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in the divinely-inspired scripture before the flood, there is no mention of any kingdom whatsoever; for it is clear that the forefathers of the race, Adam and Seth and Enos and the more distinguished men around them, these ruled the many until the complete domination of the giants, whom we consider to have tyrannized over the weaker men, who were not like them, until the flood in the time of Noah, on account of whom the earth was also destroyed. But since Berossus, the writer of Chaldaean antiquities, having flourished in the times of Alexander of Macedon, as he says, and having found in Babylon many records carefully preserved, which contained some 15 myriads of years and a little more, certain histories about heaven and earth and sea and the antiquity of kings and their deeds, and about the location of the Babylonian land and its fruitfulness and certain creatures from the red sea appearing unnatural in form, and certain other mythical things, wrote these things with a certain boastfulness, all of which, according to the true account, seem to be fabrications of demons, I think it necessary to set forth their time in a canon as well, being from the 159th year of the world, although I am fully informed that wishing to glorify the nation of the Chaldaeans 15 and to show it to be more ancient than all nations, Berossus and those with him, Alexander, I mean, who is called Polyhistor, and Abydenus, have written these things. For to consider the inhabited world as we know it, in which the country of the Babylonians and Egypt are situated, to have been rather uninhabited before the flood, seems to be more suitable both from the divine scripture and from certain patristic testimonies and from the natural sequence of things; and from the scripture indeed, which says thus: "and He cast out Adam, and made him to dwell opposite the paradise of delight." But the land of the Babylonians and the entire inhabited world as we know it lies somewhere far away from Eden in the east, where we say paradise is situated. and that we may present for such an account a certain God-bearing teacher as a witness, let the divine Ephrem be present for us, the ocean-gushing tongue, saying thus in his dogmatic discourses on paradise: "Paradise is higher than all the beautiful heights. And the flood reached to its foothills. And the people before the flood dwelt between the ocean and paradise, and the generation of Cain in a land called Od, which is translated as trembling, but those of Seth in the higher land, having been commanded by Adam not to mix with the generation of Cain the fratricide. And his generation was short in stature because of the curse of Cain; but those of Seth were giants and like angels of God in the high country. But the daughters of Cain, having come with musical pipes and lyres, led them down from their country, and they took them, and as their lawlessness increased the flood came to pass. And God brought out the ark of Noah to mount Ararat. and from that time men dwelt in this land. This shows that the now inhabited earth was then uninhabited. For through the compassion of God those before the flood dwelt in the regions near paradise, between the ocean and paradise. But the outer darkness, about which Christ spoke, is within paradise; and paradise with the ocean encircles the world; and Eden is in the east; and the luminaries of the sun and moon rise from within paradise, and set outside of it, passing through it" and so on. 16 Therefore, for those who are easily persuaded, I think these things are sufficient for full assurance, that the men before the flood dwelt in the land between the ocean and paradise, and there was neither Babylon on the earth nor a kingdom of the Chaldaeans, as it seems to Berossus and his followers for the subversion of the divine scriptures, nor a dynasty of the Egyptians, as it seemed good to Manetho, who was lying and magnifying the nation of the Egyptians, to write. But if anyone is not satisfied with what has been set forth, let him be fully persuaded by those things which

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θεοπνεύστῳ γραφῇ πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ περὶ βασιλείας τῆς οἱασοῦν οὐ φέρεται· δῆλον γὰρ ὡς οἱ τοῦ γένους προπάτορες Ἀδάμ τε καὶ Σὴθ καὶ Ἐνὼς καὶ οἱ ἀμφ' αὐτοὺς ἐπισημότεροι, οὗτοι ἐξῆρχον τῶν πολλῶν ἕως τελείας κατακρατήσεως τῶν γιγάντων, οὓς νομίζομεν τυ ραννεῖν τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων ἀνθρώπων, οἵτινες οὐκ ἦσαν αὐτοῖς ὅμοιοι, μέχρι τοῦ ἐπὶ Νῶε κατακλυσμοῦ, δι' οὓς καὶ ἐφθάρη ἡ γῆ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ Βήρωσσος ὁ τῆς Χαλδαϊκῆς ἀρχαιολογίας συγγραφεὺς ἀκμά σας κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Μακεδόνος, ὥς φησι, καὶ εὑρὼν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι πολλῶν ἀναγραφὰς φυλασσομένας ἐπιμελῶς, αἳ περιεῖχον ἐτῶν μυριάδας που ιεʹ καὶ μικρὸν πρός, ἱστορίας τινὰς περὶ οὐρανοῦ τε καὶ γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης καὶ βασιλέων ἀρχαιότητος καὶ τῶν πράξεων αὐτῶν, περί τε θέσεως τῆς Βαβυλωνίας γῆς καὶ καρποφορίας αὐτῆς καὶ ζῴων τινῶν ἐκ τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης φανέντων παρὰ φύσιν τῷ εἴδει, καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ μυθώδη, ταῦτα κομπολογίᾳ τινὶ συνέγραψεν, ἅτινα πάντα κατὰ τὸν ἀληθῆ λόγον πλάσματα δαιμόνων εἶναι δοκεῖ, ἀναγκαῖον ἡγοῦμαι καὶ τού των τὸν χρόνον ἐν κανονίῳ παραθέσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ ανθʹ ἔτους τοῦ κόσμου ὄντα, καίπερ πληροφορούμενος ὅτι δοξάσαι θέλων τὸ τῶν Χαλδαίων 15 ἔθνος καὶ δεῖξαι πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀρχαιότερον ὁ Βήρωσσος καὶ οἱ κατ' αὐτόν, ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος, φημί, ὁ Πολυίστωρ λεγόμενος καὶ Ἀβυδηνός, ταῦτα γεγράφασι. τὸ γὰρ τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένην πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ μᾶλλον ἀοίκητον ἡγεῖσθαι, ἐν ᾗ τῶν Βαβυλωνίων ἡ χώρα καὶ ἡ Αἴγυπτος κεῖται, καταλληλότερον εἶναι δοκεῖ ἔκ τε τῆς θείας γραφῆς καὶ ἔκ τινων πατρικῶν μαρτυριῶν καὶ τῆς φυσικῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀκολουθίας· καὶ ἐκ μὲν τῆς γραφῆς οὕτω λεγούσης· «καὶ ἐξέβαλε τὸν Ἀδάμ, καὶ κατῴκισεν αὐτὸν ἀπέναντι τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς.» ἡ δὲ Βαβυλωνίων γῆ καὶ ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένη πᾶσα πόρρω που κεῖται ἀπὸ τῆς κατ' ἀνατολὰς Ἐδέμ, ἔνθα τὸν παράδεισον κεῖσθαι φαμέν. καὶ ἵνα τῷ τοιούτῳ λόγῳ μάρ τυρά τινα θεοφόρον διδάσκαλον παραστήσωμεν, παρέστω ἡμῖν ὁ θεῖος Ἐφραΐμ, ἡ ὠκεανόβρυτος γλῶσσα, φάσκων ἐν τοῖς εἰς τὸν παράδεισον δογματικοῖς αὐτοῦ λόγοις οὕτως· «πάντων τῶν ὑψωμάτων τῶν ὡραίων ὑψηλότερος ὁ παράδεισος. ὁ δὲ κατακλυσμὸς πρὸς τὰ ἴχνη αὐτοῦ ἔφθασεν. οἱ δὲ πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἄνθρωποι ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ καὶ τοῦ παρα δείσου ᾤκησαν, ἡ δὲ γενεὰ τοῦ Κάιν εἰς γῆν καλουμένην Ὄδ, ἥτις μεθερ μηνεύεται τρέμουσα, οἱ δὲ τοῦ Σὴθ εἰς τὴν ὑψηλοτέραν ἐντεταλμένοι ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ μὴ συμμίγνυσθαι εἰς τὴν γενεὰν τοῦ Κάιν τοῦ ἀδελφοκτόνου. ἦν δὲ ἡ γενεὰ αὐτοῦ χθαμαλοὶ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ διὰ τὴν κατάραν Κάιν· οἱ δὲ τοῦ Σὴθ γίγαντες καὶ ὡς ἄγγελοι θεοῦ ἐν τῇ ὑψηλῇ χώρᾳ. ἐλθοῦσαι δὲ αἱ θυγατέρες τοῦ Κάιν διὰ μουσικῶν αὐλῶν καὶ κινυρῶν κατήγαγον αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς χώρας αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔσχον αὐτάς, καὶ πληθυνθείσης τῆς ἀνομίας αὐ τῶν γέγονεν ὁ κατακλυσμός. καὶ ἐξήγαγεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν κιβωτὸν Νῶε εἰς ὄρος Ἀραράτ. καὶ ἔκτοτε ᾤκησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην. τοῦτο δηλοῖ ὅτι ἡ νῦν οἰκοῦσα γῆ τότε ἀοίκητος ἦν. διὰ γὰρ τῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας τοῦ θεοῦ ᾤκησαν οἱ πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ εἰς τὰ πλησίον τοῦ παραδείσου, ἀνὰ μέσον ὠκεανοῦ καὶ τοῦ παραδείσου. τὸ δὲ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον, περὶ οὗ εἶπεν ὁ Χριστός, ἔσωθεν τοῦ παραδείσου ἐστίν· ὁ δὲ παράδεισος σὺν τῷ ὠκεανῷ τὸν κόσμον κυκλοῖ· ἡ δὲ Ἐδὲμ κατὰ ἀνατολάς ἐστιν· οἱ δὲ φωστῆρες ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης ἔσωθεν τοῦ παραδείσου ἀνατέλλουσιν, ἔξω θεν δὲ δύνουσιν παρερχόμενοι δι' αὐτοῦ» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 16 Τοῖς μὲν οὖν εὐπειθέσιν ἀρκεῖν οἶμαι ταῦτα πρὸς πᾶσαν πληροφορίαν, ὅτι οἱ πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἄνθρωποι τὴν μεταξὺ ὠκεανοῦ καὶ τοῦ παραδείσου γῆν ᾤκουν, καὶ οὔτε Βαβυλὼν ἦν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς οὔτε Χαλδαίων βασιλεία, ὡς τῷ Βηρώσσῳ καὶ τοῖς ἑπομένοις αὐτῷ δοκεῖ πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν τῶν θείων γραφῶν, οὔτε Αἰγυπτίων δυναστεία, ὡς τῷ Μανεθῷ ψευδομέ νῳ καὶ μεγαλύνοντι τὸ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἔθνος ἔδοξε γράφειν. εἰ δέ τις οὐκ ἀρκεῖται τοῖς προτεθεῖσι, τελείως πειθέσθω δι' ὧν