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Chronographia (eclogae e cod. Paris. gr. 1336)

Selection from the Chronicles of John the Historian from Adam to the reign of Caesar.

THE FIRST man from the earth, Adam, had a stature of six feet, including his head, so that his stature was 96 fingers. His span had 14 fingers. His cubit had 24 fingers. His foot had 16 fingers. And he lived 930 years. And his wife Eve bore three sons, Cain, Abel, Seth; and two daughters, Azura and Asoam. And Abel was a shepherd of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground, and each of them brought a sacrifice to God. And God looked upon Abel and upon his gifts, but to Cain he paid no heed, and Cain was grieved, and he killed Abel. 232 And the Lord was angry with Cain, and said to him, "You will be a groaner and a trembler upon the earth."

And Adam by the command of God gave names to all the quadrupeds and reptiles and fish and amphibians, and to his own children. For his own name and that of his wife, an angel of the Lord told him. And his son Seth arranged the names of the seven stars, having received wisdom from God; and by the command of God he gave names to all the stars, and to the five planets, so that they might be known by men. And the first wandering star he called Kronos, the second Zeus, the third Ares, the fourth Aphrodite, the fifth Hermes; and he set forth the seven vowels from the five stars and the two luminaries. And he also set forth the Hebrew letters; for he was the first to invent them, and he wrote them down. But the names of the two luminaries, God himself called, sun and moon. These things the most wise Fourtinos the Roman chronicler wrote down. And Seth took Asoam his own sister as his wife, and begat children, and there came to be a great generation, and the earth was filled with them, men and women. And Cain took Azura his own sister as his wife, and from him came a great generation. Therefore, in the intervening times, Enoch was born, a righteous son of Jared, and he did not die. And after Adam, after 1200 years, Enoch was translated, being the seventh from Adam. "And the sons of God, seeing the daughters "of men, that they were beautiful, took them as wives, and they bore sons, and there were giants on the earth in those days, the men of renown from of old. And it came to pass from Adam until the sons of God desired the daughters of men, 2122 years. And Plutarch says that a sphere of fire was brought down by God into the land of the Celts, and it burned up the giants, and being carried into the Credanus river, the sphere was extinguished. The Greeks record this fire, and say that the son of the sun was Phaethon, who fell from the chariot of the sun to the earth. But the remaining giants, seeing those among them struck by lightning, 233 remained disobedient; and God, being angered, said to them, "that my spirit shall not abide," and the rest, as is recorded in the Mosaic writings. And there was a man beloved by God, named Noah, and by God's command he made an ark, and he entered, and all his sons, and some of the beasts and reptiles and birds. And the flood occurred for 40 days, and all flesh having the breath of life died. And it came to pass from Adam to the flood in the year 2510, and 10 generations. And after the flood ceased, the ark was found in the mountains of Ararat of Pisidia, and its timbers are there to this day.

And the generation of Noah begat children, and there came to be a multitude of men and women, and they were engaged in tower-building, who also the construction of the ark

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Chronographia (eclogae e cod. Paris. gr. 1336)

̓Εκλογὴ τῶν Χρονικῶν ἀπὸ Ἰωάννου Ἱστορικοῦ ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ ἕως βασιλείας Καίσαρος.

Ὁ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τῆς γῆς Ἀδὰμ, εἶχε μέτρον ἡλικίας πόδας ἓξ, μετὰ

τῆς αὐτοῦ κεφαλῆς, ὡς εἶναι τὴν αὐτοῦ ἡλικίαν δακτύλων ϟς. ἡ δὲ σπιθαμὴ αὐτοῦ εἶχε δακτύλους ιδ. ὁ δὲ πήχυς αὐτοῦ εἶχε δακτύλους κδ. ὁ δὲ ποῦς αὐτοῦ εἶχε δακτύλους ις. ἔζησε δὲ ἔτη Ϡλ. ἡ δὲ τούτου γυνὴ Εὔα ἐγέννησεν υἱοὺς τρεῖς, τὸν Κάϊν, τὸν Ἄβελ, τὸν Σήθ· καὶ θυγατέρας δύο, τὴν Ἀζουρὰν, καὶ τὴν Ἀσουὰμ. καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἄβελ ἦν ποιμὴν προβάτων, ὁ δὲ Κάϊν ἐργαζόμενος τὴν γῆν, καὶ προσήνεγκεν ἕκαστος αὐτῶν θυσίαν τῷ· Θεῷ. καὶ ἔπιδεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ Ἄβελ, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ, ἐπὶ δὲ Κάϊν οὐ προσέσχε, καὶ ἐλυπήθη Κάϊν, καὶ ἀπέκτεινε τὸν Ἄβελ. 232 ὀργίσθη δὲ Κύριος τῷ Κάϊν, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ "στένων καὶ τρέμων ἔση ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς."

Ὁ δὲ Ἀδὰμ κατὰ κέλευσιν Θεοῦ ἔθηκεν ὀνόματα πᾶσι τοῖς τετραπόδοις καὶ ἑρπετοῖς καὶ ἰχθύσι καὶ ἀμφιβίοις, καὶ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ τέκνοις. τὸ γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ ὄνομα καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ, ἄγγελος Κυρίου εἶπεν αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ Σὴθ συνέταξε τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀστέρων, σοφίαν λαβὼν παρὰ Θεοῦ· καὶ κατὰ κέλευσιν Θεοῦ ἔθηκεν ὀνόματα τοῖς ἄστροις πᾶσι, καὶ τοῖς πέντε πλανῖταις, εἰς τὸ γνωρίζεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. καὶ τὸν πρῶτον πλανίτην ἀστέρα ἐκάλεσε Κρόνον, τὸν β ∆ία, τὸν τρίτον Ἄρεα, τὸν δ Ἀφροδίτην, τὸν ε Ἑρμῆν· καὶ τὰ ζ φωνήεντα ἐκτῶν ε ἀστέρων, καὶ τῶν δύο φωστήρων ἐξέθετο· ἐξέθετο δὲ καὶ γράμματα Ἑβραϊκά· πρῶτος γὰρ ταῦτα ἐξεῦρεν, καὶ ταῦτα συνεγράψατο. τῶν δὲ δύο φωστήρων τὰ ὀνόματα, αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἐκάλεσε, ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην. ταῦτα ὁ σοφώτατος Φουρτῖνος ὁ Ῥωμαῖος χρονογράφος συνεγράψατο. Ὁ δὲ Σὴθ ἔλαβε γυναῖκα τὴν Ἀσουὰμ ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφὴν, καὶ ἐτεκνοποίησε, καὶ ἐγένετο γενναίᾳ πολλῇ, καὶ ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ ἐξ αὐτῶν, ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν· ὁ δὲ Κάϊν ἔλαβε γυναῖκα Ἀζουρὰν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφὴν, καὶ ἐγένετο ἐξ αὐτοῦ γενέᾳ πολλῇ. ἐν τοῖς οὖν μέσοις χρόνοις, ἐτέχθη Ἐνὼχ δίκαιος υἱὸς Ἰαρὲδ, καὶ οὐκ ἀπέθανε. μετὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀδὰμ, μετὰ ασ ἔτη μετετέθη ὁ Ἐνὼχ, ἕβδομος ὢν ἀπὸ Ἀδάμ. "ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς θυγατέρας "τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι καλαὶ ἦσαν, ἔλαβον αὐτὰς γυναῖκας, καὶ ἐγέννησαν υἱοὺς, καὶ ἦσαν γίγαντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, οἱ ἀπ' αἰῶνος ὀνομαστοὶ ἄνθρωποι. ἐγένετο δὲ ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ ἕως τοῦ ἐπιθυμῆσαι τοὺς υἱοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς θυγατέρας τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἔτη βρκβ. Ὁ δὲ Πλούταρχος φησὶν ὅτι σφαίρα πυρὸς κατενέχθη εἰς τὴν Κελτικὴν χώραν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατέκαυσε τοὺς γίγαντας, καὶ εἰς τὸν Κρηδανὸν ποταμὸν ἐνεχθεῖσα ἡ σφαίρα, ἐσβέσθη. τοῦτο τὸ πῦρ ἱστοροῦσιν οἱ Ἕλληνες, καὶ λέγουσι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἡλίου εἶναι τὸν Φαέθοντα, πεπτωκότα ἐκ τοῦ ἅρματος τοῦ ἡλίου εἰς τὴν γῆν. οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ γίγαντες, ἰδόντες τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῶν κρανοθέντας, 233 ἔμειναν ἀπειθεῖς· καὶ ὀργισθεὶς ὁ Θεὸς, εἶπε πρὸς αὐτοὺς, "ὅτι οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμα μου," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ὡς ἐμφέρεται ἐν τοῖς Μωσαϊκοῖς συγγράμμασιν. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος ἀγαπώμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὀνόματι Νῶε, καὶ ἐποίησε Θεοῦ προστάξει κιβωτὸν, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ πάντες, καὶ ἐκ τῶν θηρίων καὶ ἑρπετῶν καὶ πετεινῶν. καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἡμέρας μ, καὶ ἀπέθανε πᾶσα σὰρξ ἔχουσα πνεῦμα ζωῆς. Ἐγένετο δὲ ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ ἕως τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἔτει βφηβ, καὶ γενεαὶ ι. μετὰ δὲ τὸ παῦσαι τὸν κατακλυσμὸν, εὑρέθη ἡ κιβωτὸς εἰς τὰ ὄρη Ἀραρὰτ τῆς Πισσιδίας, καὶ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ ξύλα ἕως τοῦ νῦν.

Ἡ δὲ γενεὰ τοῦ Νῶε, ἐτεκνοποίησε, καὶ ἐγένετο πλῆθος ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν, καὶ ἐποίουν πυργοποΐαν, οἵ τινες καὶ τὴν κατασκευὴν τῆς κιβωτοῦ