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with the shepherds; and not long after, the camels were driven off by robbers; then his children died when the house fell; and on that very day, his body broke out in sores. 9.25.4 And while he was in a sorry state, Eliphas the king of the Temanites and Baldad the tyrant of the Shuhites and Zophar the king of the Minaioi came to visit him, and also Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite came; but being comforted, he said that even without comfort he would remain steadfast both in his piety and in his terrible sufferings. And God, admiring his courage, both freed him from his disease and made him master of many possessions.” So much did Polyhistor also say concerning these things. And concerning Moses, the same author sets forth very many things, which are also worth hearing:

9.26.1 26. OF EUPOLEMUS CONCERNING MOSES “Eupolemus says that Moses was the first wise man and the first to give letters to the Jews, and that the Phoenicians received them from the Jews, and the Greeks from the Phoenicians, and that Moses was the first to write laws for the Jews.”

27. OF ARTAPANUS CONCERNING MOSES LIKEWISE “Artapanus says in his work *On the Jews* that after Abraham and his son Mempsasthenoth died, and likewise the king of the Egyptians, his son Palmanothes took over the 9.27.2 dynasty. And that this man treated the Jews badly; and he first built Sais and established the temple upon it, and then he constructed the temple in Heliopolis. 9.27.3 And that this man fathered a daughter Merris, whom he betrothed to a certain Chenephres, who was king of the regions above Memphis; for at that time many were ruling Egypt; and that she, being barren, adopted the child of one of the Jews, and named him Moyses; and when he grew up, he was called Musaeus by the Greeks. 9.27.4 And that this Moses became the teacher of Orpheus. And that when he grew to manhood, he delivered many useful things to men; for he invented ships and machines for laying stones and the Egyptian arms and instruments for drawing water and for war, and philosophy. Further, he divided the state into 36 nomes and assigned to each of the nomes the god to be worshipped and the sacred letters for the priests, and that these were cats and dogs and ibises; 9.27.5 and he also assigned a choice portion of land to the priests. And he did all these things for the sake of preserving the monarchy secure for Chenephres. For previously the multitudes, being disorderly, would sometimes expel and sometimes appoint kings, and 9.27.6 often the same ones, but sometimes others. On this account, therefore, Moses was beloved by the multitudes and, having been deemed worthy of godlike honor by the priests, was called 9.27.7 Hermes, on account of his interpretation of the sacred letters. But Chenephres, seeing the virtue of Moses, became jealous of him and sought to kill him on some plausible pretext. And so, when the Ethiopians once made an expedition against Egypt, Chenephres, supposing he had found an opportune moment, sent Moses against them as general with a force; but he put together for him a multitude of farmers, supposing that he would easily be killed by the 9.27.8 enemies because of the weakness of his soldiers. But Moses, coming to the nome called Hermopolites, having about one hundred thousand farmers, encamped there; and he sent generals to occupy the country in advance, whom indeed

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σὺν τοῖς ποιμέσι· μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ καὶ τὰς καμήλους ὑπὸ λῃστῶν ἀπελαθῆναι· εἶτα τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ ἀποθανεῖν, πεσούσης τῆς οἰκίας· αὐθημερὸν δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἑλκῶσαι. 9.25.4 φαύλως δὲ αὐτοῦ διακειμένου ἐλθεῖν εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν Ἐλίφαν τὸν Θαιμανιτῶν βασιλέα καὶ Βαλδὰδ τὸν Σαυχαίων τύραννον καὶ Σωφὰρ τὸν Μινναίων βασιλέα, ἐλθεῖν δὲ καὶ Ἐλιοῦν τὸν Βαραχιὴλ τὸν Ζωβίτην· παρακαλούμενον δὲ φάναι καὶ χωρὶς παρακλήσεως ἐμμενεῖν αὑτὸν ἔν τε τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ τοῖς δεινοῖς. τὸν δὲ θεὸν ἀγασθέντα τὴν εὐψυχίαν αὐτοῦ τῆς τε νόσου αὐτὸν ἀπολῦσαι καὶ πολλῶν κύριον ὑπάρξεων ποιῆσαι.» Τοσαῦτα καὶ περὶ τούτων ὁ Πολυΐστωρ. Καὶ περὶ Μωσέως δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς πλεῖστα παρατίθεται, ὧν καὶ αὐτῶν ἐπακοῦσαι ἄξιον·

9.26.1 κςʹ. ΕΥΠΟΛΕΜΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΜΩΣΕΩΣ «Εὐπόλεμος δέ φησι τὸν Μωσῆν πρῶτον σοφὸν γενέσθαι καὶ γράμματα παραδοῦναι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις πρῶτον, παρὰ δὲ Ἰουδαίων Φοίνικας παραλαβεῖν, Ἕλληνας δὲ παρὰ Φοινίκων, νόμους τε πρῶτον γράψαι Μωσῆν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις.»

κζʹ. ΑΡΤΑΠΑΝΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΜΩΣΕΩΣ ΟΜΟΙΩΣ «Ἀρτάπανος δέ φησιν ἐν τῇ Περὶ Ἰουδαίων, Ἁβραὰμ τελευτήσαντος καὶτοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Μεμψασθενώθ, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, τὴν 9.27.2 δυναστείαν παραλαβεῖν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Παλμανώθην. τοῦτον δὲ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις φαύλως προσφέρεσθαι· καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τήν τε Σάιν οἰκοδομῆσαι τό τε ἐπ' αὐτῇ ἱερὸν καθιδρύσασθαι, εἶτα τὸν ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει ναὸν κατασκευάσαι. 9.27.3 τοῦτον δὲ γεννῆσαι θυγατέρα Μέρριν, ἣν Χενεφρῇ τινι κατεγγυῆσαι, τῶν ὑπὲρ Μέμφιν τόπων βασιλεύοντι· πολλοὺς γὰρ τότε τῆς Αἰγύπτου βασιλεύειν· ταύτην δὲ στεῖραν ὑπάρχουσαν ὑποβαλέσθαι τινὸς τῶν Ἰουδαίων παιδίον, τοῦτο δὲ Μώϋσον ὀνομάσαι· ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν Ἑλλήνων αὐτὸν ἀνδρωθέντα Μουσαῖον προσ9.27.4 αγορευθῆναι. γενέσθαι δὲ τὸν Μώϋσον τοῦτον Ὀρφέως διδάσκαλον. ἀνδρωθέντα δ' αὐτὸν πολλὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εὔχρηστα παραδοῦναι· καὶ γὰρ πλοῖα καὶ μηχανὰς πρὸς τὰς λιθοθεσίας καὶ τὰ Αἰγύπτια ὅπλα καὶ τὰ ὄργανα τὰ ὑδρευτικὰ καὶ πολεμικὰ καὶ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἐξευρεῖν· ἔτι δὲ τὴν πόλιν εἰς λʹ νομοὺς διελεῖν καὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν νομῶν ἀποτάξαι τὸν θεὸν σεφθήσεσθαι τά τε ἱερὰ γράμματα τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν, εἶναι δὲ καὶ αἰλούρους καὶ κύνας καὶ ἴβεις· ἀπονεῖ9.27.5 μαι δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἐξαίρετον χώραν. ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ποιῆσαι χάριν τοῦ τὴν μοναρχίαν βεβαίαν τῷ Χενεφρῇ διαφυλάξαι. πρότερον γὰρ ἀδιατάκτους ὄντας τοὺς ὄχλους ποτὲ μὲν ἐκβάλλειν, ποτὲ δὲ καθιστάνειν βασιλεῖς, καὶ πολλά9.27.6 κις μὲν τοὺς αὐτούς, ἐνιάκις δὲ ἄλλους. διὰ ταῦτα οὖν τὸν Μώϋσον ὑπὸ τῶν ὄχλων ἀγαπηθῆναι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων ἰσοθέου τιμῆς καταξιωθέντα προσαγο9.27.7 ρευθῆναι Ἑρμῆν, διὰ τὴν τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ἑρμηνείαν. τὸν δὲ Χενεφρῆν ὁρῶντα τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ Μωΰσου φθονῆσαι αὐτῷ καὶ ζητεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπ' εὐλόγῳ αἰτίᾳ τινὶ ἀνελεῖν. καὶ δή ποτε τῶν Αἰθιόπων ἐπιστρατευσαμένων τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ τὸν Χενεφρῆν ὑπολαβόντα εὑρηκέναι καιρὸν εὔθετον πέμψαι τὸν Μώϋσον ἐπ' αὐτοὺς στρατηγὸν μετὰ δυνάμεως· τὸ δὲ τῶν γεωργῶν αὐτῷ συστῆσαι πλῆθος, ὑπολαβόντα ῥᾳδίως αὐτὸν διὰ τὴν τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀσθένειαν ὑπὸ τῶν πολε9.27.8 μίων ἀναιρεθήσεσθαι. τὸν δὲ Μώϋσον ἐλθόντα ἐπὶ τὸν Ἑρμοπολίτην ὀνομαζόμενον νομόν, ἔχοντα περὶ δέκα μυριάδας γεωργῶν, αὐτοῦ καταστρατοπεδεῦσαι· πέμψαι δὲ στρατηγοὺς τοὺς προκαθεδουμένους τῆς χώρας, οὓς δὴ