darius the Son & successor of Cyaxeres subdued the Empires of Lydia & Babylon & thereby finished the work of propagating the Medo-Persian monarchy {overall}{over all} as Æschylus represents. This is that Darius who coyned a great number of pieces of pure gold called Darics or Stateres Darici. For Suidas, Harpocration  & the Scholiast of Aristophanes tell us that these were coyned not by the father of Xerexes but by an earlier Darius, by Darius the first, by the first king of the Medes & Persians who coyned gold money. They were stamped only on one side & had the effigies of (an Archer crowned on side, for I have seen a silver Daric of this form. They were of the same weight & with the Attic stater or piece of gold money weighing two Attic dracms, or with 20 Attic dracms of silver. Darius seems to have learnt the art & use of money from the conquered kingdom of the Lydians & to have recoyned their gold. For the Medes, before <109r> they conquered the Lydians, had no money. Herodotus [455] tells us that when Crœsus was preparing to invade Cyrus, a certain Lydian called Sandanis advised Crœsus that he was preparing an expedition against a nation who were cloathed with leather-breches & made all their garments of leather, who eat not such victuals as they would but such as their barren country afforded, who drank no wine but water only, who eat no figgs nor other good meat, who had nothing to lose but might get much from the Lydians. For the Persians, saith Herodotus, before they conquered the Lydians, had nothing dainty rich or valuable. And Isaias [456] tells us that the Medes regarded not silver nor desired gold But the Lydians & Phrygians were exceeding rich even to a proverb. Midas & Crœsus, says Pliny, [457] in infinitum possederant. Iam Cyrus, devicta Asia [ auri ] pondo 34000 millia invenerat præter vasa aurea aurum factum, et in eo folia ac platanum vitem. Qua victoria argenti quinquaginta millia talentorum reportavit, & craterem Semiramidis cujus pondo quindecim talentorum colligebat. Talentum autem Ægyptium po{n}do octoginta capere Varro tradit. What the Conquerer did with all this gold & silver appears by the Darics. The Lydians, according to Herodotus, [458] were the first who coyned gold & silver, & Crœsus coyned gold moneys in plenty called Crœsei, & it was not reasonable that the money of the kings of Lydia should continue current after the overthrow of their kingdom: & therefore Darius recoyned it with his own effigies in form of an archer but without altering the current weight & value. . So then he reigned from before the conquest of Sardes to after the conquest of Babylon.

The conquest of Asia minor put the Greeks into fear of the Medes. For Thrognis who lived at Megara in the very times of these wars, writes thus

Πήνωμεν χαρίεντα μετ' ἀλλήλοισι λέγοντες,

Μηδέν τὸν Μήδων δειδιότες πόλεμον.

Let us drink talking pleasant things with one another,

Not fearing the war of the Medes.



And again

Αὐτὸς δὲ στρατὸν ὑβριστὴν Μήδων ἀπέρυκε

Τῆς δε πόλευς, &c.



Thou, Apollo, drive away the injurious army of the Medes

From this city, that the people may with joy

Send thee choise hecatombs in the spring,

Delighted with the Harp & chearfull feasting,

And Choruses of Pæons, & acclamations about thy Altar.

For truly I am afraid, beholding the folly

<110r>

And sedition of the Greeks which corrupts the people. But thou Apollo

Being propitious  keep this our city.

The Poet tells us further that discord had destroyed Magnetia Colophon & Smyrna (cities of Ionia {&} Phrygia) & would destroy the Greeks: which is as much as to say that the Medes had then conquered those cities.

The Medes therefore reigned till the taking of Sardes. And further according to Xenophon & the Scriptures, they reigned till the taking of Babylon. For Xenophon [459] tells us that after the taking of Babylon Cyrus went to the king of the Medes at Ecbatane & succeeded him in the kingdom And Ierom that Babylon was taken by Darius king of the Medes & his kinsman Cyrus. [460] And the Scriptures tell us that Babylon was destroyed by a nation out of the north (Ier. 50.3, 9, 41) by the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni (or Armenia) & Ashchenaz (or Phrygia minor Ier LI.27.) by the Medes (Isa. XIII.17, 19.) by the kings of the Medes & their captains & rulers thereof & all the land of his dominion (Ier. LI.11, 28) The kingdom of Belshazzar was numbered & finished & broken & given to the Medes & Persians (Dan. V.) first to the Medes under Darius & then to the Persians under Cyrus. For Darius reigned over Babylon like a conqueror, not observing the laws on the Babylonians but introducing the immutable laws of the conquering nations the Medes & Persians (Dan. VI.8, 12, 15) & the Medes in his reign are set before the Persians (Dan. ib. et {V}. 28 & VIII.20) as the Persians were afterwards in the reign of Cyrus & his successors set before the Medes (Esther. I.3, 14, 18, 19. Dan. X.1, 20 & XI.2) which shews that in the reign of Darius the Medes were uppermost.

You may know also by the great number of Provinces in the kingdom of Darius that he was king of the Medes & Persians. For upon the conquest of Babylon he set over the whole kingdom an hundred & twenty Princes (Dan. VI.1) : & afterwards when Cambyses & Darius Hystaspis had added some new territories, the whole conteined but 127 Provinces (Esther I.1.)

The same thing is also confirmed by Iosephus [461] who writes that Cyrus king [ or Satrapa ] of the Persians & Darius king of the Medes made war upon Balthassar whom the Babylonians called Naboandel & besieged him in Babylon the handwriting appearing on the wall the night on which the city was taken, & that Darius being 62 years old overthrew the kingdom of Babylon by the help of his kinsman Cyrus, & carried back Daniel with him into Media & there had him in great honour, & that Daniel built at b[462] a very beautifull & admirable Tower in which the kings of the Medes Persians & Parthians were afterwards buried, & which continued entire & was kept by Priests of the Iewish nation untill the days of Iosephus.

When therefor the Angel told Daniel [463] that he would return to fight with the king of Persia, fro when he was gone forth the Prince of <111r> Greece he should come, & that in the first year of Darius he stood to confirm & to strengthen him: the meaning is that he had assisted Darius in warring against the Chaldeans & was in like manner to assist the king of Greece in warring against the Persians.

The Persians about the middle of the reign of Zedekiah being conquered by the Medes continued in subjection under th{e}m till the end of the reign of Darius, & Cyrus who was of the royal family of the Persians, might be Satrapa of Persia & command a body of their forces under Darius, but was not yet an absolute & independant king. But after the taking of Babylon when he had a victorious army at his devotion & Darius was returned into Media, ✝ < insertion from higher up f 110v > he revolted from Darius in conjunction with the Persians, being encouraged thereunto by Harpagus a Mede whom Xenophon calls Artagerses & Artabazus & who had assisted Cyrus in conquering Crœsus & Asia minor & governed that country & had been injured by Darius. The last battel between Darius & Cyrus was fought at Pasargadæ in Persia according to Strabo. [464] There Harpagus with the forces under him & revolted from Darius to Cyrus & & Darius was beaten & taken prisoner by Cyrus & the monarchy thereby translated to the Persians. The last king of the Medes is by Xenophon called Cyaxeres & by Herodotus Astyages the father of Mandane, but those kings were dead before, & Daniel lets us know that Darius was the true name of the last king. < text from f 111r resumes > it was easy for him to dethrone Darius. Having therefore ordered his affairs at Babylon he ~ marched into Media. Xenophon [465] saith that he went in a friendly manner to visit Cyaxeres at Ecbatane & succeeded him, but Cyaxeres was dead before. He went against Darius, fought him at Pasaradæ & took him prisoner, put an end to the reign of the Medes & translated the Monarchy to the Persians, the forces of Darius deserting him, & Harpagus a Mede who commanded them betraying him & revolting to Cyrus. For Harpagus, whom Xenophon calls Artagerses & Artabazus, was an old acquaintance of Cyrus & commanded part of his army in conquering Crœsus & Asia minor, & nowin revenge of an old injury done to him by Darius invited Cyrus to revolt. The story how Cyrus translated the Empire of the Medes to the Persians, you have at large in Herodotus, [466] excepting that Herodotus errs in the time & in the name of the king, placing the victory 22 years earlier & making the last king of the Medes to be Astyages the grandfather of Cyrus; whereas it was certainly Darius. Astyages the grandfather of Cyrus was the father of Cyaxeres as well. He was the last king of the Medes alone before the erecting of their Empire, Darius was the last king of the Medes & Persians.

This victory over Darius was about two years after the taking of Babylon. For the reign of Nabonadius the last king of the Chaldees whom Iosephus calls Naboandel & Belshazzar, ended in the year of Nabonasser 210, nine years before the death of Cyrus, according to the Canon. But after the translation of the kingdome from the Medes to the Persians Cyrus reigned only seven years according to Xenophon, [467] & spending the seven winter months at Babylon, the three spring months at Susa & the two summer months at Ecbatane, he came the seventh time into Persia & died there in spring & was buried at Pasargadæ. By the Canon & the common consent of all Chronologers he died in the year of Nabonassar 219, & therefore conquered Darius in the year of Nabonassar 212, seventy two years after the destruction of Nineve. And therefore being at his death 70 years old according to Herodotus; he was born in the year of Nabonassar 149, his mother Mandane being the sister of Cyaxeres, at that time a young man, & also the sister of Amyite, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar , & his father Cambyses being of the old Royal family of the Persians.

<112r>

Chap. VI.
Of the Empire of the Medes & Persians.

Æschylus who flourished in the reigns of Darius Hystaspis & Xerxes reccons the Kings of the Medeo-Persian Monarchy down in order to Xerxes in this manner

Μῆδος γὰρ ἦν ὁ πρῶτος ἡγεμὼν στρατοῦ.

Ἄλλος δε ἐκείνου παῖς τὸ δ' ἔργον ἤνυσε.

Τρίτος δ' ἀπ' ἀυτοῦ Κῦρος ἐυδαίμων ἀνήρ

He that first led the army was a Mede

The next who was his son finished the work

The third from him was Cyrus a happy man.

The Poet here omits Dejoces who was king only of the Medes & begins with the Phraortes the first King of the Medes & Persians & founder of that Empire. When Phraortes had conquered the Persians he made war upon the Assyrian Empire & took Susa from them & his son Cyaxeres finished the work by destroying Nineveh. The Poet here naming only the warriors who erected & enlarged the Medeo-Persian Empire omits Astyages a sloathful Prince & his obscurer successors & names Cyrus in the third place a happy man for his great successes.

How Phr{a}ortes conquered the Persians & compassed Ecbatane with a stone wall broad & high suitable to his conquests & after 22 years reign was routed & slain by the Assyrians & how his son Cyaxeres in the beginning of his reign routed the Assyrians & was presently after routed by a great inundation of Scythians but after 28 years slew the Scythians & in the mean time by the help of the babylonians subverted the dominion of the Assyrians at Nineveh & destroyed the city, has been described above. The great slaughters of the Persians Scythians & Assyrians in those wars is thus described by Ezekiel. Ashur is there & all her company [ videlicet in Hades or the lower parts of the earth where {the} dead bodies lay buried ] his graves are about him all of them slain fallen by the sword, –which caused their terror in the land of the living. There is Elam [ or Persia ] & all her multitude, round <113r> about her grave: all of them slain fallen by the sword which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth which caused their terror in the land of the living yet have they born their shame with them that go down into the pit. –There is Meshech Tubal & all her multitude, her graves are round about him all of them uncircumcised slain by the sword as they caused their terror in the land of the living. Ezek. 32.22, 24, 26.

By this passage it appears that the Persians were Lords of their own country causing their terrour in the land of the living untill the Medes conquered them & that they were conquered with a great slaughter whereby their power was broken & they were brought into subjection by the Medes & remained so till the Prophesy of Ezekiel & by consequence till the reign of Cyrus who set them above the Medes. < insertion from f 113r > Whence the Greeks & Latins reccon the second monarchy to be that of the Medes & the third to be that of the Persians founded by Cyrus. But Daniel reccons both to be one Monarchy successively governed by the Medes & Persians. When Nebuchadonosor king of Assyria had war with Arph{axd} king of the Medes, {E}lymais & Persia were subject to the Assy{rians} (Iudith 1.6, 7) but Persia afterwards became free till Cyaxeres & Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Nineve & & divided the Assyrian Monarchy between them, & Cyaxeres conquered eastward{s} as Neb{u}chadnezza{r} did westward. And then I reccon it was that the Medes subdued all the nations of {Persia} except Susa & made that great slaughter of the Persians which is {described} by Ezekiel. For it is not to be sup{po}sed that they {reigned} over the Persians in the days of Astyages when they themselves were in subjection to the Scythians. {Ezekiel joyns the conquest of} slaughter of the Assyrians, Persians, & Scy{thians} as {done} much {about} the same time <113v> & Herodotus tells us that the Medes taking Ninsur conquered the Assyrians excepting {of} Babylon, that is they conquered eastward leaving the western regions of Syria Mesopotamis Adiabene & Susiana to the lot of Babylon. And Dionysius Halycarnassæus : the Empire of the Medes having destroyed that of the Assyrians & thereby gained a greater power, did not retain it long. It retained this {power} from the taking of Nineve by Cyaxeres to the taking of Babylon Ecbatane by Cyrus which was about 7{0} years & was so considerable in that inter{v}al of time as to be counted in the second monarchy by the {ancient} Greeks & Latins who did not reccon the Kingdom of Babylon among the principal Monarchies tho that grew up at the same time with the Medic by the fall of Nineve & became very considerable, & lasted as long within two years. < text from f 113r resumes >

After the fall of Nineveh Cyaxeres who reigned 40 years made war upon Alyattes king {of} Lydia five years together in the end of his reign with various fortun{e}{a} & in the sixt year of the war upon a total eclyps of the Sun which was predicted by Tha{les} & happened in the middle of a battel (Iuly 9 Anno Per. Iul. 4117) they parted & made peace. Tully, Pliny, Eusebius & Solinus place this battel & E{c}lyps in the reign of Astyages. Whence I reccon that Cyaxeres began the war & Astyages being a peacefull Prince ended it by a treaty in the beginning of his reign He was succeeded by Cyaxeres his son & Darius his grandson as above.

Cyrus by the common consent of all Chronologers ancient & modern began his reign in Persia (that is under the kings of Media) an. 1 Olymp. 55 an. Iul. Per 4155 in Spring & reigned full 30 years & died or was slain in Spring an. I. P. 4185. He overcame Crœsus King of the Lydians in the 16 or 18 year of his reign an. 1 Olymp. 5{8}{9} & <114r> thereby became Lord of all Asia minor. Afterwards Cyrus in the 21th year of his reign invaded Babylonia & the next year took Babylon & put an . end to the Assyrian Monarchy & thenceforward reigned almost nine years over all Asia on this side {of} India. Xenophon says but seven years, meaning after the death of Darius

Cambyses succe{e}ded his father Cyrus, reigned seven years & five months, & in the t{hre}e last years on his reign invaded & subdued Egypt & was succeeded by Smerdes the Magus who feigned himself to {b}e Smerdes the brother of Cambyses.

Smerdes reigned seven months & in the eighth month being discovered was slain with a great number of the Magi For so the Persians called their Priests. & in memory of this the Persians kept an anniversary day which they called The {s}{S}laughter of the Magi. Darius the son of Hystaspis succeeded in the throne being chosen by the weighing of his horse & seems on this occasion to have reformed the constitution of the Magi, making his father Hystaspis their Master or Archimagus. For Porphyrius tells us that the Magi were a sort of men venerable amongst the Persians that Darius son of Hystaspis wrote on the monument of his father (amongst other things) that he had been the Master of the Magi. In this reformation of the Mag{i} Hystaspis was assisted by Zoroaster. or Zaradust So Agathias : The Persians at this day say simply that Zoroaster lived under Hystaspis. And Apuleius : Pythagoram, aiunt, inter captivos Cambysæ regis [ ex Ægypto Babylonem abductos ] doctores habuisse Persar{ud} Magos ac præcipue Zoroastrem omnis divini arcani antistitem. By Zoroaster's conversing at Babylon he seems to have borrowed his skill from the Chaldeans for he was skilled in Astronomy & used their year. So Q{. } Curtius a[468] : Magi proxi [469] {m}i patrium carmen canebant. Magos trecenti sexaginta quin juvenes sequebantur puniceis amiculis velati, diebus totius anni pares numero. And Ammianus : {Scientiæ} multa ex Chald{æ}orum arcanis Bactrianus addidit Zoroastres deinde Hystas{p}es rex prudentissimus Darÿ pater. From Zoroaster's conversing in several places he is recconed a Chaldean an Assyrian a Mede a Persian a Ba{ctr}ian. Suidas calls him a Perseo-Mede & saith he was the most skilfull of Astronomers & Prince of the name of the Magi rec{e}ived among them. ‡ < insertion from lower down f 114v > This skill in Astronomy shews that he had been instructed by the Chaldeans , but Hystaspes travelled into India to be instructed by the Gymnosophists, & these two conjoy{ni}ng their skill & authority instituted a new set of Priests called Magi & instruct{e}d them in such ceremonies & mysteries of religion & philosophy as they thought fit to establish for the religion & philosophy of that Empire & there instructed others till from a small number they grew to a great multitude. For Suidas tells us that Zoroaster gave a beginning to the name of the Magi, & Elmacinus that he reformed the religion of the Persians which before was divided into many sects & Agathias that he introduced the religion of the Magi among the Persians changing their ancient sacred rites & bringing in several opinions. And Ammianus tells us: Magia divinorum incorruptissimus est cultus, cui scientiæ seculis priscis multa ex Chaldæorum ar{c}anis Bact{r}ianus addidit Zoroastres: deinde Hystaspes prudentissimus Darÿ pater, qui quum superio{r}is Indiæ secreta fidentius penitraret, ad nemorosam quandam venerat solitudin{e}m cujus tranquillis silentÿs praecelsa Brachman{o}rum ingenia potiuntur, {e}orum monitu ration{a}{e}{u}s mundani motus et siderum, puros sacrorum ritus quantum colligere potuit, e{ru}ditus, ex his qu{æ}{a} didicit, aliqua sensibus Magorum infudit; quæ illi cum disciplinis præs{e}ntiendi futura per s{ua}m quis progeniem posteris ætati{b}us tradunt. Ex eo per sæcula multa ad præseus, una eadem prosapia multituda {c}reata, deorum cultibus dedicatur. Ferun{t} etiam, si justum est credi, ignem c{æ}{œ}litus lapsum apud se sempiter{n}is foculis custodiri, cujus p{o}rtionem exiguam ut faustam præisse quondam Asiaticis regibus dicunt. Hujus originis apud {v}eteres numerus erat exilis, ejus mysterÿs Persicæ potestates in rebus faciendis divinis solenniter uteba{n}tur. Erat piaculu{m} aras adire vel hostiam contrectare antequam Magus conceptis precationibus lib{a}me{n}ta diffu{n}deret præcursoria. Verum a{n}cti paulatim, in amplitudinem, gentis solidæ concesserunt & nomen: villas {inhabitantes}{in habitantes} nulla murorum firmitudine communitas, & legibus suis uti permissi, religionis respectu sunt honorati. Ammian. l. 23. post med. < text from f 114r resumes > About the same time lived also Hostanes another eminant Magus. a[470] Pliny places him under Darius Hystaspis, & b[471] makes him the follower of Zoroastres. He seems to be the Hotanes of Herodotus who discovered Smerdes & formed the conspiracy against him & for the service w{a}s honoured by the {conspirators} & exempt from subjection to Darius.

Darius began his reign in spring an. I. P. 4193 & reigned 36 years by the unanimous consent of all Chronologers. In the second year of his reign the Iews began to build the Temple by the Prophesying of Hagga{i} & Zechary & finished it in the sixt. He fought the Greeks at Marathon in October an. I. P. 4224 ten years before the battel at Salamis & died in the fift year following. The years of Cambyses & Darius are determined by three eclipses of the Moon recorded by Ptolomy <115r> {so} that they cannot be {disputed} & by those Eclipses & the Prophesies of Haggai & Zachary compared together its manifest that the years of Darius began after the 24th day of the eleventh Iewish month & before the 25th day of April & by consequence in March or April, suppose with the first month of the Iewish year according to the recconing of the Iews.

Xerxes Achsweros or Oxyar{es} succeeded his father Darius & spent the first five years of his reign & something more in preparations for his expedition against the Greeks & this expedition was in the time of the Olympic games in the beginning of the first year of the 75th Olympiad, Callias being Archon at Athens as all chronologers agree. ✝ < insertion from higher up f 114v > The great number of people which he drew out of Susa to invade Greece made Æschylus the Poet say: Τὸ δε ἄστυ Σούσων ἐξηκηίνωσε πεσον. He emptied the falling city of Susa. < text from f 115r resumes > The passage of his army over the Hellespont began in the end of the 4th year of the 74th Olympiad that is in Iune an. I. P. 4234 An. Abr. 1521. , and took up a month & in autumn after three months more on the 16th day of the month Munichion at the full Moon was the battel at Salamis & a little after that an Eclips of the Moon which by the calculation fell on October 2. His first year therefore began in spring {A}n. I. P. 4229. An. Abr. 1516, as above He reigned almost 21 years by the consent of all writers & was murdered by Artabanus captain of his guards. To his reign agrees the story of Esther & Mordecai.

Artabanus reigned seven months & upon suspicion of treason against Xerxes was slain by Artaxerxes Longi{m}anus the son of Xerxes,

Artaxerxes began his reign in the autumnal half of the year between the 5t & ninth Iewish months (Nehem 1.1 & {2. }{2}1 & 5.14 & Ezra 7.7, 8, 9.) & his 20th year [ was the 115th from the beginning of the reign of Cyrus in Persia & ] fell in with the 4th year of the 83d Olympiad, as a[472] Africanus informs us. Thucydides relates that the news of his death came to Athens in winter in the 7th year of the Pelopponesian war that is an 4 Olymp. 88. . And by the Canon he reigned 41 years (videlicet includ{i}ng the reign of his predecessor Artebanus as a fals Vsurper) & died An. Nabonass 325 An Abr 1578. in eunte. Eusebius & others reccon that he reigned 40 years videlicet including the two months reign of Xerxes & & seven months reign of Sogdian his successors. Others (& particularly the Canon) reccon that he reigned 41 years videlicet including also the reign of his successor Artabanus as a fals Vsurper. By all which recconings Xerxes was slain towards the end of winter & Artabanus about the autumnal equinox or within a month or two before or after An. Abr. 1537 an. I. P. 4250, & then began the reign of Artaxerxes. Perhaps {Nehemiah} begins it with the first month of the Lunisolar year of the Chaldees & civil year of the Iews. In the 7th year of his reign he sent Ezra to restore the worship & policy of the Iews & in the 20th year he sent Nehemiah to build the walls of Ierusalem.

Darius Nothus began his reign in autumn an. I. P. 4290 An. Abr. 1578 meunte <116r> reigned 19 years & died in summer {a} little after the end of the Pelopponnesian war & in the same Olympic year, An. Nabonass. 344. Ann. Abr. 1597. an. I. P. 4309. The 13th year of his reign was coincident in winter with the 20th of the Pelopponesian war : And the years of that war are stated by indisputable characters & agreed on by all Chronologers, & the war begain in spring an. 1. Olymp. 87. {l}asted 27 years & ended April 14. an. 4. Olymp. 93.

The n{ex}t king Artaxerxes Mnemon, reigned 46 years, & died An. Nabonass. 390 An Abr 1643. Then reigned Artaxerxes Ochus 21 years, Arses {2} years & Darius Codomannus 4 years unto the battel of Arbela whereby the Persian Monarchy was translated to the Greeks October 2, an. I. P. 4383. An. Nabonass. 417. An. Abr. 16{7}0. But Darius was not slain till a year & some months after. Whence Africanus reccons that this Monarchy stood 230 years & Agathias 228 that is from the beginning of the supposed thirty years reign of Cyrus. But since Cyrus reigned only seven years the true length was only 205 years.

I have hitherto stated the times of this Monarchy out of the Greek & Latin writers. For the Iews know nothing more of the Babylonian & Medo-Persian Monarchies then what they have out of the sacred books of the Old Testament & therefore own no more kings nor years of kings then they can find in those books. The kings they reccon are only Nebuchadnezzar, Evilmerodach, Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, Cyrus, Ahasuerus, & Darius the Persian. This Darius they reccon to be the Artaxerxes in whose reign Ezra & Nehemiah came to Ierusalem accounting Artaxerxes a common name of the Persian kings. Nebuchadnezzar they say reigned 45 years (2 King 25, 27) Belshazzar 3 (Dan. 8.1) & therefore Evilmerodach 23 to make up the 70 years captivity excluding the first year of Nebuchadnezzar in which they say the Prophesy of the seventy years was given. To Darius the Mede they assign one year or at most but two (Dan. 9.1) to Cyrus 3 years incomplete (Dan. 10.1) to Ahasuerus 12 years till the casting of Pur (Est. 3.7) one year more till the Iews smote their enemies (Est. 9.1) & one year more till Esther & Mordecai wrote the second letter for the keeping of Pur{im} (Est. 9.29) in all 14 years & to Darius the Persian they allot 32 or rather 36 years (Nehem. 13.6) So that the Persian Empire from the building of the Temple in the second year of Darius Hystaspis flourished only 34 years untill Alexander the great overthrew it. This the Iews reccon in their greater Chronicle Seder Olam Rabbah. Iosephus out of the sacred & other books reccons only these kings of Persia, Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius Hystaspis, Xerxes, Artaxerxes & Darius; & taking this Darius who was Darius Nothus to be the last darius whom Alexander the great overcam{e}, by means of this recconing he makes Sanballat & Iadna alive when Alexander the great overthrew the Persian Monarchy. Thus all the Iews conclude the Persian Monarchy with Artaxerxes Longimanus and Darius Nothus allowing no more kings of Persia then they found <117r> in the books of Ezra & Nehemiah & referring to the reigns of this Artaxerxes & this Darius what ever they met with in profane history con{c}erning the following kings of the same names so as to take {Artaxerxes Longimanus} Artaxerxes Mnemon & Artaxerxes Oel{us} for one & the same A{r}taxerxes & Darius Not{hus} & Darius Codomannus for one & the same Darius, & Iad{na} & Simeon Iustus for one & the same High { ~ }{ - } Priest. These accounts being so very imperfect – – – – These accounts be{in}g so very imperfect, it was necessary to have recourse to the records of the Greeks & Latins for stating the times of this Monarchy. Which being done we have a gro{w}{u}nd for understanding the history of the Iews set down in the books of Ezra & Nehemiah & adjusti{n}g it to the reigns of the Persian Kings. For this history wants some illustration. And first I shall state the history of the Iews under Zerubbabel in the reign of Cyrus, Cambyses, & Darius Hystaspis.

This history is conteined partly in the three first chapters of the book of Ezra, & first five verses of the 4th, & partly in the book of Nehemiah from the 5t verse of the 7th chapter to the 9th verse of the 12th. For Nehemiah copied all this out of the chronicl{e}s of the Iews as may appear by reading the place & considering that the Priests & Levit{es} who sealed the covenant on the 24th day of the seventh month (Nehem. 10) were the very same with those who returned from Captivity in the first year of Cyrus, (Nehem 12) & that all those who returned sealed it. This you will perceive by the following comparison of their names.


The Priests who returned.

The Priests who sealed.
Nehemiah. Ezra. 2.2Nehemiah
SerajahSerajah
*Azariah
IeremiahIeremiah
EzraEzra. Nehem. 8
*Pashur
AmariahAmariah
Malluc or Melicu. v. 2, 14Malchiah
HallushHallush
Shechaniah or Shebaniah. v. 13, 14Shebaniah
*Malluc
Rehum or Harim v. 3, 15Harim
MeremothMeremoth
IddoObadia or Obdia
*Daniel
Ginnetho or Ginnethon v. 4, 16Ginnethon
*Baruch
*Meshullam
AbÿahAbÿah
MiaminMiamin
MaadiahMaaziah
BilgahBilgai
ShemajahShemajah
<118r>
The Levites who returned. The Levites who sealed.
IsshuaIeshua
BinnuiBinnui
Kadm{i}{a}{e}{é}lKadmiel
Sherebiah שרביהSherebiah שבνיה levi mutatione)
Iudah or Hodaviah Ezra 2.40 & 3.9Hodiah. Ωδουϊα Sept.


The Levites Ieshua Kadmiel & Hodaviah or Iudah here mentioned, are recconed chief fathers among the people who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2.40) & they assisted as well reading the Law & making & sealing the convenant. Nehem 8.7 & 9.5 & 10.9, 10.

Comparing therefore the books of Ezra & Nehemiah, together, the history of the Iews under Cyrus Cambyses & Darius Hystaspis will be, that they re{t}urned from captivity under Zerubbabel in the first year of Cyrus with the holy vess{e}ls & a commission to build the Temple & came to Ierusalem & Iudah every one to his City & d{w}elt in their cities  till the seventh month & then coming to Ierusalem  they first built the altar & on the first day of the seve{n}th month began to offer the daily burnt offerings & read in the book of the law & they kept the feast of the Tabernacles & on the 24th day of this month they kept a solemn fast & sealed a covenant & {thenceforward}{thence forward} the Rulers of the p{eo}ple dwelt at Ierusalem & the rest of the people cast lots to dwell one in ten at Ierusalem & the rest in the cities of Iudah. And in the second year of their comi{n}g in the second month (which was six years before the d{eat}h of Cyrus) they laid the foundation of the Temple but the adversaries of Iudah troubled them in building & hi{r}ed counsellours against them all the days of Cyrus & [ afterwards videlicet in the reign of Cambyses ] untill the reign of Darius king of Persia. But in the second year of his reign by the prophesying of Haggai & Zechariah they returned to the work &by the help of a new Decree from Darius, finished it on the third day of the month Adar in the sixt year of his reign & kept the Dedication with joy & the Passover & Feast of unleavened bread.

<119r>

Now this Darius was not Darius Nothus but Darius Hystaspis as I gather by considering th{a}t the words in the book of Ezra properly import the Darius nex{t} after Cyrus. that the second year of th{is} Darius was the seventith ✝ < insertion from the top of f 118v > from the invasion of Ierusalem & the cities of Iudea by Nebuchadnezzar in th{e} ninth year of Zedekiah (Zech. I.12. Ier. XXXIV.1, 7, 22. & XXXIX.1,) & that the fourth year of this Darius was the seventith from the burning of the Temple {: } in the eleventh year of Zedekiah (Zech. VII.5 & Ier. LII.12) both which are true of Daris Hystaspis; & that in the second year of this Darius < text from f 119r resumes > there were men living who had seen the first temple (Haggai 2.3) whereas the second year of Darius Nothus was 166 years after the desolation of the {Temple &} City. And ~ further, if the finishing of the Temple be deferred to the sixt year of Darius Nothus, Ieshua & Zerubbabel must have been the one High Priest & the other Capitain of the people for 112 years together, besides their ag{e}s before; which is surely too long. Fof in the first year of Cyrus the chief Priests were Serajah, Ieramiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malluch, Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, Iddo, Ginetho, Abÿah, Miamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, Shemajah, Iojarib, Iedaiah, Sallu, Amock, Hilkiah, Iedaiah. These were Priests in the days of Ieshus & the eldest sons of them all (Merajah the son of Serajah, Hananiah the son of Ieremiah, Meshullam the son of Ezra, &c) {. } were chief Priests in the days of Iehojakim the son of Ieshua (Nehem. 12) & therefore the High Priesthood of Ieshua was but of an ordinary length.

I have now stated the history of the Iews in the reign of Cyrus, Cambyses, & Darius Hystaspis: it remains that I state their history in the reigns of {X}erxes & Artaxerxes Longimanus. For I plac{e} the histories of Ezra & Nehemiah in the reign of this Artaxerxes & not in that of Artaxerxes Mnemon{. }For during all the Persian Monarchy untill the last Darius mentioned in scripture whom I take to be Darius Nothus there were but six High Priests in conti{n}ual succesion of father & son namely Ieshua, Iojakim, Eliasib, Iojada, Iohanan < insertion from the bottom of f 118v > Iaddua, & the seventh High Priest was Onias the son of Iaddua & the eighth was Simeon Iustus the son of O{n}ias & the ninth was Eliezer the younger brother of Simeon{. } Now if at a mean recconing we may allow about 27 or 28 years to a generation by the eldest sons of a family, as above, & if we may further suppose that Ieshua at the return of the captivity in the first year of the Empire o{f} the Persians was about 30 or 40 years old; Iojakim will be of that age in the 15th year of Darius Hystaspis, Eliasib in the 7th year of Xerxes, Iojada in the 14th year of Artaxerxes Lon{gimanus}, Ioahanan in the 2d year of Darius Nothus, Iadd{u}a in the 11th year of Artaxerxes Mnemno, Onias in the 39th year of Artaxerxes Mnemon, Simeon Iustu{s} in the first year of Arses & Eliezer {in} the sixt year after the death of Alexander the great, supposeing him 20 years younger th{e}n his brother Simeon. And this recconing as it is according to the course of nature so it agrees perfectly well with the course of history. For thus Eliasib might be High Priest & have grandsons before the seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezra 10.6) & without exceedin the age which many old men attain unto conti{nue} High Priest till after the 32th year of that king (Nehem XIII.6, 7) & his grandson Iohanan might be High Priest & slay his younger brother Iesus in the Temple in the reign of Artaxerxes Mnemon (Ioseph. Antiq. l. XI. c. 7) & Iaddua the son of Io{h}anan might be born & his birth recorded before the reign of Darius Nothus (Nehem. XII.22) & his younger brother Manasses might marry Nicaso the daughter <119v> of Sanballet & for that offense be chased from Nehemiah in the end the reign of Artaxerxes {illeg} or soon after ( (Nehem. XIII.28. I{o}seph. Antiq. l. {X}I. c. 7, 8) & Simeon justus may be High Priest when the Persian Empire was invaded by Alexander the great as the Iews represent (Ioma. fol. 69.1 Liber Iu{ol}asis. R. Gedalias {&c}) & Eliezer the successor & y{o}unger brother of Simeon might cause the Law to be translated into Greek in the beginning of the reign of Ptolomæus Philadelphus ( Ioseph. Antiq. l. 12. c. 1.) & Onias the son of Simeon Iustus who was a child at his fathers death & by consequence was born in his fathers old age, might be so old in the reign of Ptolomæus Eu{e}rgetes {a}s to have his follies ex{c}used to that king by representing that he was then grown childish with old age Ioseph. Antiq. l. XII. c. 4. All these things suit perfectly with the course of nature & according to this recconing the days of Ezra & Nehemiah fall in with the reign of the first Artaxerxes. < text from f 119r resumes > Iaddua Ezra & Nehemiah will fall in with the reign of the first Artaxerxes. For Ezra & Nehemiah flouris{h}ed in the high Priesthood of Eliasib (Ezra 10.6. Nehem. 3.1 & 13.4, 28) . But if Eliasib & Nehemiah be placed <119v> <120r> in the reign {o}f the second Artaxerxes, since they lived beyond the 32th year of Art{a}xerxes (Nehem 13.28) there must be at least 160 years alotted to the thre{e} first High Priests & but 42 to the four or five last, a division too unequal. For the High Priesthoods Ieshua Iojakim & Eliab{i}b were but of an ordinary length, that of Ieshua fell in with one generation of the chief Priests & that of Iojakim with the next generation (as we have shewed already) & that of Eliasib fell in with the third generation. For at the dedication of the wall Zechariah the son of Ionathan the son of Shemaiah was one of the Priests (Nehem 12.35) & Ionathan & his father Shemaiah were contemporaries to Iojakim & his father Ieshua (Nehem 12.6, 18.) I observe further that in the first year of Cyrus Ieshua & Bani or Binnui were chief fathers of the Levites (Nehem. 8.10 & Ezra 2.4 & 3.9) & that Iosabad the son of Ieshua & Noadiah the son of Binnui were chief Levites in the seventh year of Artaxerxes when Ezra came to Ierusalem (Ezra 8.33) so that this Artaxerxes began his reign before the end of the second generation. And that he reigned in the time of the third generation is confirmed by two instances more. For Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezab{e}{a}el & Azariah the son of Maasejah the son of Ananiah were fathers of their houses at the repairing of the wall (Nehem. 3.4, 23) & their Grandfathers MeShazabeel & Hananiah subscribed the covenant in the reign of Cyrus, Nehem 10.21, 23. Yea Nehemiah this same Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah was then Tirshatha & subscribed it (Nehem. 10.1 & 8.9 & Ezra 2.2, 63) & therefore in the 32th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus was above 120 years old & if you produce his age to the 32th of Artaxerxes Mnemon he will be above 180 years old, an age surely too great. The same may be said of Ezra if he was that Priest & Scribe who read the Law Nehem. 8. For he is the son of Serajah the son of Azariah the son of Hilkiah the son of Shallum &c (Ezra 7.1) & this Serajah went into captivity at the burning of the Temple & was there slain (1 Chron. 6.14. 2 King 25.18) & from his death to the 20th year of Artaxerxes Mnemon   is  above 200 years, an age too great for Ezra.

I consider further that Ezra (chap. 4) names Cyrus, *, Darius, Achswerus & Artaxerxes in continual order as successors to one another, & these names agree to Cyrus, *; Darius Hystaspis, Xerxes, & Artaxerxes Longimanus & to <121r> no other Persian Kings. Some take this Artaxerxs to be not the successor but the prede{c}essor to Darius Hystaspis not considering that in his reign the Iews were busy in building the City & the wall (Ezra 4.12) & by consequence had finished the Temple before. Ezra describes first how the people of the land hindered the building of the Temple all the days of Cyrus & further till the reign of Darius & after the Temple was built how they hindred the building of the City in the reign of Achs{w}{u}erus & Artaxerxes & then returns back to the story of the Temple in the reign of Cyrus & Darius. and this is confirmed by comparing the book of Ezra with the book of Esdras. For if in the book of Ezra you omit the story of Achswerus & Artaxerxes & in that of Esdras you omit the same story of Artaxerxes & that of the three wise men, the two books will agree, so that the book of Esdras, if you except the story of the three wise men, was origi{n}ally copied from authentic writings of sacred authority. Now the story of Artaxerxes which (with that of Achswerus) in the book of Ezra interrupts the story of Darius does not interrupt it in the book of Esdras but is there inserted into the story of Cyrus between the first & second chapter of Ezra & all the re{s}t of the story of Cyrus & that of Daris is told in the book of Esdras in continual order without any interruption. So that the Darius which in the book of Ezra precedes Achswerus & Artaxerxes & the Darius which in the same book follows them, is by the book of E{s}dras on{e} & the same Darius, & I take the book of Esdras to be the best interpreter of the book of Ezra. So then the Darius mentio{n}ed between Cyrus & Achswerus is Dari{u}s Hystaspis & therefore Achswerus & Artaxer{x}es who su{cce}ed him are Xerxes & Artaxerxes Longimanus, & the Iews who came up from Artaxerxes to Ierusalem & began to build the City & the wall (Ezra 4.13) are Ezra with his companions. Which being understood the history of the Iews in the reign of those kings will be as follows.

After the Temple was built & Darius Hystaspis was dead the enemies of the Iews in the beginning of the reign of his successor Achswerus or Xerxes wrote unto him an accusation against them (Ezra 4.6) but in the seve{n}th <122r> year of his successor Artaxerxes, Ezra & his companions went up from Babylon with offerings & vessels for the Temple & power to bestow on it out of the Kings treasure what should be requisite (Ezra 7) Whence the Temple is said to be finished according to the commandment of Cyrus & Darius & Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra 6.14. Their commission was also to set Magistr{a}tes & Iudges over the land & thereby be{coming} a new {b}ody politick they called a gre{at} Council or Sanhed{r}im to separate the people from {strange} wives & they were also encouraged to attempt the rebuild{i}ng of Ierusalem with its wall. And thence Ezra saith in his prayer that God had extended mercy to the in the sight of the kings of Persia & given them a reviviing to set up the house of their God & to repair the desolations thereof & to give them a WALL in Iudah even in Ierusalem, Ezra 9.9. But when they had begun to repair the {W}{w}all their enemies wrote against them to Artaxerxes, Be it known, say they, unto the King that the Iews which came up from thee to us are come up to Ierusalem building the rebellious & bad City & have set up the walls thereof & joyned the foundations &c. And the King wrote back that the Iews should cease & the city not be built untill another commandment should be given from him. Whereupon their enemies went up to Ierusalem & made them cease by force & power, Ezra 4. But in the 20th year of the King   Nehemiah hearing that the Iews were in great affliction & distress & that the wall of Ierusalem (that wall which had been newly repaired by Ezra) was broken down & the gates thereof burnt with fire he obteined leave of the King to go & build the city & the {Governours house} Nehem. 1.3 & 2.6, 8, 17. < insertion from above the line of f 122r > And coming to Ierusalem he built the wall & persisted in the work with great resolution & patience untill the breaches were made up ~ notwithstanding the opposition made by Sanballet Tobias & {Q}{G}eshem. And when the breaches were made up Sanball{a}t & Geshem sent messages to him five times to hinder him from setting up the doors upon the gates: but notwithstanding he persisted in the work till the doors were also set up. So the wall was finished in the eight & twentith year of the king in the 25t day of the month Elul in fifty & two days after the breaches were made up. Nehem. VI.15 Ioseph l. XI. c. 5. While the timber for the gates was preparing & seasoning they made up the breaches of the wall. Both were works of time{, } & are not to be recconed within the 52 days. This is the time of the last work of the wall, the wo{r}k of setting up the Gates after the Timber was cut down & seasoned & the breaches of the w{a}ll made up And . So then Nehemiah being Governour twelve years spent the first eight in repairing the breaches of the wall & setting up the Gates & when this was done the people in the city were but few < text from lower down f 122r resumes > But after he had built the wall & set up the gates the people in the City were but few & the hous{es} were unbuilt, (Nehem. 7.1, {{1}}4) . And in this condition he left Ierusalem in the 32th year of the King, & after some time returning back from the king he reformed such abuses as had been committed in his absence, Nehem. 13 . In the m{e}ane time the genealogies of the Priests & Levites were <122v> <123r> recorded in the book of the Chronicles in the d{a}ys of Elias{ib} Iohanan & Iadua, untill the reign of the next king Darius Nothus whom Nehemiah calls Darius the Persian Nehem. 12.11, 22, 23. Whence it follows that Nehemiah was Governour of the Iews after his return to the end of teh reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus & perhaps in some part of the reign of his successor Darius Nothus. And here ends the sacred history of the Iews.

– ⊕ Memorandum This is a proof that he intended his prophecies as a sequel to this Chronology

<124r>

The Histories of the Persians now extant in the east {repre}sent {that} the oldest Dynast{ies} of the kings of Per{s}ia were those whom they call {Pischdadians & Kaianides} & that the Kaia{n}ides immediately su{cceeded} the Pischadadians. They They They derive the nam{e} Kaianides from the word Kai which they say in the old Persian Language signified a Giant or great king. {& call the four first kings of this Dyn{as}ty Cai-Cobad, Cai-Caus, Kai-C{a}sroes & Lohorasp & by} & by Lohorasp mean Kai-Axeres or Cyaxeres. For they say that Lohorasp was the first of their kings who reduced their armies 682. 2660 3342 to good order & discipline & Herodotus a{ff}irms the same thin{g} of Cyaxeres. And they say further that Lohorasp went eastward & conquered many provinces of Persia & that one of his Generals whom the Hebrews call N{e}buchadnezzar {the Arabians Bocktanassar} & others Bocktanassar Ra{b}{h}am & Gudars, went westward & conquered all Syria & Iudea & took the city Ierusalem & destroyed it. They call Nebuchadnezzar th{is} General of Lohorasp because he assisted him in some of his warrs

The fift king of this Dynasty they call Kischlasp & by this name mean {sometimes} Darius H{y}staspis & {sometimes} Darius {Medus} . For they say that he was contemporary to Ezra & to {Z}{z}aradust or Zoroaster the legislator of the Ghebers or Five worshippers, & established his doctrines. throughout all Persia & here they take him For Darius Hystaspes. They say also that he was contemporary to Ieremiah & to Daniel & that he was th{e} son & successor of Lohorasp & here they take him for Darius the Mede{ . } The sixt king of the Cai{œ}{æ}nides they call Bahamain & tell us that Bahaman wa{s} Ardshir Diraz that is Artaxerxes Longimanus so called from the great extent of his power. And yet they say that Bahaman went westward int{o} Mesopotamia & Syria & conquered Balthazar the son of Nebuchadnezzar & gave the kingdom to Cyrus his Lieutenant general over Media. And here they take Bahaman for Darius Medus. {Next} after {Arschir Diraz} they place Homai a Quee{n} the mother of Darius Nothus by Arshir Diraz, though she did not reign{ . } The two last kings of the Kaianides they call Darab the bastard son of Ardschir Diraz & Darab who was conquered by Ascander Roumi that is Darius Nothus & Darius who was conquered by Alexander the Greek. And the kings {between} these two Dariuses they omit as they do also Cyrus Cambyses & Xerxes. The Dynasty of the Kaianides therefore was that of the Medes & Persians beg{innin}g with the defection of the Medes from the Assyrians in the days of Sennacherib & ending with the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. But their account of this Dynasty is very imperfect some kings being omitted & others b{e}ing confounded with one another. And their ch{r}onology of this Dynasty is still worse. For to the first king of this Dynasty they assigne a reign of 120 y{e}ars, to the sec{o}nd a reign of 150 years, to the third a reign of 60 years, to the fourth a reign of 120 years to the fift as much & to the sixt a reign of 112 years.

This Dynasty being the Monarchy of the Medes & {P}ersians: the Dynasty of the s Pis{c}hdadians which immediately {succeeded} it must b{e} that of the Assyri{a}ns.    And ac{c}ording to the Oriental Historians this was the olde{st} kingdom in the world, some of its kings living a thousand years a piece & one of them reigning reigning five hund{r}red {another} seven hundred another a thousand years <124v> {S}o then wee need not wonder that the Egyptians have made the Kings in the first Dynastie of their Monarchy (that which was seated at Thebes in the days of David Solomon & Rehoboam) so very ancient & so long lived, since the Persians have done the like to thei{r} kings who began to reign in Assyria two hundred y{e}ars after the death of Solomon And the Syrians of Damascus have done the {like} to their kings Adar & Hazael who reigned {9}0 or 100 years after the death of Solomon, worshipping them as Gods & boasting of their antiquity & not knowing, saith Iosephus that they were but modern. And whilst all these nations have magnified their Antiquities so exceedingly, we need not wonder that the Greeks & Latines have made their first kings a little older then the truth.

[1] a Gen. 1. 14. & 8. 22. Censorinus c. 19 & 20. Cicero in {Venem} Geminus c. 6. p. 32.

[2] Cicero in {Venem}

[3] c Diodor. l. 1

[4] d Cicero in {Venem}

[5] e Geminus c. 6.

[6] a {Ápud}{Apud} Laertium in Cleobulo.

[7] b Apud Laertium in Thalete. .

[8] a Censorinus c. 18 Herod. l. 2. {prope initium}

[9] b Apollodor. l. 3. p. 169. {Strada} l. 16. p. 476. {Homer} Odyss. T. vers. 179.

[10] c Herod. l. 1.

[11] a Diodor. l. 3. c. 4.

[12] b Diodor. l. 1. c. 3.

[13] a Apud Theodorum de mensibus.

[14] b Apud Athenæum{, } l. 14.

[15] c Suidas in Σάροι

[16] d Herod. l. 1.

[17] a Strabo l. 17. p. 816.

[18] b Diodor. l. 1. p. 32. d.

[19] c Plutarch. de Osiride & Isde. Diodor. l. 1. p. 9.

[20] d Hecatæus apud Diodor. l. 1. c. 4.

[21] a Isagoge sec. 23, {a Petario}edit.

[22] b Hipparch. {ad} Phænom. l. {2}. sect. 3. a Petavio edit.

[23] c Hipparch. ad Phænom l. 1 sect. 2.

[24] a Strom. 1. p. 306, 332.

[25] c Hipparch. ad Phænom l. 1 sect. 2.

[26] b Laertius Proæm. l. 1.

[27] c Apollodor. l. 1. c. 9, sec. 16.

[28] d Suidas in Ἀναγαλλίς.

[29] e Apollodor. l. 1. c. 9. sect. 25.

[30] a Laert. in Thale {te}. Plin. l. 2. c. 12

[31] b Plin. l. 18. c. 23.

[32] c Petav. Var. Diss. l. 1. c. 5. can. 19.

[33] a Petav. Doct. {Tempe} l. 4. c. 26.

[34] b Columel. l. 9. c. 14. Plin. l. 18. c. 2{6}

[35] a Plutarch. de Pytheæ Oraculo.

[36] b Plutarch. in Solon.

[37] c Apud. Diog. Laert. in Solon. p. 10.

[38] d Nat. Hist. l. 7 c. 56.

[39] e Ib. l. 5. c. 29.

[40] f cont. Apion. sub. initio.

[41] g In Ἀκουσíλαος.

[42] h Ioseph. cont. Ap. l. 1.

[43] i Dionys. l. 1, initio.

[44] k In Num{a}

[45] l Diodor. l. 16 p. 550. Edit. Steph

[46] m Polyb. p. 379. b.

[47] a In vita Lycurgi sub in{i}tio.

[48] b In Solon. p. 157.

[49] a Plutarch in Romulo & Numa.

[50] b In Æneid VII v. 678.

[51] c Diodor. l. 1.

[52] d Plutarch in Romulo.

[53] a Lib. 1. in Pro{æ}m.

[54] b Plutarch in Lycurgo sub initio.

[55] a Herod. l. 2.

[56] a Pausan l. 4. c. 3. p. 28. & c. 7. p. 296. et. l. 3. c. 15. p. 245.

[57] a Pausan. l. 4. c. 7. p. 296.

[58] a Herod. l. 1. c. 67.

[59] a Herod. l. 8.

[60] b Herod. l. 8.

[61] c Herod. l. 8.

[62] d Thucyd. l. 2 sub finem.

[63] e Herod. l. 6.

[64] f Herod. l. 6. c. 125, 126.

[65] Pausan. l. 7. c. 2. Herod. l. 1.

[66] a Strabo l. 8. p. 355.

[67] b Pausan. l. 6. c. 22.

[68] c Pausan. l. 5. c. 9.

[69] a Strabo l. 8. p. 358 græce.

[70] a Plato in Minoe

[71] b Thucyd. l. 1. p. 13.

[72] d Pausan. l. 5. c. 8.

[73] e Pausan. l. 6. c. 19.

[74] f Plutarch. de Musica. Clemens Strom. l. 1. p. 308.

[75] a Herod. l. 6. c. 52.

[76] a Pausan. l. 5. c. 4

[77] b Pausan. l. 5. c. 1, 3, 8. Strabo. Geogr. l. 8. p. 357.

[78] b Pausan. l. 5. c. 1, 3, 8. Strabo. Geogr. l. 8. p. 357.

[79] c Pausan. l. 5. c. 4.

[80] c Pausan. l. 5. c. 4.

[81] a Pausan. l. 5. c. 18

[82] a Solin. c. 30.

[83] a Thucyd. l. 6 initio. Euseb. Chron.

[84] a Thucyd. ib.

[85] b Apud. Dionys. l. 1. p. 15.

[86] a Dionys. l. 1. p. 15.

[87] a Apollon. Argonaut. l. 1. v. 101.

[88] b Plutarch in Theseo.

[89] c Disdor. l. 1. p. 35.

[90] d Ioseph {Antiq}. c. 8. l. 4.

[91] a Hygin. Fab. 144.

[92] a Euanthes apud Athenæum l. 67. p. 296.

[93] b Hyginus Fab. 14.

[94] c Pausan. l. 2. c. 23.

[95] a Strabo l. 16.

[96] b Isa. 23. 2

[97] c 1 King. 5. 6.

[98] d Steph. in Azoth.

[99] e Conon Narrat. 37.

[100] f Nonnus Dionysias l. 13. v. 333 & seq.

[101] g Athen. l. 4. c. 23.

[102] h Strabo l. 10. p. 661.

[103] i Herod. l. 1.

[104] a Strabo l. 16.

[105] b 2 Chron. 21. {8}, 10.

[106] c Herod. l. 1 initio & l. 7, circa medium.

[107] c Herod. l. 1 initio & l. 7, circa medium.

[108] d Solin. c. 26.

[109] e Plin.

[110] f Strabo l. 9. p. 401 & l. 10. p. 447.

[111] g Herod. l. 5.

[112] h Str. l. 1. p. 42.

[113] a Strabo l. 1. p. 48

[114] b Bochart Canaan l. 1. c. 34.

[115] b Bochart Canaan l. 1. c. 34.

[116] c Strabo Geog. l. 3. p. 140.

[117] b Bochart Canaan l. 1. c. 34.

[118] d Aristot. de Mirab.

[119] e Philostratus in vita Apollonÿ l. 5. c. 1 & apud Photium.

[120] f Arnob. l. 1.

[121] g See Bochart in Canaan l. 1. c. 24.

[122] a Antiq. l. 8. c. 2, 5. & l. 9. c. 14.

[123] b Homer Il. w.

[124] a Eupolemus apud Euseb. Præp. Evang. l. 9.

[125] a Pausan. l. 2. c. 6.

[126] b Hygin. Fab. 7 & 8.

[127] c Homer Il. w.

[128] d Hygin. Fab. 14.

[129] {a} Pausan l. 2. c. 5, 6.

[130] b Herod. l. 2. Hygin. Fab. 7 & 8.

[131] a Homer Odys. 5 Disdor. l. 5. p. 237.

[132] b Disdor. l. 1. p. 17.

[133] c Pausan. l. 2 c. 25.

[134] a Apollodor. l. 2. sec. 5

[135] b Herod. l. 7.

[136] c Bochart Canaan part. 2 cap. 13.

[137] d Conon Narrat 19.

[138] d Apollon. Argonaut. l. 1.

[139] e Herod. l. 3.

[140] f Conon Narrat. 19.

[141] a Pausan. l. 5. c. 1. p. 376. Apollodor. l. 1. c. 7.

[142] b Pausan. l. 7. c. 1.

[143] c Pausan. l. 1. c. 37. & l. 10. c. {3}{2}9.

[144] d Pausan. l. 7. c. 1.

[145] a Hesych. in Κράναος. Suidas in Ράρος.

[146] a Plato in I Alcib.

[147] a Pausan. l. 8. c. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

[148] b Pausan. l. 8. c. 4. Apollodor. Argonaut. l. 1. v. 161.

[149] c Pausan. l. 8. c. 4.

[150] a Herod. l. 5. c. 58.

[151] b Strabo l. 10. p. 464, 465, 466.

[152] c Solin. Polyhist. c. XI.

[153] d Isidor. originum lib. XIV. c. 6.

[154] e Clem. Strom. l. 1.

[155] f Pausan. l. 9, c. 11.

[156] g Strabo l. 10. p. 472, 473. Disdor. l. 5. c. 4.

[157] h Strabo l. 10. p. 468, 472. Disdor. l. 5. c. 4.

[158] i Lucian de Sacrificÿs. Apollodor. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 3 & c. 2. sect 1.

[159] k in Canaan l. 1. c. 15.

[160] a Athen. l. XIII. p. 601.

[161] b Plutarch in Theseo.

[162] c Homer Il. ν & ξ & Odys. λ & τ.

[163] d Herod. l. 1

[164] e Apollodor. l. 3. c1 Hygin. Fab. 40, 41, 42, 178.

[165] a Lucian de Dea Syria.

[166] c Disdor. l. 5. c. 4.

[167] d Argonautic. l. 2. v. 1236.

[168] e Lucian in Sacrificÿs.

[169] f Porphyr. in vita Pythag.

[170] g Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 3

[171] h Call. Ode 1 in Iovem v. 8.

[172] i Cypr. de Idolorum vanitate.

[173] k Apologet. p. 12. et ad Nationes l. 2.

[174] l Saturnal. l. 1. c. {7}.

[175] a Pausan.l. 5. c. 7, 13, 14.

[176] b Pausan.l. 8. c. 2.

[177] c Pausan. l. 8. c. 29.

[178] d Pausan. l. 5, c. 8, 14.

[179] d Pausan. l. 5, c. 8, 14.

[180] d Pausan. l. 5, c. 8, 14.

[181] Herod. l. 2. c. 44.

[182] b Cic. de natura Deorum lib. 3.

[183] c Disdor. l. 5. c. 3.

[184] c Disdor. l. 5. c. 3.

[185] d Dionys. l. 1. p. 38, 42.

[186] e Lucian de saltatione.

[187] a Arnob. adv. Gent. l. 6. p. 131.

[188] b Herod. l. 2 initio.

[189] c Disdor. l. 1. c. 1. p. 8.

[190] a Hesiod. Opera p. 108.

[191] c Vita Homeri Herodotu aseripta

[192] c Vita Homeri Herodotu aseripta

[193] c Vita Homeri Herodotu aseripta

[194] d Herod. l. 2.

[195] a Thucyd. l. 2. p. 110, & Plutarch. in Theseo.

[196] b Strabo l. 9. p. 396.

[197] c Apud Strabonem l. 9. p. 397.

[198] a Pausan: in Corinthiaeis.

[199] b Strabo l. 8. p. 337.

[200] a Pausan. l. 8 sub initio.

[201] b Plin. l. 7. c. 56.

[202] a Herod. l. 2. c. 51.

[203] a Herod. in Polymnia.

[204] b Herod. in Vrania

[205] c Dionys. Halic. l. 1. p. 11. lin. 24

[206] a Dionys. l. 1. p. 10.

[207] b Dionys. l. 2. p. 70, 94.

[208] a Diodor. lib. 5. c. 3 & 4.

[209] b Ammian. l. 7

[210] c Plin. l. 2. c. 87.

[211] a Diodor. l. 5. c. 1.

[212] a Apud Diodor. l. 5. c.

[213] b Dionys. l. 1. p. 15.

[214] c Dionys. l. 1. p. 26, 27.

[215] d Dionys. ib.

[216] e Ptol. Heph{s}st. l. 2.

[217] f Dionys. ib.

[218] a Diodor. l. 5. c. 4

[219] b Ister apud Porphyr. Abst. l. 2. s. 56.

[220] c Bochart. Canaan, l. 1. c. 15.

[221] a Apud Strabonem lib. 14. p. ult.

[222] a Strabo l. 17. p. 828.

[223] a Diodor. l. 3. c. 4.

[224] b Herod. l. 1

[225] c I King. 20.16.

[226] Pag. 44. l. 11.

[Editorial Note 1] This page is empty, apart from a single word, "these", halfway the page, in Newton's hand.

[227] Plutarch in Theseo.

[228] Il. ν et ξ. Odyss. λ et τ.

[229] Herod. l. 1.

[230] Apollod. l. 3. c. 1.

[231] Hygin. F{a}b. 40, 41, 42, 178.

[232] a Vide Hermi{ppium} apud Athenæum {l}. 1.

[233] b Argonaut. l. 4. u. 272.

[234] c Disdor. l. 1. p. 7.

[235] a Apud Disdorū l. 3. c. 4

[236] b Disdor. ib.

[237] c Pausan. l. 2. c. 20. {p. } 155 & c. 22. p. 160.

[238] d Apud Scholiasten Apollonÿ lib. 2

[239] e lib. 22.

[240] f lib. 2

[241] a Diodor. l. 1. c. 1. p. 9.

[242] b Apud Diodorum l. 3. c. 4. p. 141.

[243] c Steph. in Ἀμμονία

[244] d Plin. l. 8. c. 28

[245] d Plin. l. 8. c. 28

[246] e Ptol. l. 6. c. 7.

[247] aD. Augustin. in Expos{it}. E{p}ist. ad A{d}m.

[248] a Exposit. Epist. ad Rom. sub initio.

[249] b Procop. de bel{l}o Vandal. l. 2

[250] bProcop. de Bello Vandal. l. 2.

[251] c Chron. l. 1. p. 11

[252] d Ad Tet. Shebÿth cap. 6.

[253] e Manetho apud Iosephum cont. Appion. l. 1. p. 1039.

[254] f Herod. l. 2.

[255] g Manetho apud Porphyrium περὶ ἀποχῆς l. 1. sect. 55. Et Euseb. Præp. l 4. c. 16. p. 155.

[256] h Diodor. l. 3. p. 101.

[257] a Diod. apud. Photiū in Biblioth.

[258] a Steph. in Ammonia

[259] b Herod. l. 2.

[260] c Lucan. l. 9.

[261] a Plutarch de Iside p. 355 d. Diodor. l. 1. p. 9. a.

[262] {✝ Augustin} de Civ. l. 18. c. 47

[263] & his lord Osiris

[264] a Apud Photium, c. 279.

[265] b Fab. 274.

[266] c Apud Euseb. Chron. Gr.

[267] a Diodor. l. 1. p. 17.

[268] b Pausan. Messerniac{ , } c. 23.

[269] c Apollod. lib. 2. sect. 4.

[270] a Fab. 275.

[271] b Saturnal. l. 5. c. 21.

[272] c Lucan. l. 1.

[273] Lucan. l. 9.

[274] a Diodor. l. 1. p. 35. Herod. l. 2. c. 102, 103, 106.

[275] b Dionys. in Per{ì}{i}gesi.

[276] Herod. l. 1.

[277] c Argonaut{ , } 4. {v. } 272.

[Editorial Note 2] Newton did not specify where the following (deleted) addition should go; this an editorial suggestion.

[278] d Herod l. 2. c. 109{ . }

[279] e In vita Pyth{a}g. c. 29.

[280] f Diodor. l. 1. p. 36.

[281] g Dionys. de situ Orbis.

[282] hDiodor. l. 1. p. 39.

[283] iPlutarch. de Iside et Osiride.

[284] k Macrob. l. 1. c. 19. & l. 3. c. 12.

[285] l Diodor. l. 1. p. 8.

[286] m Lucian de Dea Syria.

[287] n Exod. 34.16. Num. 33.52. Deut. 7.5 & 12.3.

[288] a 2 Sam. 8.10 & 1 King. 11.

[289] b Antiq. l. 9. c. 2.

[290] c Iustin. l. 36.

[291] a Diodor. l. 5. c ult. p. 238.

[292] b Suidas in Σαρδαναπάλω.

[293] c In Argonaut. l. 4. v. 424. et l. 1. v. 621.

[294] d Homer. Odyss. l. 8. v. 268. & seq. & Hymn. 1 & 2 in Venerem. Et Hesiod. Theogo v. 192.

[295] e Homer Odyss. l. . 8. v. 292.

[296] f P{a}usan. l. 1. c. 20.

[297] g Clemens Admonit ad Gent. p. 10. Apollodor. l. 3. c. {1}3 Pindar. Pyth. Ode 2. Hesych. in Amathus. Strabo l. 16. p. 755.

[298] h Clemens Alexand{r}. Admonit. ad Gent. p. 21. Plin. l. 7. c. 56.

[299] i Herod. l. {2}

[300] k Herod. l. 3

[301] i Bochart Canaan, l. 1. c. 4.

[302] k Herod. l. 3. {p. } 219.

[303] a Hygin. Fab. 274.

[304] b Apud Athenæum l. IX p. 392.

[305] c Ptol. l. 2.

[306] d. l. 3. p. 145.

[307] e Vas. . Chron. Hispan. c. 10.

[308] f Strabo l. 16 p. 77{6}

[309] Diodor l. 3. c. 4.

[310] d Plutarch. in Iside.

[311] a Apud Diodor. l. 5. c. 4

[312] b Pamphus apud Pausan. l. 7. c. 21.

[313] c Herod. l. 2. c. 50.

[314] d Plutarch. in Iside.

[315] e Lucian. de Saltatione.

[316] f Agatharc. apud P{ho}tium

[317] g Hygin. Fab. 150.

[318] a Plutarch. in Iside.

[319] i Diodor. l. 1. {c}. 1 p. 10.

[320] k Pindar. Pyth. Ode 9.

[321] l Diodor. l. 1. p. 12.

[322] a Plin. l. 6. c. 29

[323] b Herod. l. 2. c. 110.

[324] a Manetho apud Ioseph. cont. Apoin. p. 1052, 1053.

[325] a Pausan. in Phoci{c}{e}is.

[326] a Diodor. l. 1. c. 4. p. 31.

[327] a Herod. l. 2.

[328] a Strabo l. 1 p. 48.

[329] a Strabo l. 1 p. 48.

[330] b Apollon. Argonaut. l. 4.

[331] c Pindar. Pyth. Ode{ . } 4.

[332] d Strabo l. 1. p. {7}1, 45, 46.

[333] a Diodor. l. 1. c. 3. p. 29.

[334] b Manetho

[335] a Herod. l 2.

[336] b Herod. l. 2. p. 118 & 182.

[337] b Vide Vossium de Origine Idololatriæ l. 2. c. 56.

[338] a Herod. l. 2.

[339] b Herod l. 7.

[340] a Herod. l. 2

[341] b Herod l. 7

[342] a An{n}al. l. 2. an. 772.

[343] a Diodor. l. 1. {se}ct. 2, p. 32.

[344] 2 King. 19.9 Herod. l. 2

[345] Isa. XIX.

[346] & Telegonus the son of Proteus, & Thu{o}ris or Polybus the husband of Alcandra

[347] a Herod. l. 2.

[348] a Diodor. l. 2. c. 3. p. 83.

[349] a Amos VI. 14.

[350] a Amos VI.{2}

[351] a 2 King. XIX.{II}{11}

[352] b Is. X.8

[353] c 1 Chron. V.26. 2 King. XVI.9 & XVII.6, 24. & Ezra IV.9.

[354] a 2 King. XVII.24, 30, 31. & XVIII.33, 34, 35. 2 Chron. XXXII.15.

[355] b 2 Chron. XXXII 13, 17.

[356] a Hosea. V.13, & X.6, 14.

[357] a Herod. l. III.

[358] b Herod. l. 1.

[359] c Beros. apud Ioseph. contr. App. l. 1.

[360] d Curt. l. 5.

[361] e Apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9.

[362] c Curt. lib. 5

[363] d Abyd. apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9 .

[364] f Doroth. apud Iuliem Firmicum.

[365] g Heren. apud steph in Βαβ.

[366] g Heren. apud steph in Βαβ.

[367] h Abydenus apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9. c. 41.

[368] a Annales {T}yrÿ apud Iosephum l. 9. Antiq. c. ult.

[369] b Hosea X.14.

[370] a Tobit. I.15.

[371] a Canon Ptol.

[372] a Canon Ptol.

[373] b Isa. XX.1, 3, 4.

[374] Herod l. 1. c. 72 et l. 7. c. 63.

[375] a Apud Athenæum l. 12. p. 529.

[376] Herod. l. 1. Steph. in Παρθυαῖοι.

[377] 2 King. 23.

[378] a Eupol{e}mus apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9. c. 39. 2 King. XXIV.2, 7

[379] b Dan. I.1

[380] a Eupol{e}mus apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9. c. 39. 2 King. XXIV.2, 7

[381] c Dan. {I.2} . 2 Chro. XXXVI.6.

[382] d Ier. XLVI.2

[383] {e} Apud Ioseph. Antiq. l. 10. c. 11.

[384] a Beros. apud Ioseph. Antiq. l. 10. c. 11.

[385] 2 King. XXIV.12, 14. 2 Chron. XXXVI.10.

[386] Ezek. XVII.13, 16, 18.

[387] Ezek. XVII.15.

[388] 2 King. XXV.1, 2, 8. Ier. XXXII.1 & XXXIX.1, 2.

[389] a Canon & Berosus.

[390] b 2 King. XXV.27.

[391] Hieron. in Isa. c. 14. v. 19.

[392] 2 King. XXV.27.

[393] a Herod. l. 1  

[394] b Antiq. l. 10. c. 12.

[395] b Antiq. l. 10. c. 12.

[396] c Baruch. I.11, 12.

[397] Herod. l. 1.

[398] Philost. in vita Apollonÿ.

[399] Cont. Apion. l. 1. & Antiq. l. 10. c. 11.

[400] e Herod. l. 1

[401] Herod. l. 1

[402] a Herod. l. 1.

[403] b supra

[404] c Plin. l. 6. c. 26

[405] g Ier. 25.26 & 51.41.

[406] h Pausan. l. 4. c. 23.

[407] Diod. l. 1. p. 17, 51.

[408] d Megasthenes apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9. c. 41.

[409] e Herod. l. 1 { (Ier. 25.26 & 51.41.) }

[410] Herod. l. 1. Strabo l. 16. p. 745 Baru{c}h. VI.43.

[411] Ezek. 41.13, 14.

[412] Ezek. 40.47.

[413] Ezek. 40.29, 33, 36.

[414] Ezek. 40.19, 23, 27. 2 King. {21. }5. 2 Chron. 4.9.

[415] Ezek. 40.15, 17, 21. 1 Chron. 28.12

[416] Ezek. 42.20 & 45.2.

[417] Ezek. 40.5, & 45.2

[418] 2 King. 21.5

[419] Ezek. 40.

[420] 1 Chron. 26.17.

[421] Ezek. 46.8, 9.

[422] Ezek. 44.2, 3.

[423] 1 Chron. 26.15, 16, 17, 18.

[424] Ezek. 40.22, 26, 31, 34, 37.

[425] 1 King. 6.36 & 7.12. Ezek. 40.17, 18.

[426] Ezek. 40.19, 31, 34, 37.

[427] 1 King. 6.36 & 7.12.

[428] Ezek. 40.17

[429] Ezek. 46.21, 22.

[430] Ezek. 40.45.

[431] Ezek. 40.39, 41, 42, 46.

[432] Ezek. 42.1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 13, 14.

[433] Ezek. 46.19, 20.

[434] Ezek. 42.5, 6.

[435] 1 King. 6.2. Ezek. 41.2, 4, 12, 13, 14.

[436] 1 King. 6.3 Ezek. 41.13.

[437] Ezek. 41.6, 11.

[438] 1 King. 6.6.

[439] Ezek. 41.6.

[440] 2 Chron. 3.4.

[441] 1 King. 6.8.

[442] a 2 Chron. 20.5.

[443] b 2 King. 16.18.

[444] Ezra 6.3, 4

[445] The contents of this note are only visible in the diplomatic transcript because they were deleted on the original manuscript

[446] Æsch. Persæ v. 761.

[447] Herod. l. I. c. 107, 108. Xenophon. Cyrop. l. I. s. 1.

[448] Cyrop. l. I. s. 22.

[449] Pausan. l. 5. c. 10.

[450] Herod. l. I. c. 106, 130.

[451] Herod. l. I. c. 103.

[452] Herod. ib.

[453] Ier. XXV.

[454] The contents of this note are only visible in the diplomatic transcript because they were deleted on the original manuscript

[455] Herod. l. 1. c. 71.

[456] Isa. XIII.17.

[457] Plin. l. XXXIII. c. 3

[458] Herod. l. 1. c. 94.

[459] Cyrop. l. 7

[460] Comment in Dan. 5.

[461] Ioseph. Antiq. l. 10. c. 12.

[462] b Vide Hieronymum in Dan. {c}. 8. v. 2.

[463] Dan. X.20

[464] l. 15. p. 730.

[465] Cyrop. l. 8. sect sect. 35, 36.

[466] Herod. l. I. c. 127, 128.

[467] Cyrop. l. VIII. sec 44, 45.

[468] a Plin. l. 30. c. 1

[469] Q. Curt. lib. III.

[470] a Plin. l. 30. c. 1

[471] b in Ἀστροι.

[472] a Apud Hieron. in Dan. 8.

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