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and so forth. These things, then, happened in the land of the Chaldeans. And in the land of Canaan there was a city whose name was Harran. And in those times the first king of Egypt was Pharaoh, who was also called Nechaoth according to the Egyptians; and thus the succeeding kings came to be. And in the land of Shinar, among those called Chaldeans, the first king was Arioch; and after him another, Ellasar, and after him Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and after him Tidal king of the nations called Assyrians. And there were five other cities in the portion of Ham the son of Noah; the first called Sodom, then Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim and Bela, which was also called Zoar. And the names of their kings are these: Ballas king of Sodom, Barsas king of Gomorrah, Sennaar king of Admah, Hymoor king of Zeboiim, Balach king of Segor, which is also called Balak. These served Chedorlaomer king of the Assyrians for twelve years. But in the thirteenth year they rebelled from Chedorlaomer. And so it happened then that the four kings of the Assyrians waged war against the five kings. This was the first beginning of wars happening on the earth. And they smote the giants of Karnaim, and strong nations with them, and the Ommaeans in their city, and the Horites in the mountains called Seir, as far as the so-called Terebinth of Paran, which is in the desert. And at the same time there was a righteous king named Melchizedek in the city of Salem, which is now called Hierosolyma; this man became the first of all priests of the most high God. From him the city was named Jerusalem, the aforementioned Hierosolyma; from him priests were also found, coming to be over all the earth. And after him Abimelech reigned in Gerar; after him another Abimelech; then Ephron, who was also called the Hittite, reigned. Thus it contains the names of these kings who came before; but of the Assyrians, during the many years in between, the rest of the kings were passed over in silence from being recorded; in the most recent times according to us, the kings of the Assyrians who are remembered are Tiglath-pileser, and after him Shalmaneser, then Sennacherib. And his triarch was Adrammelech the Ethiopian, who also reigned over Egypt; and yet these things, in relation to our scriptures, are very recent. From this, therefore, it is possible for those who love learning and love antiquity to understand the histories, that the things spoken by us through the holy prophets are not recent. For since at first there were few people then in the Arabian and Chaldean land, after their languages were divided, they began in part to become many and to multiply over all the earth. And some were inclined to dwell towards the east, and others in the parts of the great continent and towards the north, so as to extend as far as the Britons in the northern regions

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καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐγενήθη ἐν γῇ Χαλδαίων. Ἐν δὲ τῇ γῇ Χαναὰν ἐγένετο πόλις ᾗ ὄνομα Χαρράν. κατ' ἐκείνους δὲ τοὺς χρόνους πρῶτος βασιλεὺς Aἰγύπτου ἐγένετο Φαραώ, ὃς καὶ Νεχαὼθ κατὰ Aἰγυπτίους ὠνομάσθη· καὶ οὕτως οἱ καθεξῆς βασιλεῖς ἐγένοντο. ἐν δὲ τῇ γῇ Σενναάρ, ἐν τοῖς καλουμένοις Χαλ- δαίοις, πρῶτος βασιλεὺς ἐγένετο Ἁριώχ· μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ἕτερος Ἐλλάσαρ, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Χοδολλαγόμορ βασιλεὺς Aἰλάμ, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Θαργὰλ βασιλεὺς ἐθνῶν τῶν καλουμένων Ἀσσυρίων. ἄλλαι δὲ πόλεις ἐγένοντο πέντε ἐν τῇ μερίδι τοῦ Χὰμ υἱοῦ Νῶε· πρώτη ἡ καλουμένη Σόδομα, ἔπειτα Γόμορρα, Ἀδαμὰ καὶ Σεβωεὶν καὶ Βαλάκ, ἡ καὶ Σηγὼρ ἐπικληθεῖσα. καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν βασιλέων αὐτῶν ἐστιν ταῦτα· Βαλλὰς βασι- λεὺς Σοδόμων, Βαρσὰς βασιλεὺς Γομόρρας, Σενναὰρ βασιλεὺς Ἀδάμας, Ὑμοὸρ βασιλεὺς Σεβωείν, Βαλὰχ βασιλεὺς Σηγώρ, τῆς καὶ Βαλὰκ κεκλημένης. οὗτοι ἐδούλευσαν τῷ Χοδολλαγόμορ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἕως ἐτῶν δύο καὶ δέκα. ἐν δὲ τῷ τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει ἀπὸ τοῦ Χοδολλαγόμορ ἀπέστησαν. καὶ οὕτως ἐγένετο τότε τοὺς τέσσαρας βασιλεῖς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων συνάψαι πόλεμον πρὸς τοὺς πέντε βασιλεῖς. αὕτη ἀρχὴ ἐγένετο πρώτη τοῦ γίνεσθαι πολέμους ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. καὶ κατέκοψαν τοὺς γίγαντας Καραναείν, καὶ ἔθνη ἰσχυρὰ ἅμα αὐτοῖς, καὶ τοὺς Ὀμμαίους ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ πόλει, καὶ τοὺς Χορραίους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν ἐπονομαζομένοις Σηεὶρ ἕως τῆς καλουμένης Τερεβίνθου τῆς Φαράν, ἥ ἐστιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν ἐγένετο βασιλεὺς δίκαιος ὀνόματι Μελχισεδὲκ ἐν πόλει Σαλήμ, τῇ νῦν καλουμένῃ Ἱεροσόλυμα· οὗτος ἱερεὺς ἐγένετο πρῶτος πάντων ἱερέων τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου. ἀπὸ τούτου ἡ πόλις ὠνομάσθη Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἡ προειρημένη Ἱερο- σόλυμα· ἀπὸ τούτου εὑρέθησαν καὶ ἱερεῖς γινόμενοι ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ἐβασίλευσεν Ἀβιμέλεχ ἐν Γεράροις· μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ἕτερος Ἀβιμέλεχ· ἔπειτα ἐβασίλευσεν Ἔφρων καὶ ὁ Χετ- ταῖος ἐπικληθείς. τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τούτων πρότερον γεγενημένων βασιλέων οὕτως τὰ ὀνόματα περιέχει· τῶν δὲ κατὰ Ἀσσυρίους πολλῶν ἐτῶν μεταξὺ οἱ λοιποὶ βασιλεῖς παρεσιγήθησαν τοῦ ἀναγραφῆναι· πάντων ἐσχάτων καθ' ἡμᾶς χρόνων ἀπομνημονεύονται γεγονότες βασιλεῖς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων Θεγλαφάσαρ, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Σελαμανάσαρ, εἶτα Σενναχαρείμ. τοῦ δὲ τρίαρχος ἐγένετο Ἀδραμέλεχ Aἰθίοψ, ὃς καὶ Aἰγύπτου ἐβασίλευσεν· καίπερ ταῦτα, ὡς πρὸς τὰ ἡμέτερα γράμματα, πάνυ νεώτερά ἐστιν. Ἐντεῦθεν οὖν κατανοεῖν τὰς ἱστορίας ἐστὶν τοῖς φιλομαθέσιν καὶ φιλαρχαίοις, ὅτι οὐ πρόσφατά ἐστιν τὰ ὑφ' ἡμῶν λεγόμενα διὰ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν. ὀλίγων γὰρ ὄντων ἐν πρώτοις τῶν τότε ἀνθρώπων ἐν τῇ Ἀραβικῇ γῇ καὶ Χαλδαϊκῇ, μετὰ τὸ διαμερισθῆναι τὰς γλώσσας αὐτῶν, πρὸς μέρος ἤρξαντο πολλοὶ γίνεσθαι καὶ πληθύνεσθαι ἐπὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἔκλιναν οἰκεῖν πρὸς ἀνατολάς, οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ μέρη τὰ τῆς μεγάλης ἠπείρου καὶ τὰ πρὸς βόρειον, ὥστε διατείνειν μέχρι τῶν Βριττανῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀρκτικοῖς