AGAINST APION: BOOK ONE
Flavius Josephus
Book 2
I SUPPOSE that by my books of the Antiquity of
the Jews, most excellent Epaphroditus, have made it evident to those who peruse them,
that our Jewish nation is of very great antiquity, and had a distinct subsistence of its
own originally; as also, I have therein declared how we came to inhabit this country
wherein we now live. Those Antiquities contain the history of five thousand years, and are
taken out of our sacred books, but are translated by me into the Greek tongue. However,
since I observe a considerable number of people giving ear to the reproaches that are laid
against us by those who bear ill-will to us, and will not believe what I have written
concerning the antiquity of our nation, while they take it for a plain sign that our
nation is of a late date, because they are not so much as vouchsafed a bare mention by the
most famous historiographers among the Grecians. I therefore have thought myself under an
obligation to write somewhat briefly about these subjects, in order to convict those that
reproach us of spite and voluntary falsehood, and to correct the ignorance of others, and
withal to instruct all those who are desirous of knowing the truth of what great antiquity
we really are. As for the witnesses whom I shall produce for the proof of what I say, they
shall be such as are esteemed to be of the greatest reputation for truth, and the most
skillful in the knowledge of all antiquity by the Greeks themselves. I will also show,
that those who have written so reproachfully and falsely about us are to be convicted by
what they have written themselves to the contrary. I shall also endeavor to give an
account of the reasons why it hath so happened, that there have not been a great number of
Greeks who have made mention of our nation in their histories. I will, however, bring
those Grecians to light who have not omitted such our history, for the sake of those that
either do not know them, or pretend not to know them already.
2. And now, in the first place, I cannot but
greatly wonder at those men, who suppose that we must attend to none but Grecians, when we
are inquiring about the most ancient facts, and must inform ourselves of their truth from
them only, while we must not believe ourselves nor other men; for I am convinced that the
very reverse is the truth of the case. I mean this, - if we will not be led by vain
opinions, but will make inquiry after truth from facts themselves; for they will find that
almost all which concerns the Greeks happened not long ago; nay, one may say, is of
yesterday only. I speak of the building of their cities, the inventions of their arts, and
the description of their laws; and as for their care about the writing down of their
histories, it is very near the last thing they set about. However, they acknowledge
themselves so far, that they were the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and the Phoenicians (for I
will not now reckon ourselves among them) that have preserved the memorials of the most
ancient and most lasting traditions of mankind; for almost all these nations inhabit such
countries as are least subject to destruction from the world about them; and these also
have taken especial care to have nothing omitted of what was [remarkably] done among them;
but their history was esteemed sacred, and put into public tables, as written by men of
the greatest wisdom they had among them. But as for the place where the Grecians inhabit,
ten thousand destructions have overtaken it, and blotted out the memory of former actions;
so that they were ever beginning a new way of living, and supposed that every one of them
was the origin of their new state. It was also late, and with difficulty, that they came
to know the letters they now use; for those who would advance their use of these letters
to the greatest antiquity pretend that they learned them from the Phoenicians and from
Cadmus; yet is nobody able to demonstrate that they have any writing preserved from that
time, neither in their temples, nor in any other public monuments. This appears, because
the time when those lived who went to the Trojan war, so many years afterward, is in great
doubt, and great inquiry is made, whether the Greeks used their letters at that time; and
the most prevailing opinion, and that nearest the truth, is, that their present way of
using those letters was unknown at that time. However, there is not any writing which the
Greeks agree to he genuine among them ancienter than Homer's Poems, who must plainly he
confessed later than the siege of Troy; nay, the report goes, that even he did not leave
his poems in writing, but that their memory was preserved in songs, and they were put
together afterward, and that this is the reason of such a number of variations as are
found in them. As for those who set themselves about writing their histories, I mean
such as Cadmus of Miletus, and Acusilaus of Argos, and any others that may be mentioned as
succeeding Acusilaus, they lived but a little while before the Persian expedition into
Greece. But then for those that first introduced philosophy, and the consideration of
things celestial and divine among them, such as Pherceydes the Syrian, and Pythagoras, and
Thales, all with one consent agree, that they learned what they knew of the Egyptians and
Chaldeans, and wrote but little And these are the things which are supposed to be the
oldest of all among the Greeks; and they have much ado to believe that the writings
ascribed to those men are genuine.
3. How can it then be other than an absurd thing,
for the Greeks to be so proud, and to vaunt themselves to be the only people that are
acquainted with antiquity, and that have delivered the true accounts of those early times
after an accurate manner? Nay, who is there that cannot easily gather from the Greek
writers themselves, that they knew but little on any good foundation when they set to
write, but rather wrote their histories from their own conjectures? Accordingly, they
confute one another in their own books to purpose, and are not ashamed. to give us the
most contradictory accounts of the same things; and I should spend my time to little
purpose, if I should pretend to teach the Greeks that which they know better than I
already, what a great disagreement there is between Hellanicus and Acusilaus about their
genealogies; in how many eases Acusilaus corrects Hesiod: or after what manner Ephorus
demonstrates Hellanicus to have told lies in the greatest part of his history; as does
Timeus in like manner as to Ephorus, and the succeeding writers do to Timeus, and all the
later writers do to Herodotus nor could Timeus agree with Antiochus and Philistius, or
with Callias, about the Sicilian History, no more than do the several writers of the
Athide follow one another about the Athenian affairs; nor do the historians the like, that
wrote the Argolics, about the affairs of the Argives. And now what need I say any more
about particular cities and smaller places, while in the most approved writers of the
expedition of the Persians, and of the actions which were therein performed, there are so
great differences? Nay, Thucydides himself is accused of some as writing what is false,
although he seems to have given us the exactest history of the affairs of his own time.
4. As for the occasions of so great disagreement
of theirs, there may be assigned many that are very probable, if any have a mind to make
an inquiry about them; but I ascribe these contradictions chiefly to two causes, which I
will now mention, and still think what I shall mention in the first place to be the
principal of all. For if we remember that in the beginning the Greeks had taken no care to
have public records of their several transactions preserved, this must for certain have
afforded those that would afterward write about those ancient transactions the opportunity
of making mistakes, and the power of making lies also; for this original recording of such
ancient transactions hath not only been neglected by the other states of Greece, but even
among the Athenians themselves also, who pretend to be Aborigines, and to have applied
themselves to learning, there are no such records extant; nay, they say themselves that
the laws of Draco concerning murders, which are now extant in writing, are the most
ancient of their public records; which Draco yet lived but a little before the tyrant
Pisistratus. For as to the Arcadians, who make such boasts of their antiquity, what
need I speak of them in particular, since it was still later before they got their
letters, and learned them, and that with difficulty also.
5. There must therefore naturally arise great
differences among writers, when they had no original records to lay for their foundation,
which might at once inform those who had an inclination to learn, and contradict those
that would tell lies. However, we are to suppose a second occasion besides the former of
these contradictions; it is this: That those who were the most zealous to write history
were not solicitous for the discovery of truth, although it was very easy for them always
to make such a profession; but their business was to demonstrate that they could write
well, and make an impression upon mankind thereby; and in what manner of writing they
thought they were able to exceed others, to that did they apply themselves, Some of them
betook themselves to the writing of fabulous narrations; some of them endeavored to please
the cities or the kings, by writing in their commendation; others of them fell to finding
faults with transactions, or with the writers of such transactions, and thought to make a
great figure by so doing. And indeed these do what is of all things the most contrary to
true history; for it is the great character of true history that all concerned therein
both speak and write the same things; while these men, by writing differently about the
same things, think they shall be believed to write with the greatest regard to truth. We
therefore [who are Jews] must yield to the Grecian writers as to language and eloquence of
composition; but then we shall give them no such preference as to the verity of ancient
history, and least of all as to that part which concerns the affairs of our own several
countries.
6. As to the care of writing down the records
from the earliest antiquity among the Egyptians and Babylonians; that the priests were
intrusted therewith, and employed a philosophical concern about it; that they were the
Chaldean priests that did so among the Babylonians; and that the Phoenicians, who were
mingled among the Greeks, did especially make use of their letters, both for the common
affairs of life, and for the delivering down the history of common transactions, I think I
may omit any proof, because all men allow it so to be. But now as to our forefathers, that
they took no less care about writing such records, (for I will not say they took greater
care than the others I spoke of,) and that they committed that matter to their high
priests and to their prophets, and that these records have been written all along down to
our own times with the utmost accuracy; nay, if it be not too bold for me to say it, our
history will be so written hereafter; - I shall endeavor briefly to inform you.
7. For our forefathers did not only appoint the
best of these priests, and those that attended upon the Divine worship, for that design
from the beginning, but made provision that the stock of the priests should continue
unmixed and pure; for he who is partaker of the priesthood must propagate of a wife of the
same nation, without having any regard to money, or any other dignities; but he is to make
a scrutiny, and take his wife's genealogy from the ancient tables, and procure many
witnesses to it. And this is our practice not only in Judea, but wheresoever any body
of men of our nation do live; and even there an exact catalogue of our priests' marriages
is kept; I mean at Egypt and at Babylon, or in any other place of the rest of the
habitable earth, whithersoever our priests are scattered; for they send to Jerusalem the
ancient names of their parents in writing, as well as those of their remoter ancestors,
and signify who are the witnesses also. But if any war falls out, such as have fallen out
a great many of them already, when Antiochus Epiphanes made an invasion upon our country,
as also when Pompey the Great and Quintilius Varus did so also, and principally in the
wars that have happened in our own times, those priests that survive them compose new
tables of genealogy out of the old records, and examine the circumstances of the women
that remain; for still they do not admit of those that have been captives, as suspecting
that they had conversation with some foreigners. But what is the strongest argument of our
exact management in this matter is what I am now going to say, that we have the names of
our high priests from father to son set down in our records for the interval of two
thousand years; and if any of these have been transgressors of these rules, they are
prohibited to present themselves at the altar, or to be partakers of any other of our
purifications; and this is justly, or rather necessarily done, because every one is not
permitted of his own accord to be a writer, nor is there any disagreement in what is
written; they being only prophets that have written the original and earliest accounts of
things as they learned them of God himself by inspiration; and others have written what
hath happened in their own times, and that in a very distinct manner also.
8. For we have not an innumerable multitude of
books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, [as the Greeks have,] but
only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are
justly believed to be divine; and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws and
the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. This interval of time was little
short of three thousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses till the reign
of Artaxerxes king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets, who were after
Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books
contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life. It is true, our history
hath been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the
like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact
succession of prophets since that time; and how firmly we have given credit to these books
of our own nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already
passed, no one has been so bold as either to add any thing to them, to take any thing from
them, or to make any change in them; but it is become natural to all Jews immediately, and
from their very birth, to esteem these books to contain Divine doctrines, and to persist
in them, and, if occasion be willingly to die for them. For it is no new thing for our
captives, many of them in number, and frequently in time, to be seen to endure racks and
deaths of all kinds upon the theatres, that they may not be obliged to say one word
against our laws and the records that contain them; whereas there are none at all among
the Greeks who would undergo the least harm on that account, no, nor in case all the
writings that are among them were to be destroyed; for they take them to be such
discourses as are framed agreeably to the inclinations of those that write them; and they
have justly the same opinion of the ancient writers, since they see some of the present
generation bold enough to write about such affairs, wherein they were not present, nor had
concern enough to inform themselves about them from those that knew them; examples of
which may be had in this late war of ours, where some persons have written histories, and
published them, without having been in the places concerned, or having been near them when
the actions were done; but these men put a few things together by hearsay, and insolently
abuse the world, and call these writings by the name of Histories.
9. As for myself, I have composed a true history
of that whole war, and of all the particulars that occurred therein, as having been
concerned in all its transactions; for I acted as general of those among us that are named
Galileans, as long as it was possible for us to make any opposition. I was then seized on
by the Romans, and became a captive. Vespasian also and Titus had me kept under a guard,
and forced me to attend them continually. At the first I was put into bonds, but was set
at liberty afterward, and sent to accompany Titus when he came from Alexandria to the
siege of Jerusalem; during which time there was nothing done which escaped my knowledge;
for what happened in the Roman camp I saw, and wrote down carefully; and what informations
the deserters brought [out of the city], I was the only man that understood them.
Afterward I got leisure at Rome; and when all my materials were prepared for that work, I
made use of some persons to assist me in learning the Greek tongue, and by these means I
composed the history of those transactions. And I was so well assured of the truth of what
I related, that I first of all appealed to those that had the supreme command in that war,
Vespasian and Titus, as witnesses for me, for to them I presented those books first of
all, and after them to many of the Romans who had been in the war. I also sold them to
many of our own men who understood the Greek philosophy; among whom were Julius Archelaus,
Herod [king of Chalcis], a person of great gravity, and king Agrippa himself, a person
that deserved the greatest admiration. Now all these men bore their testimony to me, that
I had the strictest regard to truth; who yet would not have dissembled the matter, nor
been silent, if I, out of ignorance, or out of favor to any side, either had given false
colors to actions, or omitted any of them.
10. There have been indeed some bad men, who have
attempted to calumniate my history, and took it to be a kind of scholastic performance for
the exercise of young men. A strange sort of accusation and calumny this! since every one
that undertakes to deliver the history of actions truly ought to know them accurately
himself in the first place, as either having been concerned in them himself, or been
informed of them by such as knew them. Now both these methods of knowledge I may very
properly pretend to in the composition of both my works; for, as I said, I have translated
the Antiquities out of our sacred books; which I easily could do, since I was a priest by
my birth, and have studied that philosophy which is contained in those writings: and for
the History of the War, I wrote it as having been an actor myself in many of its
transactions, an eye-witness in the greatest part of the rest, and was not unacquainted
with any thing whatsoever that was either said or done in it. How impudent then must those
deserve to be esteemed that undertake to contradict me about the true state of those
affairs! who, although they pretend to have made use of both the emperors' own memoirs,
yet could not they he acquainted with our affairs who fought against them.
11. This digression I have been obliged to make
out of necessity, as being desirous to expose the vanity of those that profess to write
histories; and I suppose I have sufficiently declared that this custom of transmitting
down the histories of ancient times hath been better preserved by those nations which are
called Barbarians, than by the Greeks themselves. I am now willing, in the next place, to
say a few things to those that endeavor to prove that our constitution is but of late
time, for this reason, as they pretend, that the Greek writers have said nothing about us;
after which I shall produce testimonies for our antiquity out of the writings of
foreigners; I shall also demonstrate that such as cast reproaches upon our nation do it
very unjustly.
12. As for ourselves, therefore, we neither
inhabit a maritime country, nor do we delight in merchandise, nor in such a mixture with
other men as arises from it; but the cities we dwell in are remote from the sea, and
having a fruitful country for our habitation, we take pains in cultivating that only. Our
principal care of all is this, to educate our children well; and we think it to be the
most necessary business of our whole life to observe the laws that have been given us, and
to keep those rules of piety that have been delivered down to us. Since, therefore,
besides what we have already taken notice of, we have had a peculiar way of living of our
own, there was no occasion offered us in ancient ages for intermixing among the Greeks, as
they had for mixing among the Egyptians, by their intercourse of exporting and importing
their several goods; as they also mixed with the Phoenicians, who lived by the sea-side,
by means of their love of lucre in trade and merchandise. Nor did our forefathers betake
themselves, as did some others, to robbery; nor did they, in order to gain more wealth,
fall into foreign wars, although our country contained many ten thousands of men of
courage sufficient for that purpose. For this reason it was that the Phoenicians
themselves came soon by trading and navigation to be known to the Grecians, and by their
means the Egyptians became known to the Grecians also, as did all those people whence the
Phoenicians in long voyages over the seas carried wares to the Grecians. The Medes also
and the Persians, when they were lords of Asia, became well known to them; and this was
especially true of the Persians, who led their armies as far as the other continent
[Europe]. The Thracians were also known to them by the nearness of their countries, and
the Scythians by the means of those that sailed to Pontus; for it was so in general that
all maritime nations, and those that inhabited near the eastern or western seas, became
most known to those that were desirous to be writers; but such as had their habitations
further from the sea were for the most part unknown to them which things appear to have
happened as to Europe also, where the city of Rome, that hath this long time been
possessed of so much power, and hath performed such great actions in war, is yet never
mentioned by Herodotus, nor by Thucydides, nor by any one of their contemporaries; and it
was very late, and with great difficulty, that the Romans became known to the Greeks. Nay,
those that were reckoned the most exact historians (and Ephorus for one) were so very
ignorant of the Gauls and the Spaniards, that he supposed the Spaniards, who inhabit so
great a part of the western regions of the earth, to be no more than one city. Those
historians also have ventured to describe such customs as were made use of by them, which
they never had either done or said; and the reason why these writers did not know the
truth of their affairs was this, that they had not any commerce together; but the reason
why they wrote such falsities was this, that they had a mind to appear to know things
which others had not known. How can it then be any wonder, if our nation was no more known
to many of the Greeks, nor had given them any occasion to mention them in their writings,
while they were so remote from the sea, and had a conduct of life so peculiar to
themselves?
13. Let us now put the case, therefore, that we
made use of this argument concerning the Grecians, in order to prove that their nation was
not ancient, because nothing is said of them in our records: would not they laugh at us
all, and probably give the same reasons for our silence that I have now alleged, and would
produce their neighbor nations as witnesses to their own antiquity? Now the very same
thing will I endeavor to do; for I will bring the Egyptians and the Phoenicians as my
principal witnesses, because nobody can complain Of their testimony as false, on account
that they are known to have borne the greatest ill-will towards us; I mean this as to the
Egyptians in general all of them, while of the Phoenicians it is known the Tyrians have
been most of all in the same ill disposition towards us: yet do I confess that I cannot
say the same of the Chaldeans, since our first leaders and ancestors were derived from
them; and they do make mention of us Jews in their records, on account of the kindred
there is between us. Now when I shall have made my assertions good, so far as concerns the
others, I will demonstrate that some of the Greek writers have made mention of us Jews
also, that those who envy us may not have even this pretense for contradicting what I have
said about our nation.
14. I shall begin with the writings of the
Egyptians; not indeed of those that have written in the Egyptian language, which it is
impossible for me to do. But Manetho was a man who was by birth an Egyptian, yet had he
made himself master of the Greek learning, as is very evident; for he wrote the history of
his own country in the Greek tongue, by translating it, as he saith himself, out of their
sacred records; he also finds great fault with Herodotus for his ignorance and false
relations of Egyptian affairs. Now this Manetho, in the second book of his Egyptian
History, writes concerning us in the following manner. I will set down his very words, as
if I were to bring the very man himself into a court for a witness: "There was a king
of ours whose name was Timaus. Under him it came to pass, I know not how, that God was
averse to us, and there came, after a surprising manner, men of ignoble birth out of the
eastern parts, and had boldness enough to make an expedition into our country, and with
ease subdued it by force, yet without our hazarding a battle with them. So when they had
gotten those that governed us under their power, they afterwards burnt down our cities,
and demolished the temples of the gods, and used all the inhabitants after a most
barbarous manner; nay, some they slew, and led their children and their wives into
slavery. At length they made one of themselves king, whose name was Salatis; he also lived
at Memphis, and made both the upper and lower regions pay tribute, and left garrisons in
places that were the most proper for them. He chiefly aimed to secure the eastern parts,
as fore-seeing that the Assyrians, who had then the greatest power, would be desirous of
that kingdom, and invade them; and as he found in the Saite Nomos, [Sethroite,] a city
very proper for this purpose, and which lay upon the Bubastic channel, but with regard to
a certain theologic notion was called Avaris, this he rebuilt, and made very strong by the
walls he built about it, and by a most numerous garrison of two hundred and forty thousand
armed men whom he put into it to keep it. Thither Salatis came in summer time, partly to
gather his corn, and pay his soldiers their wages, and partly to exercise his armed men,
and thereby to terrify foreigners. When this man had reigned thirteen years, after him
reigned another, whose name was Beon, for forty-four years; after him reigned another,
called Apachnas, thirty-six years and seven months; after him Apophis reigned sixty-one
years, and then Janins fifty years and one month; after all these reigned Assis forty-nine
years and two months. And these six were the first rulers among them, who were all along
making war with the Egyptians, and were very desirous gradually to destroy them to the
very roots. This whole nation was styled HYCSOS, that is, Shepherd-kings: for the first
syllable HYC, according to the sacred dialect, denotes a king, as is SOS a shepherd; but
this according to the ordinary dialect; and of these is compounded HYCSOS: but some say
that these people were Arabians." Now in another copy it is said that this word does
not denote Kings, but, on the contrary, denotes Captive Shepherds, and this on account of
the particle HYC; for that HYC, with the aspiration, in the Egyptian tongue again denotes
Shepherds, and that expressly also; and this to me seems the more probable opinion, and
more agreeable to ancient history. [But Manetho goes on]: "These people, whom we have
before named kings, and called shepherds also, and their descendants," as he says,
"kept possession of Egypt five hundred and eleven years." After these, he says,
"That the kings of Thebais and the other parts of Egypt made an insurrection against
the shepherds, and that there a terrible and long war was made between them." He says
further, "That under a king, whose name was Alisphragmuthosis, the shepherds were
subdued by him, and were indeed driven out of other parts of Egypt, but were shut up in a
place that contained ten thousand acres; this place was named Avaris." Manetho says,
"That the shepherds built a wall round all this place, which was a large and a strong
wall, and this in order to keep all their possessions and their prey within a place of
strength, but that Thummosis the son of Alisphragmuthosis made an attempt to take them by
force and by siege, with four hundred and eighty thousand men to lie rotund about them,
but that, upon his despair of taking the place by that siege, they came to a composition
with them, that they should leave Egypt, and go, without any harm to be done to them,
whithersoever they would; and that, after this composition was made, they went away with
their whole families and effects, not fewer in number than two hundred and forty thousand,
and took their journey from Egypt, through the wilderness, for Syria; but that as they
were in fear of the Assyrians, who had then the dominion over Asia, they built a city in
that country which is now called Judea, and that large enough to contain this great number
of men, and called it Jerusalem. Now Manetho, in another book of his, says, "That
this nation, thus called Shepherds, were also called Captives, in their sacred
books." And this account of his is the truth; for feeding of sheep was the employment
of our forefathers in the most ancient ages and as they led such a wandering life in
feeding sheep, they were called Shepherds. Nor was it without reason that they were called
Captives by the Egyptians, since one of our ancestors, Joseph, told the king of Egypt that
he was a captive, and afterward sent for his brethren into Egypt by the king's permission.
But as for these matters, I shall make a more exact inquiry about them elsewhere. (11)
15. But now I shall produce the Egyptians as
witnesses to the antiquity of our nation. I shall therefore here bring in Manetho again,
and what he writes as to the order of the times in this case; and thus he speaks:
"When this people or shepherds were gone out of Egypt to Jerusalem, Tethtoosis the
king of Egypt, who drove them out, reigned afterward twenty-five years and four months,
and then died; after him his son Chebron took the kingdom for thirteen years; after whom
came Amenophis, for twenty years and seven months; then came his sister Amesses, for
twenty-one years and nine months; after her came Mephres, for twelve years and nine
months; after him was Mephramuthosis, for twenty-five years and ten months; after him was
Thmosis, for nine years and eight months; after him came Amenophis, for thirty years and
ten months; after him came Orus, for thirty-six years and five months; then came his
daughter Acenchres, for twelve years and one month; then was her brother Rathotis, for
nine years; then was Acencheres, for twelve years and five months; then came another
Acencheres, for twelve years and three months; after him Armais, for four years and one
month; after him was Ramesses, for one year and four months; after him came Armesses
Miammoun, for sixty-six years and two months; after him Amenophis, for nineteen years and
six months; after him came Sethosis, and Ramesses, who had an army of horse, and a naval
force. This king appointed his brother, Armais,, to be his deputy over Egypt." [In
another copy it stood thus: After him came Sethosis, and Ramesses, two brethren, the
former of whom had a naval force, and in a hostile manner destroyed those that met him
upon the sea; but as he slew Ramesses in no long time afterward, so he appointed another
of his brethren to be his deputy over Egypt.] He also gave him all the other authority of
a king, but with these only injunctions, that he should not wear the diadem, nor be
injurious to the queen, the mother of his children, and that he should not meddle with the
other concubines of the king; while he made an expedition against Cyprus, and Phoenicia,
and besides against the Assyrians and the Medes. He then subdued them all, some by his
arms, some without fighting, and some by the terror of his great army; and being puffed up
by the great successes he had had, he went on still the more boldly, and overthrew the
cities and countries that lay in the eastern parts. But after some considerable time,
Armais, who was left in Egypt, did all those very things, by way of opposition, which his
brother had forbid him to do, without fear; for he used violence to the queen, and
continued to make use of the rest of the concubines, without sparing any of them; nay, at
the persuasion of his friends he put on the diadem, and set up to oppose his brother. But
then he who was set over the priests of Egypt wrote letters to Sethosis, and informed him
of all that had happened, and how his brother had set up to oppose him: he therefore
returned back to Pelusium immediately, and recovered his kingdom again. The country also
was called from his name Egypt; for Manetho says, that Sethosis was himself called
Egyptus, as was his brother Armais called Danaus."
16. This is Manetho's account. And evident it is
from the number of years by him set down belonging to this interval, if they be summed up
together, that these shepherds, as they are here called, who were no other than our
forefathers, were delivered out of Egypt, and came thence, and inhabited this country,
three hundred and ninety-three years before Danaus came to Argos; although the Argives
look upon him (12) as their most ancient king Manetho, therefore, hears this testimony to
two points of the greatest consequence to our purpose, and those from the Egyptian records
themselves. In the first place, that we came out of another country into Egypt; and that
withal our deliverance out of it was so ancient in time as to have preceded the siege of
Troy almost a thousand years; but then, as to those things which Manetbo adds, not from
the Egyptian records, but, as he confesses himself, from some stories of an uncertain
original, I will disprove them hereafter particularly, and shall demonstrate that they are
no better than incredible fables.
17. I will now, therefore, pass from these
records, and come to those that belong to the Phoenicians, and concern our nation, and
shall produce attestations to what I have said out of them. There are then records among
the Tyrians that take in the history of many years, and these are public writings, and are
kept with great exactness, and include accounts of the facts done among them, and such as
concern their transactions with other nations also, those I mean which were worth
remembering. Therein it was recorded that the temple was built by king Solomon at
Jerusalem, one hundred forty-three years and eight months before the Tyrians built
Carthage; and in their annals the building of our temple is related; for Hirom, the king
of Tyre, was the friend of Solomon our king, and had such friendship transmitted down to
him from his forefathers. He thereupon was ambitious to contribute to the splendor of this
edifice of Solomon, and made him a present of one hundred and twenty talents of gold. He
also cut down the most excellent timber out of that mountain which is called Libanus, and
sent it to him for adorning its roof. Solomon also not only made him many other presents,
by way of requital, but gave him a country in Galilee also, that was called Chabulon. (13)
But there was another passion, a philosophic inclination of theirs, which cemented the
friendship that was betwixt them; for they sent mutual problems to one another, with a
desire to have them unriddled by each other; wherein Solomon was superior to Hirom, as he
was wiser than he in other respects: and many of the epistles that passed between them are
still preserved among the Tyrians. Now, that this may not depend on my bare word, I will
produce for a witness Dius, one that is believed to have written the Phoenician History
after an accurate manner. This Dius, therefore, writes thus, in his Histories of the
Phoenicians: "Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom took the kingdom. This king
raised banks at the eastern parts of the city, and enlarged it; he also joined the temple
of Jupiter Olympius, which stood before in an island by itself, to the city, by raising a
causeway between them, and adorned that temple with donations of gold. He moreover went up
to Libanus, and had timber cut down for the building of temples. They say further, that
Solomon, when he was king of Jerusalem, sent problems to Hirom to be solved, and desired
he would send others back for him to solve, and that he who could not solve the problems
proposed to him should pay money to him that solved them. And when Hirom had agreed to the
proposals, but was not able to solve the problems, he was obliged to pay a great deal of
money, as a penalty for the same. As also they relate, that one·Abdemon, a man of Tyre,
did solve the problems, and propose others which Solomon could not solve, upon which he
was obliged to repay a great deal of money to Hirom." These things are attested to by
Dius, and confirm what we have said upon the same subjects before.
18. And now I shall add Menander the Ephesian, as
an additional witness. This Menander wrote the Acts that were done both by the Greeks and
Barbarians, under every one of the Tyrian kings, and had taken much pains to learn their
history out of their own records. Now when he was writing about those kings that had
reigned at Tyre, he came to Hirom, and says thus: "Upon the death of Abibalus, his
son Hirom took the kingdom; he lived fifty-three years, and reigned thirty-four. He raised
a bank on that called the Broad Place, and dedicated that golden pillar which is in
Jupiter's temple; he also went and cut down timber from the mountain called Libanus, and
got timber Of cedar for the roofs of the temples. He also pulled down the old temples, and
built new ones; besides this, he consecrated the temples of Hercules and of Astarte. He
first built Hercules's temple in the month Peritus, and that of Astarte when he made his
expedition against the Tityans, who would not pay him their tribute; and when he had
subdued them to himself, he returned home. Under this king there was a younger son of
Abdemon, who mastered the problems which Solomon king of Jerusalem had recommended to be
solved." Now the time from this king to the building of Carthage is thus calculated:
"Upon the death of Hirom, Baleazarus his son took the kingdom; he lived forty-three
years, and reigned seven years: after him succeeded his son Abdastartus; he lived
twenty-nine years, and reigned nine years. Now four sons of his nurse plotted against him
and slew him, the eldest of whom reigned twelve years: after them came Astartus, the son
of Deleastartus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned twelve years: after him came his
brother Aserymus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned nine years: he was slain by his
brother Pheles, who took the kingdom and reigned but eight months, though he lived fifty
years: he was slain by Ithobalus, the priest of Astarte, who reigned thirty-two years, and
lived sixty-eight years: he was succeeded by his son Badezorus, who lived forty-five
years, and reigned six years: he was succeeded by Matgenus his son; he lived thirty-two
years, and reigned nine years: Pygmalion succeeded him; he lived fifty-six years, and
reigned forty-seven years. Now in the seventh year of his reign, his sister fled away from
him, and built the city Carthage in Libya." So the whole time from the reign of
Hirom, till the building of Carthage, amounts to the sum of one hundred fifty-five years
and eight months. Since then the temple was built at Jerusalem in the twelfth year of the
reign of Hirom, there were from the building of the temple, until the building of
Carthage, one hundred forty-three years and eight months. Wherefore, what occasion is
there for alleging any more testimonies out of the Phoenician histories [on the behalf of
our nation], since what I have said is so thoroughly confirmed already? and to be sure our
ancestors came into this country long before the building of the temple; for it was not
till we had gotten possession of the whole land by war that we built our temple. And this
is the point that I have clearly proved out of our sacred writings in my Antiquities.
19. I will now relate what hath been written
concerning us in the Chaldean histories, which records have a great agreement with our
books in oilier things also. Berosus shall be witness to what I say: he was by birth a
Chaldean, well known by the learned, on account of his publication of the Chaldean books
of astronomy and philosophy among the Greeks. This Berosus, therefore, following the most
ancient records of that nation, gives us a history of the deluge of waters that then
happened, and of the destruction of mankind thereby, and agrees with Moses's narration
thereof. He also gives us an account of that ark wherein Noah, the origin of our race, was
preserved, when it was brought to the highest part of the Armenian mountains; after which
he gives us a catalogue of the posterity of Noah, and adds the years of their chronology,
and at length comes down to Nabolassar, who was king of Babylon, and of the Chaldeans. And
when he was relating the acts of this king, he describes to us how he sent his son
Nabuchodonosor against Egypt, and against our land, with a great army, upon his being
informed that they had revolted from him; and how, by that means, he subdued them all, and
set our temple that was at Jerusalem on fire; nay, and removed our people entirely out of
their own country, and transferred them to Babylon; when it so happened that our city was
desolate during the interval of seventy years, until the days of Cyrus king of Persia. He
then says, "That this Babylonian king conquered Egypt, and Syria, and Phoenicia, and
Arabia, and exceeded in his exploits all that had reigned before him in Babylon and
Chaldea." A little after which Berosus subjoins what follows in his History of
Ancient Times. I will set down Berosus's own accounts, which are these: "When
Nabolassar, father of Nabuchodonosor, heard that the governor whom he had set over Egypt,
and over the parts of Celesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, he was not able to
bear it any longer; but committing certain parts of his army to his son Nabuchodonosor,
who was then but young, he sent him against the rebel: Nabuchodonosor joined battle with
him, and conquered him, and reduced the country under his dominion again. Now it so fell
out that his father Nabolassar fell into a distemper at this time, and died in the city of
Babylon, after he had reigned twenty-nine years. But as he understood, in a little time,
that his father Nabolassar was dead, he set the affairs of Egypt and the other countries
in order, and committed the captives he had taken from the Jews, and Phoenicians, and
Syrians, and of the nations belonging to Egypt, to some of his friends, that they might
conduct that part of the forces that had on heavy armor, with the rest of his baggage, to
Babylonia; while he went in haste, having but a few with him, over the desert to Babylon;
whither, when he was come, he found the public affairs had been managed by the Chaldeans,
and that the principal person among them had preserved the kingdom for him. Accordingly,
he now entirely obtained all his father's dominions. He then came, and ordered the
captives to be placed as colonies in the most proper places of Babylonia; but for himself,
he adorned the temple of Belus, and the other temples, after an elegant manner, out of the
spoils he had taken in this war. He also rebuilt the old city, and added another to it on
the outside, and so far restored Babylon, that none who should besiege it afterwards might
have it in their power to divert the river, so as to facilitate an entrance into it; and
this he did by building three walls about the inner city, and three about the outer. Some
of these walls he built of burnt brick and bitumen, and some of brick only. So when he had
thus fortified the city with walls, after an excellent manner, and had adorned the gates
magnificently, he added a new palace to that which his father had dwelt in, and this close
by it also, and that more eminent in its height, and in its great splendor. It would
perhaps require too long a narration, if any one were to describe it. However, as
prodigiously large and as magnificent as it was, it was finished in fifteen days. Now in
this palace he erected very high walks, supported by stone pillars, and by planting what
was called a pensile paradise, and replenishing it with all sorts of trees, he rendered
the prospect an exact resemblance of a mountainous country. This he did to please his
queen, because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of a mountainous
situation."
20. This is what Berosus relates concerning the
forementioned king, as he relates many other things about him also in the third book of
his Chaldean History; wherein he complains of the Grecian writers for supposing, without
any foundation, that Babylon was built by Semiramis, (14) queen of Assyria, and for her
false pretense to those wonderful edifices thereto buildings at Babylon, do no way
contradict those ancient and relating, as if they were her own workmanship; as indeed in
these affairs the Chaldean History cannot but be the most credible. Moreover, we meet with
a confirmation of what Berosus says in the archives of the Phoenicians, concerning this
king Nabuchodonosor, that he conquered all Syria and Phoenicia; in which case Philostratus
agrees with the others in that history which he composed, where he mentions the siege of
Tyre; as does Megasthenes also, in the fourth book of his Indian History, wherein he
pretends to prove that the forementioned king of the Babylonians was superior to Hercules
in strength and the greatness of his exploits; for he says that he conquered a great part
of Libya, and conquered Iberia also. Now as to what I have said before about the temple at
Jerusalem, that it was fought against by the Babylonians, and burnt by them, but was
opened again when Cyrus had taken the kingdom of Asia, shall now be demonstrated from what
Berosus adds further upon that head; for thus he says in his third book:
"Nabuchodonosor, after he had begun to build the forementioned wall, fell sick, and
departed this life, when he had reigned forty-three years; whereupon his son Evilmerodach
obtained the kingdom. He governed public affairs after an illegal and impure manner, and
had a plot laid against him by Neriglissoor, his sister's husband, and was slain by him
when he had reigned but two years. After he was slain, Neriglissoor, the person who
plotted against him, succeeded him in the kingdom, and reigned four years; his son
Laborosoarchod obtained the kingdom, though he was but a child, and kept it nine mouths;
but by reason of the very ill temper and ill practices he exhibited to the world, a plot
was laid against him also by his friends, and he was tormented to death. After his death,
the conspirators got together, and by common consent put the crown upon the head of
Nabonnedus, a man of Babylon, and one who belonged to that insurrection. In his reign it
was that the walls of the city of Babylon were curiously built with burnt brick and
bitumen; but when he was come to the seventeenth year of his reign, Cyrus came out of
Persia with a great army; and having already conquered all the rest of Asia, he came
hastily to Babylonia. When Nabonnedus perceived he was coming to attack him, he met him
with his forces, and joining battle with him was beaten, and fled away with a few of his
troops with him, and was shut up within the city Borsippus. Hereupon Cyrus took Babylon,
and gave order that the outer walls of the city should be demolished, because the city had
proved very troublesome to him, and cost him a great deal of pains to take it. He then
marched away to Borsippus, to besiege Nabonnedus; but as Nabonnedus did not sustain the
siege, but delivered himself into his hands, he was at first kindly used by Cyrus, who
gave him Carmania, as a place for him to inhabit in, but sent him out of Babylonia.
Accordingly Nabonnedus spent the rest of his time in that country, and there died."
21. These accounts agree with the true histories
in our books; for in them it is written that Nebuchadnezzar, in the eighteenth year of his
reign, laid our temple desolate, and so it lay in that state of obscurity for fifty years;
but that in the second year of the reign of Cyrus its foundations were laid, and it was
finished again in the second year of Darius. I will now add the records of the
Phoenicians; for it will not be superfluous to give the reader demonstrations more than
enough on this occasion. In them we have this enumeration of the times of their several
kings: "Nabuchodonosor besieged Tyre for thirteen years in the days of Ithobal, their
king; after him reigned Baal, ten years; after him were judges appointed, who judged the
people: Ecnibalus, the son of Baslacus, two months; Chelbes, the son of Abdeus, ten
months; Abbar, the high priest, three months; Mitgonus and Gerastratus, the sons of
Abdelemus, were judges six years; after whom Balatorus reigned one year; after his death
they sent and fetched Merbalus from Babylon, who reigned four years; after his death they
sent for his brother Hirom, who reigned twenty years. Under his reign Cyrus became king of
Persia." So that the whole interval is fifty-four years besides three months; for in
the seventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar he began to besiege Tyre, and Cyrus the
Persian took the kingdom in the fourteenth year of Hirom. So that the records of the
Chaldeans and Tyrians agree with our writings about this temple; and the testimonies here
produced are an indisputable and undeniable attestation to the antiquity of our nation.
And I suppose that what I have already said may be sufficient to such as are not very
contentious.
22. But now it is proper to satisfy the inquiry
of those that disbelieve the records of barbarians, and think none but Greeks to be worthy
of credit, and to produce many of these very Greeks who were acquainted with our nation,
and to set before them such as upon occasion have made mention of us in their own
writings. Pythagoras, therefore, of Samos, lived in very ancient times, and was esteemed a
person superior to all philosophers in wisdom and piety towards God. Now it is plain that
he did not only know our doctrines, but was in very great measure a follower and admirer
of them. There is not indeed extant any writing that is owned for his (15) but many there
are who have written his history, of whom Hermippus is the most celebrated, who was a
person very inquisitive into all sorts of history. Now this Hermippus, in his first book
concerning Pythagoras, speaks thus: "That Pythagoras, upon the death of one of his
associates, whose name was Calliphon, a Crotonlate by birth, affirmed that this man's soul
conversed with him both night and day, and enjoined him not to pass over a place where an
ass had fallen down; as also not to drink of such waters as caused thirst again; and to
abstain from all sorts of reproaches." After which he adds thus: "This he did
and said in imitation of the doctrines of the Jews and Thracians, which he transferred
into his own philosophy." For it is very truly affirmed of this Pythagoras, that he
took a great many of the laws of the Jews into his own philosophy. Nor was our nation
unknown of old to several of the Grecian cities, and indeed was thought worthy of
imitation by some of them. This is declared by Theophrastus, in his writings concerning
laws; for he says that "the laws of the Tyrians forbid men to swear foreign
oaths." Among which he enumerates some others, and particularly that called Corban:
which oath can only be found among the Jews, and declares what a man may call "A
thing devoted to God." Nor indeed was Herodotus of Halicarnassus unacquainted with
our nation, but mentions it after a way of his own, when he saith thus, in the second book
concerning the Colchians. His words are these: "The only people who were circumcised
in their privy members originally, were the Colchians, the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians;
but the Phoenicians and those Syrians that are in Palestine confess that they learned it
from the Egyptians. And for those Syrians who live about the rivers Thermodon and
Parthenius, and their neighbors the Macrones, they say they have lately learned it from
the Colchians; for these are the only people that are circumcised among mankind, and
appear to have done the very same thing with the Egyptians. But as for the Egyptians and
Ethiopians themselves, I am not able to say which of them received it from the
other." This therefore is what Herodotus says, that "the Syrians that are in
Palestine are circumcised." But there are no inhabitants of Palestine that are
circumcised excepting the Jews; and therefore it must be his knowledge of them that
enabled him to speak so much concerning them. Cherilus also, a still ancienter writer, and
a poet, (16) makes mention of our nation, and informs us that it came to the assistance of
king Xerxes, in his expedition against Greece. For in his enumeration of all those
nations, he last of all inserts ours among the rest, when he says," At the last there
passed over a people, wonderful to be beheld; for they spake the Phoenician tongue with
their mouths; they dwelt in the Solymean mountains, near a broad lake: their heads were
sooty; they had round rasures on them; their heads and faces were like nasty horse-heads
also, that had been hardened in the smoke." I think, therefore, that it is evident to
every body that Cherilus means us, because the Solymean mountains are in our country,
wherein we inhabit, as is also the lake called Asphaltitis; for this is a broader and
larger lake than any other that is in Syria: and thus does Cherilus make mention of us.
But now that not only the lowest sort of the Grecians, but those that are had in the
greatest admiration for their philosophic improvements among them, did not only know the
Jews, but when they lighted upon any of them, admired them also, it is easy for any one to
know. For Clearchus, who was the scholar of Aristotle, and inferior to no one of the
Peripatetics whomsoever, in his first book concerning sleep, says that "Aristotle his
master related what follows of a Jew," and sets down Aristotle's own discourse with
him. The account is this, as written down by him: "Now, for a great part of what this
Jew said, it would be too long to recite it; but what includes in it both wonder and
philosophy it may not be amiss to discourse of. Now, that I may be plain with thee,
Hyperochides, I shall herein seem to thee to relate wonders, and what will resemble dreams
themselves. Hereupon Hyperochides answered modestly, and said, For that very reason it is
that all of us are very desirous of hearing what thou art going to say. Then replied
Aristotle, For this cause it will be the best way to imitate that rule of the
Rhetoricians, which requires us first to give an account of the man, and of what nation he
was, that so we may not contradict our master's directions. Then said Hyperochides, Go on,
if it so pleases thee. This man then, [answered Aristotle,] was by birth a Jew, and came
from Celesyria; these Jews are derived from the Indian philosophers; they are named by the
Indians Calami, and by the Syrians Judaei, and took their name from the country they
inhabit, which is called Judea; but for the name of their city, it is a very awkward one,
for they call it Jerusalem. Now this man, when he was hospitably treated by a great many,
came down from the upper country to the places near the sea, and became a Grecian, not
only in his language, but in his soul also; insomuch that when we ourselves happened to be
in Asia about the same places whither he came, he conversed with us, and with other
philosophical persons, and made a trial of our skill in philosophy; and as he had lived
with many learned men, he communicated to us more information than he received from
us." This is Aristotle's account of the matter, as given us by Clearchus; which
Aristotle discoursed also particularly of the great and wonderful fortitude of this Jew in
his diet, and continent way of living, as those that please may learn more about him from
Clearchus's book itself; for I avoid setting down any more than is sufficient for my
purpose. Now Clearchus said this by way of digression, for his main design was of another
nature. But for Hecateus of Abdera, who was both a philosopher, and one very useful ill an
active life, he was contemporary with king Alexander in his youth, and afterward was with
Ptolemy, the son of Lagus; he did not write about the Jewish affairs by the by only, but
composed an entire book concerning the Jews themselves; out of which book I am willing to
run over a few things, of which I have been treating by way of epitome. And, in the first
place, I will demonstrate the time when this Hecateus lived; for he mentions the fight
that was between Ptolemy and Demetrius about Gaza, which was fought in the eleventh year
after the death of Alexander, and in the hundred and seventeenth olympiad, as Castor says
in his history. For when he had set down this olympiad, he says further, that "in
this olympiad Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, beat in battle Demetrius, the son of Antigonus,
who was named Poliorcetes, at Gaza." Now, it is agreed by all, that Alexander died in
the hundred and fourteenth olympiad; it is therefore evident that our nation flourished in
his time, and in the time of Alexander. Again, Hecateus says to the same purpose, as
follows: "Ptolemy got possession of the places in Syria after that battle at Gaza;
and many, when they heard of Ptolemy's moderation and humanity, went along with him to
Egypt, and were willing to assist him in his affairs; one of whom (Hecateus says) was
Hezekiah (17) the high priest of the Jews; a man of about sixty-six years of age, and in
great dignity among his own people. He was a very sensible man, and could speak very
movingly, and was very skillful in the management of affairs, if any other man ever were
so; although, as he says, all the priests of the Jews took tithes of the products of the
earth, and managed public affairs, and were in number not above fifteen hundred at the
most." Hecateus mentions this Hezekiah a second time, and says, that "as he was
possessed of so great a dignity, and was become familiar with us, so did he take certain
of those that were with him, and explained to them all the circumstances of their people;
for he had all their habitations and polity down in writing." Moreover, Hecateus
declares again, "what regard we have for our laws, and that we resolve to endure any
thing rather than transgress them, because we think it right for us to do so."
Whereupon he adds, that "although they are in a bad reputation among their neighbors,
and among all those that come to them, and have been often treated injuriously by the
kings and governors of Persia, yet can they not be dissuaded from acting what they think
best; but that when they are stripped on this account, and have torments inflicted upon
them, and they are brought to the most terrible kinds of death, they meet them after an
extraordinary manner, beyond all other people, and will not renounce the religion of their
forefathers." Hecateus also produces demonstrations not a few of this their resolute
tenaciousness of their laws, when he speaks thus: "Alexander was once at Babylon, and
had an intention to rebuild the temple of Belus that was fallen to decay, and in order
thereto, he commanded all his soldiers in general to bring earth thither. But the Jews,
and they only, would not comply with that command; nay, they underwent stripes and great
losses of what they had on this account, till the king forgave them, and permitted them to
live in quiet." He adds further, that "when the Macedonians came to them into
that country, and demolished the [old] temples and the altars, they assisted them in
demolishing them all (18) but [for not assisting them in rebuilding them] they either
underwent losses, or sometimes obtained forgiveness." He adds further, that
"these men deserve to be admired on that account." He also speaks of the mighty
populousness of our nation, and says that "the Persians formerly carried away many
ten thousands of our people to Babylon, as also that not a few ten thousands were removed
after Alexander's death into Egypt and Phoenicia, by reason of the sedition that was
arisen in Syria." The same person takes notice in his history, how large the country
is which we inhabit, as well as of its excellent character, and says, that "the land
in which the Jews inhabit contains three millions of arourae, (19) and is generally of a
most excellent and most fruitful soil; nor is Judea of lesser dimensions." The same
man describe our city Jerusalem also itself as of a most excellent structure, and very
large, and inhabited from the most ancient times. He also discourses of the multitude of
men in it, and of the construction of our temple, after the following manner: "There
are many strong places and villages (says he) in the country of Judea; but one strong city
there is, about fifty furlongs in circumference, which is inhabited by a hundred and
twenty thousand men, or thereabouts; they call it Jerusalem. There is about the middle of
the city a wall of stone, whose length is five hundred feet, and the breadth a hundred
cubits, with double cloisters; wherein there is a square altar, not made of hewn stone,
but composed of white stones gathered together, having each side twenty cubits long, and
its altitude ten cubits. Hard by it is a large edifice, wherein there is an altar and a
candlestick, both of gold, and in weight two talents: upon these there is a light that is
never extinguished, either by night or by day. There is no image, nor any thing, nor any
donations therein; nothing at all is there planted, neither grove, nor any thing of that
sort. The priests abide therein both nights and days, performing certain purifications,
and drinking not the least drop of wine while they are in the temple." Moreover, he
attests that we Jews went as auxiliaries along with king Alexander, and after him with his
successors. I will add further what he says he learned when he was himself with the same
army, concerning the actions of a man that was a Jew. His words are these: "As I was
myself going to the Red Sea, there followed us a man, whose name was Mosollam; he was one
of the Jewish horsemen who conducted us; he was a person of great courage, of a strong
body, and by all allowed to be the most skillful archer that was either among the Greeks
or barbarians. Now this man, as people were in great numbers passing along the road, and a
certain augur was observing an augury by a bird, and requiring them all to stand still,
inquired what they staid for. Hereupon the augur showed him the bird from whence he took
his augury, and told him that if the bird staid where he was, they ought all to stand
still; but that if he got up, and flew onward, they must go forward; but that if he flew
backward, they must retire again. Mosollam made no reply, but drew his bow, and shot at
the bird, and hit him, and killed him; and as the augur and some others were very angry,
and wished imprecations upon him, he answered them thus: Why are you so mad as to take
this most unhappy bird into your hands? for how can this bird give us any true information
concerning our march, who could not foresee how to save himself? for had he been able to
foreknow what was future, he would not have come to this place, but would have been afraid
lest Mosollam the Jew should shoot at him, and kill him." But of Hecateus's
testimonies we have said enough; for as to such as desire to know more of them, they may
easily obtain them from his book itself. However, I shall not think it too much for me to
name Agatharchides, as having made mention of us Jews, though in way of derision at our
simplicity, as he supposes it to be; for when he was discoursing of the affairs of
Stratonice, "how she came out of Macedonia into Syria, and left her husband
Demetrius, while yet Seleueus would not marry her as she expected, but during the time of
his raising an army at Babylon, stirred up a sedition about Antioch; and how, after that,
the king came back, and upon his taking of Antioch, she fled to Seleucia, and had it in
her power to sail away immediately yet did she comply with a dream which forbade her so to
do, and so was caught and put to death." When Agatharehides had premised this story,
and had jested upon Stratonice for her superstition, he gives a like example of what was
reported concerning us, and writes thus: "There are a people called Jews, and dwell
in a city the strongest of all other cities, which the inhabitants call Jerusalem, and are
accustomed to rest on every seventh day (20) on which times they make no use of their
arms, nor meddle with husbandry, nor take care of any affairs of life, but spread out
their hands in their holy places, and pray till the evening. Now it came to pass, that
when Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, came into this city with his army, that these men, in
observing this mad custom of theirs, instead of guarding the city, suffered their country
to submit itself to a bitter lord; and their law was openly proved to have commanded a
foolish practice. (21) This accident taught all other men but the Jews to disregard such
dreams as these were, and not to follow the like idle suggestions delivered as a law,
when, in such uncertainty of human reasonings, they are at a loss what they should
do." Now this our procedure seems a ridiculous thing to Agatharehides, but will
appear to such as consider it without prejudice a great thing, and what deserved a great
many encomiums; I mean, when certain men constantly prefer the observation of their laws,
and their religion towards God, before the preservation of themselves and their country.
23. Now that some writers have omitted to mention
our nation, not because they knew nothing of us, but because they envied us, or for some
other unjustifiable reasons, I think I can demonstrate by particular instances; for
Hieronymus, who wrote the History of [Alexander's Successors, lived at the same time with
Hecateus, and was a friend of king Antigonus, and president of Syria. Now it is plain that
Hecateus wrote an entire book concerning us, while Hieronymus never mentions us in his
history, although he was bred up very near to the places where we live. Thus different
from one another are the inclinations of men; while the one thought we deserved to be
carefully remembered, as some ill-disposed passion blinded the other's mind so entirely,
that he could not discern the truth. And now certainly the foregoing records of the
Egyptians, and Chaldeans, and Phoenicians, together with so many of the Greek writers,
will be sufficient for the demonstration of our antiquity. Moreover, besides those
forementioned, Theophilus, and Theodotus, and Mnaseas, and Aristophanes, and Hermogenes,
Euhemerus also, and Conon, and Zopyrion, and perhaps many others, (for I have not lighted
upon all the Greek books,) have made distinct mention of us. It is true, many of the men
before mentioned have made great mistakes about the true accounts of our nation in the
earliest times, because they had not perused our sacred books; yet have they all of them
afforded their testimony to our antiquity, concerning which I am now treating. However,
Demetrius Phalereus, and the elder Philo, with Eupolemus, have not greatly missed the
truth about our affairs; whose lesser mistakes ought therefore to be forgiven them; for it
was not in their power to understand our writings with the utmost accuracy.
24. One particular there is still remaining
behind of what I at first proposed to speak to, and that is, to demonstrate that those
calumnies and reproaches which some have thrown upon our nation, are lies, and to make use
of those writers' own testimonies against themselves; and that in general this
self-contradiction hath happened to many other authors by reason of their ill-will to some
people, I conclude, is not unknown to such as have read histories with sufficient care;for
some of them have endeavored to disgrace the nobility of certain nations, and of some of
the most glorious cities, and have cast reproaches upon certain forms of government. Thus
hath Theopompus abused the city of Athens, Polycrates that of Lacedemon, as hath he hat
wrote the Tripoliticus (for he is not Theopompus, as is supposed bys ome) done by the city
of Thebes. Timeils also hath greatly abused the foregoing people and others also; and this
ill-treatment they use chiefly when they have a contest with men of the greatest
reputation; some out of envy and malice, and others as supposing that by this foolish
talking of theirs they may be thought worthy of being remembered themselves; and indeed
they do by no means fail of their hopes, with regard to the foolish part of mankind, but
men of sober judgment still condemn them of great malignity.
25. Now the Egyptians were the first that cast
reproaches upon us; in order to please which nation, some others undertook to pervert the
truth, while they would neither own that our forefathers came into Egypt from another
country, as the fact was, nor give a true account of our departure thence. And indeed the
Egyptians took many occasions to hate us and envy us: in the first place, because our
ancestors had had the dominion over their country? and when they were delivered from them,
and gone to their own country again, they lived there in prosperity. In the next place,
the difference of our religion from theirs hath occasioned great enmity between us, while
our way of Divine worship did as much exceed that which their laws appointed, as does the
nature of God exceed that of brute beasts; for so far they all agree through the whole
country, to esteem such animals as gods, although they differ one from another in the
peculiar worship they severally pay to them. And certainly men they are entirely of vain
and foolish minds, who have thus accustomed themselves from the beginning to have such bad
notions concerning their gods, and could not think of imitating that decent form of Divine
worship which we made use of, though, when they saw our institutions approved of by many
others, they could not but envy us on that account; for some of them have proceeded to
that degree of folly and meanness in their conduct, as not to scruple to contradict their
own ancient records, nay, to contradict themselves also in their writings, and yet were so
blinded by their passions as not to discern it.
26. And now I will turn my discourse to one of
their principal writers, whom I have a little before made use of as a witness to our
antiquity; I mean Manetho. (22) He promised to interpret the Egyptian history out of their
sacred writings, and premised this: that "our people had come into Egypt, many ten
thousands in number, and subdued its inhabitants;" and when he had further confessed
that "we went out of that country afterward, and settled in that country which is now
called Judea, and there built Jerusalem and its temple." Now thus far he followed his
ancient records; but after this he permits himself, in order to appear to have written
what rumors and reports passed abroad about the Jews, and introduces incredible
narrations, as if he would have the Egyptian multitude, that had the leprosy and other
distempers, to have been mixed with us, as he says they were, and that they were condemned
to fly out of Egypt together; for he mentions Amenophis, a fictitious king's name, though
on that account he durst not set down the number of years of his reign, which yet he had
accurately done as to the other kings he mentions; he then ascribes certain fabulous
stories to this king, as having in a manner forgotten how he had already related that the
departure of the shepherds for Jerusalem had been five hundred and eighteen years before;
for Tethmosis was king when they went away. Now, from his days, the reigns of the
intermediate kings, according to Manethe, amounted to three hundred and ninety-three
years, as he says himself, till the two brothers Sethos and Hermeus; the one of whom,
Sethos, was called by that other name of Egyptus, and the other, Hermeus, by that of
Danaus. He also says that Sethos east the other out of Egypt, and reigned fifty-nine
years, as did his eldest son Rhampses reign after him sixty-six years. When Manethe
therefore had acknowledged that our forefathers were gone out of Egypt so many years ago,
he introduces his fictitious king Amenophis, and says thus: "This king was desirous
to become a spectator of the gods, as had Orus, one of his predecessors in that kingdom,
desired the same before him; he also communicated that his desire to his namesake
Amenophis, who was the son of Papis, and one that seemed to partake of a divine nature,
both as to wisdom and the knowledge of futurities." Manethe adds, "how this
namesake of his told him that he might see the gods, if he would clear the whole country
of the lepers and of the other impure people; that the king was pleased with this
injunction, and got together all that had any defect in their bodies out of Egypt; and
that their number was eighty thousand; whom he sent to those quarries which are on the
east side of the Nile, that they might work in them, and might be separated from the rest
of the Egyptians." He says further, that "there were some of the learned priests
that were polluted with the leprosy; but that still this Amenophis, the wise man and the
prophet, was afraid that the gods would be angry at him and at the king, if there should
appear to have been violence offered them; who also added this further, [out of his
sagacity about futurities,] that certain people would come to the assistance of these
polluted wretches, and would conquer Egypt, and keep it in their possession thirteen
years; that, however, he durst not tell the king of these things, but that he left a
writing behind him about all those matters, and then slew himself, which made the king
disconsolate." After which he writes thus verbatim: "After those that were sent
to work in the quarries had continued in that miserable state for a long while, the king
was desired that he would set apart the city Avaris, which was then left desolate of the
shepherds, for their habitation and protection; which desire he granted them. Now this
city, according to the ancient theology, was Typho's city. But when these men were gotten
into it, and found the place fit for a revolt, they appointed themselves a ruler out of
the priests of Hellopolis, whose name was Osarsiph, and they took their oaths that they
would be obedient to him in all things. He then, in the first place, made this law for
them, That they should neither worship the Egyptian gods, nor should abstain from any one
of those sacred animals which they have in the highest esteem, but kill and destroy them
all; that they should join themselves to nobody but to those that were of this
confederacy. When he had made such laws as these, and many more such as were mainly
opposite to the customs of the Egyptians, (23) he gave order that they should use the
multitude of the hands they had in building walls about their City, and make themselves
ready for a war with king Amenophis, while he did himself take into his friendship the
other priests, and those that were polluted with them, and sent ambassadors to those
shepherds who had been driven out of the land by Tefilmosis to the city called Jerusalem;
whereby he informed them of his own affairs, and of the state of those others that had
been treated after such an ignominious manner, and desired that they would come with one
consent to his assistance in this war against Egypt. He also promised that he would, in
the first place, bring them back to their ancient city and country Avaris, and provide a
plentiful maintenance for their multitude; that he would protect them and fight for them
as occasion should require, and would easily reduce the country under their dominion.
These shepherds were all very glad of this message, and came away with alacrity all
together, being in number two hundred thousand men; and in a little time they came to
Avaris. And now Amenophis the king of Egypt, upon his being informed of their invasion,
was in great confusion, as calling to mind what Amenophis, the son of Papis, had foretold
him; and, in the first place, he assembled the multitude of the Egyptians, and took
counsel with their leaders, and sent for their sacred animals to him, especially for those
that were principally worshipped in their temples, and gave a particular charge to the
priests distinctly, that they should hide the images of their gods with the utmost care he
also sent his son Sethos, who was also named Ramesses, from his father Rhampses, being but
five years old, to a friend of his. He then passed on with the rest of the Egyptians,
being three hundred thousand of the most warlike of them, against the enemy, who met them.
Yet did he not join battle with them; but thinking that would be to fight against the
gods, he returned back and came to Memphis, where he took Apis and the other sacred
animals which he had sent for to him, and presently marched into Ethiopia, together with
his whole army and multitude of Egyptians; for the king of Ethiopia was under an
obligation to him, on which account he received him, and took care of all the multitude
that was with him, while the country supplied all that was necessary for the food of the
men. He also allotted cities and villages for this exile, that was to be from its
beginning during those fatally determined thirteen years. Moreover, he pitched a camp for
his Ethiopian army, as a guard to king Amenophis, upon the borders of Egypt. And this was
the state of things in Ethiopia. But for the people of Jerusalem, when they came down
together with the polluted Egyptians, they treated the men in such a barbarous manner,
that those who saw how they subdued the forementioned country, and the horrid wickedness
they were guilty of, thought it a most dreadful thing; for they did not only set the
cities and villages on fire but were not satisfied till they had been guilty of sacrilege,
and destroyed the images of the gods, and used them in roasting those sacred animals that
used to be worshipped, and forced the priests and prophets to be the executioners and
murderers of those animals, and then ejected them naked out of the country. It was also
reported that the priest, who ordained their polity and their laws, was by birth of
Hellopolls, and his name Osarsiph, from Osyris, who was the god of Hellopolls; but that
when he was gone over to these people, his name was changed, and he was called
Moses."
27. This is what the Egyptians relate about the
Jews, with much more, which I omit for the sake of brevity. But still Manetho goes on,
that "after this, Amenophis returned back from Ethiopia with a great army, as did his
son Ahampses with another army also, and that both of them joined battle with the
shepherds and the polluted people, and beat them, and slew a great many of them, and
pursued them to the bounds of Syria." These and the like accounts are written by
Manetho. But I will demonstrate that he trifles, and tells arrant lies, after I have made
a distinction which will relate to what I am going to say about him; for this Manetho had
granted and confessed that this nation was not originally Egyptian, but that they had come
from another country, and subdued Egypt, and then went away again out of it. But that.
those Egyptians who were thus diseased in their bodies were not mingled with us afterward,
and that Moses who brought the people out was not one of that company, but lived many
generations earlier, I shall endeavor to demonstrate from Manetho's own accounts
themselves.
28. Now, for the first occasion of this fiction,
Manetho supposes what is no better than a ridiculous thing; for he says that" king
Amenophis desired to see the gods." What gods, I pray, did he desire to see? If he
meant the gods whom their laws ordained to be worshipped, the ox, the goat, the crocodile,
and the baboon, he saw them already; but for the heavenly gods, how could he see them, and
what should occasion this his desire? To be sure? it was because another king before him
had already seen them. He had then been informed what sort of gods they were, and after
what manner they had been seen, insomuch that he did not stand in need of any new artifice
for obtaining this sight. However, the prophet by whose means the king thought to compass
his design was a wise man. If so, how came he not to know that such his desire was
impossible to be accomplished? for the event did not succeed. And what pretense could
there be to suppose that the gods would not be seen by reason of the people's maims in
their bodies, or leprosy? for the gods are not angry at the imperfection of bodies, but at
wicked practices; and as to eighty thousand lepers, and those in an ill state also, how is
it possible to have them gathered together in one day? nay, how came the king not to
comply with the prophet? for his injunction was, that those that were maimed should be
expelled out of Egypt, while the king only sent them to work in the quarries, as if he
were rather in want of laborers, than intended to purge his country. He says further,
that" this prophet slew himself, as foreseeing the anger of the gods, and those
events which were to come upon Egypt afterward; and that he left this prediction for the
king in writing." Besides, how came it to pass that this prophet did not foreknow his
own death at the first? nay, how came he not to contradict the king in his desire to see
the gods immediately? how came that unreasonable dread upon him of judgments that were not
to happen in his lifetime? or what worse thing could he suffer, out of the fear of which
he made haste to kill himself? But now let us see the silliest thing of all: - The king,
although he had been informed of these things, and terrified with the fear of what was to
come, yet did not he even then eject these maimed people out of his country, when it had
been foretold him that he was to clear Egypt of them; but, as Manetho says, "he then,
upon their request, gave them that city to inhabit, which had formerly belonged to the
shepherds, and was called Avaris; whither when they were gone in crowds," he says,
"they chose one that had formerly been priest of Hellopolls; and that this priest
first ordained that they should neither worship the gods, nor abstain from those animals
that were worshipped by the Egyptians, but should kill and eat them all, and should
associate with nobody but those that had conspired with them; and that he bound the
multitude by oaths to be sure to continue in those laws; and that when he had built a wall
about Avaris, he made war against the king." Manetho adds also, that "this
priest sent to Jerusalem to invite that people to come to his assistance, and promised to
give them Avaris; for that it had belonged to the forefathers of those that were coming
from Jerusalem, and that when they were come, they made a war immediately against the
king, and got possession of all Egypt." He says also that "the Egyptians came
with an army of two hundred thousand men, and that Amenophis, the king of Egypt, not
thinking that he ought to fight against the gods, ran away presently into Ethiopia, and
committed Apis and certain other of their sacred animals to the priests, and commanded
them to take care of preserving them." He says further, that" the people of
Jerusalem came accordingly upon the Egyptians, and overthrew their cities, and burnt their
temples, and slew their horsemen, and, in short, abstained from no sort of wickedness nor
barbarity; and for that priest who settled their polity and their laws," he
says," he was by birth of Hellopolis, and his name was Osarsiph, from Osyris the god
of Hellopolis, but that he changed his name, and called himself Moses." He then says
that "on the thirteenth year afterward, Amenophis, according to the fatal time of the
duration of his misfortunes, came upon them out of Ethiopia with a great army, and joining
battle with the shepherds and with the polluted people, overcame them in battle, and slew
a great many of them, and pursued them as far as the bounds of Syria."
29. Now Manetho does not reflect upon the
improbability of his lie; for the leprous people, and the multitude that was with them,
although they might formerly have been angry at the king, and at those that had treated
them so coarsely, and this according to the prediction of the prophet; yet certainly, when
they were come out of the mines, and had received of the king a city, and a country, they
would have grown milder towards him. However, had they ever so much hated him in
particular, they might have laid a private plot against himself, but would hardly have
made war against all the Egyptians; I mean this on the account of the great kindred they
who were so numerous must have had among them. Nay still, if they had resolved to fight
with the men, they would not have had impudence enough to fight with their gods; nor would
they have ordained laws quite contrary to those of their own country, and to those in
which they had been bred up themselves. Yet are we beholden to Manethe, that he does not
lay the principal charge of this horrid transgression upon those that came from Jerusalem,
but says that the Egyptians themselves were the most guilty, and that they were their
priests that contrived these things, and made the multitude take their oaths for doing so.
But still how absurd is it to suppose that none of these people's own relations or friends
should be prevailed with to revolt, nor to undergo the hazards of war with them, while
these polluted people were forced to send to Jerusalem, and bring their auxiliaries from
thence! What friendship, I pray, or what relation was there formerly between them that
required this assistance? On the contrary, these people were enemies, and greatly differed
from them in their customs. He says, indeed, that they complied immediately, upon their
praising them that they should conquer Egypt; as if they did not themselves very well know
that country out of which they had been driven by force. Now had these men been in want,
or lived miserably, perhaps they might have undertaken so hazardous an enterprise; but as
they dwelt in a happy city, and had a large country, and one better than Egypt itself, how
came it about that, for the sake of those that had of old been their enemies, of those
that were maimed in their bodies, and of those whom none of their own relations would
endure, they should run such hazards in assisting them? For they could not foresee that
the king would run away from them: on the contrary, he saith himself that
"Amenophis's son had three hundred thousand men with him, and met them at
Pelusium." Now, to be sure, those that came could not be ignorant of this; but for
the king's repentance and flight, how could they possibly guess at it? He then says, that
"those who came from Jerusalem, and made this invasion, got the granaries of Egypt
into their possession, and perpetrated many of the most horrid actions there." And
thence he reproaches them, as though he had not himself introduced them as enemies, or as
though he might accuse such as were invited from another place for so doing, when the
natural Egyptians themselves had done the same things before their coming, and had taken
oaths so to do. However, "Amenophis, some time afterward, came upon them, and
conquered them in battle, and slew his enemies, and drove them before him as far as
Syria." As if Egypt were so easily taken by people that came from any place
whatsoever, and as if those that had conquered it by war, when they were informed that
Amenophis was alive, did neither fortify the avenues out of Ethiopia into it, although
they had great advantages for doing it, nor did get their other forces ready for their
defense! but that he followed them over the sandy desert, and slew them as far as Syria;
while yet it is rot an easy thing for an army to pass over that country, even without
fighting.
30. Our nation, therefore, according to Manetho,
was not derived from Egypt, nor were any of the Egyptians mingled with us. For it is to be
supposed that many of the leprous and distempered people were dead in the mines, since
they had been there a long time, and in so ill a condition; many others must be dead in
the battles that happened afterward, and more still in the last battle and flight after
it.
31. It now remains that I debate with Manetho
about Moses. Now the Egyptians acknowledge him to have been a wonderful and a divine
person; nay, they would willingly lay claim to him themselves, though after a most abusive
and incredible manner, and pretend that he was of Heliopolis, and one of the priests of
that place, and was ejected out of it among the rest, on account of his leprosy; although
it had been demonstrated out of their records that he lived five hundred and eighteen
years earlier, and then brought our forefathers out of Egypt into the country that is now
inhabited by us. But now that he was not subject in his body to any such calamity, is
evident from what he himself tells us; for he forbade those that had the leprosy either to
continue in a city, or to inhabit in a village, but commanded that they should go about by
themselves with their clothes rent; and declares that such as either touch them, or live
under the same roof with them, should be esteemed unclean; nay, more, if any one of their
disease be healed, and he recover his natural constitution again, he appointed them
certain purifications, and washings with spring water, and the shaving off all their hair,
and enjoins that they shall offer many sacrifices, and those of several kinds, and then at
length to be admitted into the holy city; although it were to be expected that, on the
contrary, if he had been under the same calamity, he should have taken care of such
persons beforehand, and have had them treated after a kinder manner, as affected with a
concern for those that were to be under the like misfortunes with himself. Nor ;was it
only those leprous people for whose sake he made these laws, but also for such as should
be maimed in the smallest part of their body, who yet are not permitted by him to
officiate as priests; nay, although any priest, already initiated, should have such a
calamity fall upon him afterward, he ordered him to be deprived of his honor of
officiating. How can it then be supposed that Moses should ordain such laws against
himself, to his own reproach and damage who so ordained them? Nor indeed is that other
notion of Manetho at all probable, wherein he relates the change of his name, and says
that "he was formerly called Osarsiph;" and this a name no way agreeable to the
other, while his true name was Mosses, and signifies a person who is preserved out of the
water, for the Egyptians call water Moil. I think, therefore, I have made it sufficiently
evident that Manetho, while he followed his ancient records, did not much mistake the
truth of the history; but that when he had recourse to fabulous stories, without any
certain author, he either forged them himself, without any probability, or else gave
credit to some men who spake so out of their ill-will to us.
32. And now I have done with Manetho, I will
inquire into what Cheremon says. For he also, when he pretended to write the Egyptian
history, sets down the same name for this king that Manetho did, Amenophis, as also of his
son Ramesses, and then goes on thus: "The goddess Isis appeared to Amenophis in his
sleep, and blamed him that her temple had been demolished in the war. But that
Phritiphantes, the sacred scribe, said to him, that in case he would purge Egypt of the
men that had pollutions upon them, he should be no longer troubled. with such frightful
apparitions. That Amenophis accordingly chose out two hundred and fifty thousand of those
that were thus diseased, and cast them out of the country: that Moses and Joseph were
scribes, and Joseph was a sacred scribe; that their names were Egyptian originally; that
of Moses had been Tisithen, and that of Joseph, Peteseph: that these two came to Pelusium,
and lighted upon three hundred and eighty thousand that had been left there by Amenophis,
he not being willing to carry them into Egypt; that these scribes made a league of
friendship with them, and made with them an expedition against Egypt: that Amenophis could
not sustain their attacks, but fled into Ethiopia, and left his wife with child behind
him, who lay concealed in certain caverns, and there brought forth a son, whose name was
Messene, and who, when he was grown up to man's estate, pursued the Jews into Syria, being
about two hundred thousand, and then received his father Amenophis out of Ethiopia."
33. This is the account Cheremon gives us. Now I
take it for granted that what I have said already hath plainly proved the falsity of both
these narrations; for had there been any real truth at the bottom, it was impossible they
should so greatly disagree about the particulars. But for those that invent lies, what
they write will easily give us very different accounts, while they forge what they please
out of their own heads. Now Manetho says that the king's desire of seeing the gods was the
origin of the ejection of the polluted people; but Cheremon feigns that it was a dream of
his own, sent upon him by Isis, that was the occasion of it. Manetho says that the person
who foreshowed this purgation of Egypt to the king was Amenophis; but this man says it was
Phritiphantes. As to the numbers of the multitude that were expelled, they agree
exceedingly well (24) the former reckoning them eighty thousand, and the latter about two
hundred and fifty thousand! Now, for Manetho, he describes those polluted persons as sent
first to work in the quarries, and says that the city Avaris was given them for their
habitation. As also he relates that it was not till after they had made war with the rest
of the Egyptians, that they invited the people of Jerusalem to come to their assistance;
while Cheremon says only that they were gone out of Egypt, and lighted upon three hundred
and eighty thousand men about Pelusium, who had been left there by Amenophis, and so they
invaded Egypt with them again; that thereupon Amenophis fled into Ethiopia. But then this
Cheremon commits a most ridiculous blunder in not informing us who this army of so many
ten thousands were, or whence they came; whether they were native Egyptians, or whether
they came from a foreign country. Nor indeed has this man, who forged a dream from Isis
about the leprous people, assigned the reason why the king would not bring them into
Egypt. Moreover, Cheremon sets down Joseph as driven away at the same time with Moses, who
yet died four generations (25) before Moses, which four generations make almost one
hundred and seventy years. Besides all this, Ramesses, the son of Amenophis, by Manetho's
account, was a young man, and assisted his father in his war, and left the country at the
same time with him, and fled into Ethiopia. But Cheremon makes him to have been born in a
certain cave, after his father was dead, and that he then overcame the Jews in battle, and
drove them into Syria, being in number about two hundred thousand. O the levity of the
man! for he had neither told us who these three hundred and eighty thousand were, nor how
the four hundred and thirty thousand perished; whether they fell in war, or went over to
Ramesses. And, what is the strangest of all, it is not possible to learn out of him who
they were whom he calls Jews, or to which of these two parties he applies that
denomination, whether to the two hundred and fifty thousand leprous people, or to the
three hundred and eighty thousand that were about Pelusium. But perhaps it will be looked
upon as a silly thing in me to make any larger confutation of such writers as sufficiently
confute themselves; for had they been only confuted by other men, it had been more
tolerable.
34. I shall now add to these accounts about
Manethoand Cheremon somewhat about Lysimachus, who hath taken the same topic of falsehood
with those forementioned, but hath gone far beyond them in the incredible nature of his
forgeries; which plainly demonstrates that he contrived them out of his virulent hatred of
our nation. His words are these: "The people of the Jews being leprous and scabby,
and subject to certain other kinds of distempers, in the days of Bocchoris, king of Egypt,
they fled to the temples, and got their food there by begging: and as the numbers were
very great that were fallen under these diseases, there arose a scarcity in Egypt.
Hereupon Bocehoris, the king of Egypt, sent some to consult the oracle of [Jupiter] Hammon
about his scarcity. The god's answer was this, that he must purge his temples of impure
and impious men, by expelling them out of those temples into desert places; but as to the
scabby and leprous people, he must drown them, and purge his temples, the sun having an
indignation at these men being suffered to live; and by this means the land will bring
forth its fruits. Upon Bocchoris's having received these oracles, he called for their
priests, and the attendants upon their altars, and ordered them to make a collection of
the impure people, and to deliver them to the soldiers, to carry them away into the
desert; but to take the leprous people, and wrap them in sheets of lead, and let them down
into the sea. Hereupon the scabby and leprous people were drowned, and the rest were
gotten together, and sent into desert places, in order to be exposed to destruction. In
this case they assembled themselves together, and took counsel what they should do, and
determined that, as the night was coming on, they should kindle fires and lamps, and keep
watch; that they also should fast the next night, and propitiate the gods, in order to
obtain deliverance from them. That on the next day there was one Moses, who advised them
that they should venture upon a journey, and go along one road till they should come to
places fit for habitation: that he charged them to have no kind regards for any man, nor
give good counsel to any, but always to advise them for the worst; and to overturn all
those temples and altars of the gods they should meet with: that the rest commended what
he had said with one consent, and did what they had resolved on, and so traveled over the
desert. But that the difficulties of the journey being over, they came to a country
inhabited, and that there they abused the men, and plundered and burnt their temples; and
then came into that land which is called Judea, and there they built a city, and dwelt
therein, and that their city was named Hierosyla, from this their robbing of the temples;
but that still, upon the success they had afterwards, they in time changed its
denomination, that it might not be a reproach to them, and called the city Hierosolyma,
and themselves Hierosolymites."
35. Now this man did not discover and mention the
same king with the others, but feigned a newer name, and passing by the dream and the
Egyptian prophet, he brings him to [Jupiter] Hammon, in order to gain oracles about the
scabby and leprous people; for he says that the multitude of Jews were gathered together
at the temples. Now it is uncertain whether he ascribes this name to these lepers, or to
those that were subject to such diseases among the Jews only; for he describes them as a
people of the Jews. What people does he mean? foreigners, or those of that country? Why
then' dost thou call them Jews, if they were Egyptians? But if they were foreigners, why
dost thou not tell us whence they came? And how could it be that, after the king had
drowned many of them in the sea, and ejected the rest into desert places, there should be
still so great a multitude remaining? Or after what manner did they pass over the desert,
and get the land which we now dwell in, and build our city, and that temple which hath
been so famous among all mankind? And besides, he ought to have spoken more about our
legislator than by giving us his bare name; and to have informed us of what nation he was,
and what parents he was derived from; and to have assigned the reasons why he undertook to
make such laws concerning the gods, and concerning matters of injustice with regard to men
during that journey. For in case the people were by birth Egyptians, they would not on the
sudden have so easily changed the customs of their country; and in case they had been
foreigners, they had for certain some laws or other which had been kept by them from long
custom. It is true, that with regard to those who had ejected them, they might have sworn
never to bear good-will to them, and might have had a plausible reason for so doing. But
if these men resolved to wage an implacable war against all men, in case they had acted as
wickedly as he relates of them, and this while they wanted the assistance of all men, this
demonstrates a kind of mad conduct indeed; but not of the men themselves, but very greatly
so of him that tells such lies about them. He hath also impudence enough to say that a
name, implying "Robbers of the temples," (26) was given to their city, and that
this name was afterward changed. The reason of which is plain, that the former name
brought reproach and hatred upon them in the times of their posterity, while, it seems,
those that built the city thought they did honor to the city by giving it such a name. So
we see that this fine fellow had such an unbounded inclination to reproach us, that he did
not understand that robbery of temples is not expressed By the same word and name among
the Jews as it is among the Greeks. But why should a man say any more to a person who
tells such impudent lies? However, since this book is arisen to a competent length, I will
make another beginning, and endeavor to add what still remains to perfect my design in the
following book.
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