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it was the year of the world #22γτ ϟηʹ. And God rains fire upon the Pentapolis, and consumes from it the entire race of men, and destroys also the very produce of the earth, and the waters of the sea lying before it are made dead. After these things, Abraham, departing from the oak of Mamre, pitches his tent at the well of the oath. And having pitched tents for himself privately and for his servants according to their kinship, then for the first time Abraham celebrates the feast of Tabernacles for seven days, which even now the Jew celebrates by pitching tents. Thus, from Ishmael the Saracens are named Ishmaelites. But they renamed themselves Saracens, disdaining to be called Hagarites in a servile manner; but others say that Sarah sent Hagar 1.51 away empty of inheritance. And having sojourned in Gerar, which is now called Ascalon, after the death of Sarah, he took Keturah as his wife in his old age; from whom he had five sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak. That Lot, having been separated from Abraham, dwelt in Sodom because of the virtue and beauty of the land, which had five cities, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar, and as many kings. The four neighboring kings of the Syrians made war on them, of whom the leader was Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam. And they joined battle beside the salt sea. And it is now called the Dead Sea, having very many wonders, which I myself have seen. For that water bears no living thing, and while dead bodies sink, a living person would not even be easily submerged. And burning lamps are borne on the surface, but when extinguished, they sink. Here are the springs of bitumen. And it produces alum and salt differing somewhat from others; for they are both bitter and transparent. And where fruit might be found, nothing more than smoke is found. But the water heals those who use it, and it ceases for every water, experiencing the opposite effects. But if the place did not have the Jordan as nourishment, running through it like a purple stripe and holding out for a long way, it would have ceased sooner than it appears. And beside it is the balsam plant in great abundance. But it is supposed to have been overturned by God on account of the impiety of the inhabitants.

1.52 That Isaac is interpreted as 'laughter with pleasure'; for because Sarah smiled at the divine promise of childbirth in old age, he is so called according to the Hebrew dialect. When Isaac was born, it was the year of the world #22γυιγʹ. And during these times in which Isaac was born, the Greeks record that Cronus and Rhea ruled in Crete. And for those inhabiting the Atlantic gulf of the ocean, one named Uranus was the first to rule, having married Titan, from whom the Titans were named. They say that he became a diligent observer of the stars for many; to foretell the things of the world. And in the 85th year of Abraham, when a famine occurred, he himself went down into Egypt. In this year, Zeus the son of Cronus and Hera rules Crete. And the war of the Titans against Zeus also takes place. And Dionysus, not the one of Semele but another much more ancient than him, discovered wine and pressed it in the winepresses, from which he was also named Lenaeus. Just as Demeter is also said to have discovered wheat and barley. And this is she who is honored among the Egyptians as Isis. And Dionysus is called Osiris among the Egyptians. Here also is the contest of Marsyas the Phrygian, according to the myths, against Apollo over the lyre; to have come to Dionysus at Nyssa, and there for Marsyas, having been defeated, to be flayed alive by Apollo on account of his anger, and to have broken the strings and 1.53 to have destroyed the discovered harmony. And later for the Muses and Orpheus to have rediscovered it for Linus. Then also the children of Uranus flourished, of whom Atlas, having become most famous, obtained the places beside the ocean. And they say that he was the first to bring astrology to precision and to produce the theory of the sphere, from which cause it was believed that the cosmos is borne upon the shoulders of Atlas. In the Little Genesis it is written that Mastiphat, the ruler of the demons, approaching God said, "If

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κόσμου ἦν ἔτος #22γτ ϟηʹ. καὶ πῦρ κατὰ τῆς Πενταπόλεως ὑετίζει θεός, καὶ ἀναλίσκει μὲν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἅπαν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώ πων, διαφθείρει δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἀνάστημα τῆς γῆς, καὶ τῆς προκειμέ νης θαλάσσης νεκροῦται τὰ ὕδατα. μετὰ ταῦτα τῆς κατὰ Μαβρῆ δρυὸς ἀπαναστὰς ὁ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπὶ τὸ φρέαρ κατασκηνοῖ τοῦ ὅρκου. ἑαυτῷ δὲ ἰδίᾳ καὶ τοῖς οἰκέταις αὐτοῦ κατὰ συγγενείας πηξάμενος σκηνάς, τότε πρῶτον Ἀβραὰμ τῆς σκηνοπηγίας ἐπὶ ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας ἐπιτελεῖ τὴν ἑορτήν, ἣν εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ἑορτάζει σκηνο πηγῶν. ἐκ γοῦν τοῦ Ἰσμαὴλ Ἰσμαηλῖται οἱ Σαρακηνοὶ ὀνομάζονται. Σαρακηνοὺς δὲ ἑαυτοὺς μετωνόμασαν, ἀπαξιοῦντες καλεῖ σθαι δουλικῶς Ἀγαρηνοί· οἱ δέ φασιν ὅτι Σάρρα τὴν Ἄγαρ 1.51 κενὴν ἐξαπέστειλε κληρονομίας. παροικήσας δὲ ἐν Γεράροις, τὴν νῦν Ἀσκάλωνα λεγομένην, μετὰ τὴν τῆς Σάρρας τελευτὴν ἔλαβε τὴν Χεττοῦραν εἰς γυναῖκα, ἐν τῷ γήρᾳ αὐτοῦ· ἀφ' ἧς ἔσχεν υἱοὺς πέντε, Ζεμβρίαν Ἰεξὰν Μαδὰμ Μαδιὰμ Ἰεσβών. Ὅτι ὁ Λὼτ χωρισθεὶς τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ κατῴκησεν εἰς Σόδομα δι' ἀρετὴν καὶ κάλλος τῆς γῆς, ἐχούσης πέντε πόλεις, Σόδομα Γόμορρα Ἄδαμα Σεβόϊν καὶ Σηγώρ, καὶ τοσούτους βασιλεῖς. τούτοις οἱ πλησιόχωροι τέσσαρες βασιλεῖς Σύρων ἐπολέμησαν, ὧν ἡγεῖτο Χοδολλογομὸρ βασιλεὺς ὁ Ἰλάμ. συνέβαλον δὲ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν ἁλικήν. καὶ καλεῖται νῦν θάλασσα νεκρά, πλεῖ στα θαυμάσια ἔχουσα, ἃ ἐγὼ ἐθεασάμην. ζῷόν τε γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐκεῖνο φέρει τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ νεκρὰ μὲν σώματα ὑποβρύχια γίνεται, ζῶν δέ τις οὐδ' ἂν ῥᾳδίως βαπτίσαιτο. καὶ λύχνοι μὲν καιόμενοι ἐπιφέρονται, σβεννύμενοι δὲ καταδύουσιν. ἐνταῦθά εἰσιν αἱ τῆς ἀσφάλτου πηγαί. φέρει δὲ στυπτηρίαν καὶ ἅλας ὀλίγον τι τῶν ἄλλων διαφέροντα· πικρά τε γάρ εἰσι καὶ διαυγῆ. ἔνθα δ' ἂν καρπὸς εὑρεθῇ, καπνοῦ πλέον εὑρίσκεται οὐδέν. τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ ἰᾶται τοὺς χρωμένους αὐτῷ, λήγει τε παντὶ ὕδατι πάσχον τὰ ἐναντία. εἰ δὲ μὴ Ἰορδάνην εἶχεν ὁ τόπος τροφὴν ὡς πορφύραν διατρέχοντα καὶ ἐπὶ πολὺ ἀντέχοντα, ἔληξεν ἂν θᾶττον ἢ φαίνε ται. ἔστι δὲ παρ' αὐτῇ πάμπολυ τὸ βαλσάμου φυτόν. ὑπονοεῖται δὲ ἀνατετράφθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν τῶν περιοικούντων ἀσέ βειαν.

1.52 Ὅτι ὁ Ἰσαὰκ γέλως μεθ' ἡδονῆς ἑρμηνεύεται· διὰ γὰρ τὸ ἐπιμειδιᾶσαι τὴν Σάρραν τῇ θείᾳ τοῦ ἐν γήρᾳ τοκετοῦ ἐπαγγελίᾳ κέκληται οὕτω κατὰ τὴν Ἑβραϊκὴν διάλεκτον. γεννηθέντος Ἰσαὰκ ἔτος ἦν κόσμου #22γυιγʹ. Κατὰ τούτους δὲ τοὺς χρόνους ἐν οἷς Ἰσαὰκ ἐγεννήθη, ἐν Κρήτῃ ἄρξαι Κρόνον καὶ Ῥέαν Ἕλληνες ἱστοροῦσι. τοῖς δὲ τὸνἈτλάντιον κόλπον οἰκοῦσι τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ πρῶτον Οὐρανὸν τοὔνομα βασιλεῦσαι, γήμαντα Τιτάν, ἀφ' οὗ Τιτᾶνας ὀνομασθῆναι. τοῦ τον λέγουσι γενόμενον ἐπιμελῆ παρατηρητὴν τῶν ἄστρων πολλοῖς· προλέγειν τὰ κατὰ κόσμον. Τῷ δὲ πεʹ ἔτει Ἀβραὰμ λιμοῦ γενομένου κατέβη αὐτὸς εἰς Αἴγυπτον. ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἔτει τῆς Κρήτης βασιλεύει Ζεὺς ὁ τοῦ Κρόνου υἱὸς καὶ Ἥρα. γίνεται δὲ καὶ ὁ Τιτάνων πρὸς ∆ία πόλεμος. καὶ ∆ιόνυσος, οὐχ ὁ τῆς Σεμέλης ἀλλ' ἄλλος τούτου πολὺ ἀρχαιότερος, τὸν οἶνον ἐξεῦρε καὶ ἐν τοῖς ληνοῖς ἀπέθλιψεν, ἀφ' ὧν καὶ Ληναῖος ὠνομάσθη. ὡς καὶ ∆ήμητρα λέγεται ἐφευ ρεῖν τὸν σῖτον καὶ τὴν κριθήν. αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις τιμωμένη Ἶσις. ὁ δὲ ∆ιόνυσος παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις Ὄσιρις λέγεται. ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ ἡ Μαρσύου τοῦ Φρυγὸς ἔρις κατὰ τοὺς μύθους πρὸς Ἀπόλλωνα διὰ τὴν κιθάραν· ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ∆ιόνυσον εἰς Νύσσαν, κἀκεῖ τὸν Μαρσύαν ἡττηθέντα ἐκδαρῆναι ζῶντα παρὰ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος διὰ τὴν ὀργήν, τάς τε χορδὰς ἐκρῆξαι καὶ τὴν 1.53 εὑρημένην ἁρμονίαν ἀφανίσαι. ὕστερον δὲ Μούσας καὶ Ὀρφέα ταύτην ἀνευρεῖν Λίνῳ. Τότε καὶ τοὺς παῖδας τοῦ Οὐρανοῦ ἀκμάσαι, ὧν τὸν μὲν Ἄτλαντα ἐπιφανέστατον γενόμενον λαχεῖν τοὺς παρὰ τὸν ὠκεανὸν τόπους. καὶ πρῶτόν φασι τὴν ἀστρολογίαν ἐξακριβῶσαι καὶ τὸν σφαιρικὸν λόγον ἐξενεγκεῖν, ἀφ' ἧς αἰτίας δόξαι τὸν κόσμον ἐπὶ τῶν Ἄτλαντος ὤμων ὀχεῖσθαι. Ἐν τῇ λεπτῇ Γενέσει κεῖται ὅτι Μαστιφὰτ ὁ ἄρχων τῶν δαιμονίων προσελθὼν τῷ θεῷ εἶπεν "εἰ