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The Chronicles
of the Kings of Israel and
the Kings of the Nations
R. Abraham, son of R. Samuel
Zacuto, may his soul rest in Paradise, said that
knowledge of what happened to each nation at different
times gives us strength and faith in the power of
Blessed God, in His attention to the affairs of mortals,
in reward and retribution and in the deep roots of the
Torah (e.g. Generation of the Flood and similar events:
earthquakes and fires; the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah and Herod, and especially all that happened to
the People of Israel, like the earth swallowing up
Dathan and Abiram and other miracles).[2]
The Holy Scripture says: ‘Remember the olden days.When
the Lord Most High gave nations their inheritance, when
He divided all mankind, the Lord’s portion is His
people.[3]
Israel needs to know about Christians if we are to
argue their religion with them. Therefore I mention some
people of alien faith, who otherwise would not be
mentioned (for instance their ‘saints’). The Holy
Scripture also mentions evildoers and heathens who
deserve no mention. This was necessary to inform us of
our great advantage. God forbid, do not think that, like
our Holy Scripture, all is truth in what they wrote in
their history books and that I quote. Know that ‘their
mouths are full of lies, their right hands are
deceitful’.[4]
I have seen many of the events recorded in their
chronicles and they are incorrect. They also lie about
events of old, days of old and their miracles. They
further lie in their calculation of time and years when
they say that a given event took place since the
Creation. There is a discrepancy of 1,439 years; in our
count the year is [AM] 5264 [AD 1504], and by theirs,
the year is [AM] 6703. Be that as it may, they wrote of
some events retold in the BT, PT and Midrash. They
supply many details about, for instance, King [Bar]
Koziba, the years of Titus the Evil, the affairs of
Hadrian the Oppressor (the era of the Bethar and the Ten
Martyrs) and after him, Antoninus the Good[5],
his era and that of his good brother as well as many
other affairs. All of them rely upon Joseph Ben Gorion
the Priest[6],
though I do not. He tends to exaggerate and magnify
while his calculations do not fit the simple meaning of
Scripture. While taking this into account, [I intend] to
satisfy the desires of the sons of our nation who wish
to know everything they wrote, I mean, the general
affairs of what happened in Jerusalem and in Palestine,
Italy, Greece, Egypt, Babylonia and Turkey as well as
places cited in the Scripture and populated by
Israelites, such as ‘Crowned Tyre’ (in the language of
Christians), only a day’s walk from Acre, quite near
Sidon and Palestine. In olden days, Phoenicians lived
there. Thus, many were misled to believe that Venice was
Tyre.[7]
Likewise, people mistake Tunis for Tarshish, which is
[actually] called Tarsus. Aruch writes in the
entry Tarsus, ‘boats of Tarshish’ -
of Tarsus, or Malamestaras, or Turtus, close to Aleppo
of our time, located to the east of Palestine.[8]
As for such details about Spain, and France, and
Germany, we left out all irrelevancies.
Many
things admitted by the Nations could be of use, as they
may have found them in the old books of the sages of
Israel. For our sins in this long Exile and many
persecutions, we lost [books] such as the astronomy
works of the sons of Issachar, books of medicine and the
wisdom of Nature compiled by [King] Solomon, pbuh, or
about trees, stones, plants, the influence of stars and
most ancient history.[9]
The true prophets (Nathan the Prophet, Isaiah, and
others in the Prophets [in the Bible]) were much engaged
[in mundane science and history] and usefully so. Even
in the days of Our Master Moses, pbuh, there was the
Book of Lord’s Wars and Joshua
[compiled] the Book of Jashar. Let
us leave the exegesis in peace. The Chronicles
of the Kings of Israel,
which are not found among us, hold tales that bring
comfort and introduce fear of God into the hearts [of
listeners]. On the Day of Atonement, they have read
before the High Priest from the Chronicles, Job, Ezra
and Daniel. Rashi explained: [they have read] stories
that attract and cheer, in order not to fall asleep.
Rambam of blessed memory explained: those were stories
and calculations of times past, to cheer the soul, so
they would not fall asleep. That was the source for all
Gentile kings to learn how to compile chronicles. Thus
Ahasuerus recorded that he was saved by Mordecai. Its
usefulness is obvious. Thus I compiled it together with
the Book of Saints, (this is the Book of Lineage [Yohassin],
which I wrote of the holy sages of Israel), in order to
tell all that happened since the Creation, to [explain]
the difference between us and the history books of alien
nations and to separate wheat from chaff.
In the
beginning, God created the universe and on the sixth day
He created Adam from red dust. He was called Adam
because Adama means ‘earth’, the earth is close
to man’s nature; and his wife was Eve; and Adam became
father of 60 sons.
Know
that, according to the Scripture, to the [Greek
translation of the] 70 Elders who translated the
Scripture for Ptolemy, and to [the Latin translation of]
Jerome, may his name perish (he is the one who
translated the Scripture into Latin), that 1,756 years
passed from the Creation until the Flood. Isidore says
2,242 years while Augustine, may his name perish, says
2,262 years. Thus the author relied upon Isidore’s
calculations, as they say Jesus the Nazarene was born in
AM 5199 and in AM 3760 by Jewish count. The discrepancy
is 1,439 years. They say Cain was born in AM 15, while
Abel his brother was born in AM 30; Seth was born in 130
and he started to learn the movements of heavens. Enosh
[was born in] 435; Kenan, in 625. Enosh started to make
images so that people would remember the Creator and it
was a mistake in means. Mehalalel was born in 795;
Jared, in 960 and Enoch, in 1502. He fought the evil
sons of Cain. In the Book of Joshua Ben Sirah, which is
added to the Holy books, it states that Enoch lived in
the Garden of Eden on Earth together with Elijah.
Methuselah was born in 1287. It is generally agreed that
he died in the first week of the Flood. It occurred in
AM 2640, by their count. The Giants [Anakim] who lived
in the days of Noah and Lamech were evil. Noah fled the
Giants as they scared him. The Gentiles interpreted the
words of the Scripture that ‘his days will be 120 years’
as Onkelos did, that Noah was 480 when the Lord spoke to
him and that the Lord gave 120 years [for people to
repent].[10]
If they did not repent, He would send the Flood. During
these 120 years, Noah built the Ark. The length of the
Ark was 300 cubits and each of their cubits was like six
of ours. Maybe he learned this from the angel that
brought him the measure for the Temple.
That was the measure of the primary cubit created by
God, and it is like six of our cubits. I mean six cubits
and an inch, though they said ‘little finger' instead of
inch. The Ark rested atop Mount Ararat in Armenia, the
highest mountain there. There Noah and his sons emerged
from the Ark. That is the First Era.
From the
Flood until Abraham’s birth was the Second Era,
292 years by Jewish count and 942 years by other count.
Some think it was 652 years. That is according to
Isidore, perish the evils’ name. According to Augustine,
perish the evils’ name, it was 1,072 years. In his book
he gave the reason for the change, that they added 100
years of life to each generation from Arphaxad on, and
40 years as well. There were 11 generations from Noah
till Abraham. When Noah planted his vineyard, he poured
some blood of lion, pig, lamb and monkey as a sign for
wine drinkers. Our sages of blessed memory mentioned
that he begat sons and daughters after the Flood [as
well]. He had a fourth son named Yoniko [Jonitus[12]]
who was very wise. After the Flood [Yoniko] began to
study astronomy and taught it to the whole world, namely
to the four kingdoms from East to West. He taught Nimrod
how to become ruler over the sons of Ham. Noah’s kin
consisted of 72 families; the sons of Japheth, 15; those
of Ham, 32; and of Shem, 27 or 28. The sons of Japheth
were in Europe, one third of the known world, from
Portugal and Castile, to Turkey in Great Asia, where lie
the lands of Israel and Babylon.[13]
Lusitania is Portugal. In all those places dwelt Gomer
and Magog, [their sons] are the Godosh [Goths], rulers
of Castile. Javan [Ionia] is Greece and Constantinople
and their land is part of Turkey in Asia. Tubal is
Sepharad.[14]
Further away is Cappadocia Caesarea, close to Armenia;
in the middle flows the river Euphrates. There is a big
city called Silkia [Cilicia?]. [The Sons of] Tiras are
strong.[15]
The kingdom of Thrace appears populated by Hungarians.
Ashkenaz is Bohemia. [The Sons of] Riphath are Trojans,
of a small kingdom in Asia.[16]
They came to Italy and built the city of Venice,
originally named Benicia after Aeneas Benito. Togarmah
is Turliya or Turkey. Tarshish is in Asia and called the
capital of Syria [Aram].[17]
Elisha is the Hellespont Isles.[18]
It is an island, as it is written in Ezekiel, ‘from the
isles [coasts] of Elisha’.[19]
Kittim is Chethema or Gifri or Kabris [Cyprus]; it has
the nature of a harlot, thus they worship Noga [Venus].
Dodanim is Rhodes, and Rodanim [with ‘R’] is the
same place.[20]
They say
that Shem son of Noah is Melchizedek and he built Salem,
which is Jerusalem.[21]
Arphaxad was born two years after the Flood in 2244.
Shelah was born in 2379. Eber was born in 2509. Because
of his name, the Jews are called Eberim [Ivrim,
Hebrews]. Nimrod was a descendant of Anakim [the
Giants]; he was evil and revolted against God. He
advised people to build the Tower and gathered them
together in Babylon. Peleg [=Division] was born in 2643;
the day he was born, the Earth was divided.[22]
Our Sages of blessed memory said it was in the end of
his days.
In the
Kingdom of Scythia, or Tartaria, there is Kefa [Kiev].
Their first king was Tino [Tanaus[23]]
and the river [Tanais = Don] is named after him. Half of
the Sea de la Tino [Azov Sea] is in Europe and half is
in Asia. It does not belong to any of the four parts of
the world, for they are Barbarians, meaning people
without good qualities who do not understand justice.[24]
In Tartaria, or Scythia, there are Amazons who inhabit
the Kingdom of women; they cut off a breast each to
fight better. In the days of Reu, the Amazons lived
between Scythia and Alboneses, close to Alemania
[Germany].[25]
As they count, [it was] in AM 2773. ‘Amazons’ means ‘no
breasts’.
In the
days of Reu the Kingdom of Egypt was established, and
the first king was Shoresh [Soros]. That is Africa. Then
Bohemia was founded, it was named after their king
Bohemio; he came in the days of Division. Their capital
is Prague. There were Amazons, three sisters[26];
the youngest of them married and since then men began to
enslave them. Serug was born in 2905.[27]
Twenty-five years later, the Kingdom of Syria was
founded (2930). To the east of Syria lays the Euphrates;
to the west, Egypt; to the north, Armenia, and to the
South, Arabia; there are Damascus, Palestine and
Babylon. Their first king was Bilus Nimrod, he was evil
and made an idol named after himself, ‘Bel’, but in his
days it was gone.
Nahor was
born in 3035 and Tubal, in 3109, and he founded Hispania
[Spain] and Lusitania, which is Portugal and Taragon,
which is Aragon.[28],
[29] Terah was born in 3114; he
begat Abraham, Nahor and Haran. Haran begat Lot, Sarah
and Milcah. Nahor and Abraham married daughters of Haran
in Haran. Haran is in the Mesopotamian Kingdom in Aram
Naharaim.[30]
At first they were in the Chaldean kingdom, in the city
called Ur. Mesopotamia is in the middle of Tigri, to the
east of it flows the river Tigris and to the west - the
river Euphrates, to the south - Babylonia and to the
North, Caucasus.
Parush
was the first king of Syria (3141). Some people identify
him with Ham, son of Noah.
The
Third Era runs from
Abraham until King David, pbuh (940 by Jewish count; 941
by Isidore’s). Abraham was born in 1948 [1815 BC]
according to Jews and in 3184 [2015 BC] according to the
author that relies on Isidore. The discrepancy is 1,039
years. It is said that Abraham reigned in Damascus. When
there was a famine in Palestine, he moved to Egypt. The
pharaoh took his wife and God immediately inflicted
serious suffering upon him. His priests told him it was
his fault for he had taken a wife of a stranger. They
knew he was a great sage. At that time, Egypt had no
wisdom at all. The pharaoh asked [Abraham] to teach
astronomy and mathematics, and he taught everybody. They
say Isaac was offered to God when he was 25 years old; a
Midrash says[31]
he was 40. Rebecca was 13 or 15 years old. Some of our
sages of blessed memory say[32]
he was 37. It is strange, as Rebecca was three, at that
time. According to Abraham ibn Ezra[33],
Isaac was 13 and [like a] slave to his father when he
was offered by his father. Nowhere did we find the merit
[of the offering] ascribed to anyone but Abraham our
forefather. If Isaac were 37, it would be suitable to
ascribe merit to him, but God [alone] knows the truth.
Jupiter
reigned in Year 37 of Abraham. Then people began to
worship stars. Sodom and Gomorrah sank in Year 99 of
Abraham (3283). By their count, Isaac was born in 3284,
one year after the sinking of Sodom. Crete is Candia, in
the Peloponnesian Sea near Uzzon (3313). Some say that
Candia is in the middle of the earth. There is music and
other good things. Abraham married Keturah in 3321 when
Sarah died.[34]
Our sages of blessed memory said[35]
he married her after Isaac’s marriage, and so it seems
from the Scripture. [Of the sons of] sons of Keturah was
Epher; he moved to Africa and as his name is Epher, it
was called Africa.[36]
Minerva
is Tritona (Year 58 of Isaac; AM 3342); she was wise,
performed miracles, and they worshipped her as goddess,
deusa. She established the lore of war and
theoretical mathematics. Diana, daughter of Jupiter and
sister of the Sun, was worshipped as goddess. In Year 60
of Isaac, when Jacob was born, King Iniko began to reign
in Tisria, a part of Greece, that is Javan. The river
has been named after him. Jacob was born in AM 3345. In
Year 91 of Jacob, Joseph was born. A wise woman named
Ceres married the king of Sicily in AM 3400, that is
Year 25 of Jacob, and she instructed people to plough
with oxen, to plant seeds and to bake bread from wheat.
Before that, people ate meat and suchlike. She was like
a goddess for them and they called her Proserpine, the
goddess of fertility.[37]
Sicily was called Sicula. In 3408, Tisria was founded,
it is in Javan [Greece]. In Year 75 of Jacob, he took
the blessing from Esau and escaped to Laban in Haran in
the kingdom of Mesopotamia (AM 3420). Reuben was born in
AM 3425 and Joseph, in AM 3434.
Jupiter
II vanquished a cannibal king (3448). For this good deed
of killing the evil king, he was called Jupiter, the
[God of] Justice. Rhodes was established in AM 3459.
‘Rhodes’, the native rose in Greek, gave its name to the
island. We mentioned (above) that the name came from
‘Rodanim’. It was built in Year 15 of Joseph. Jacob died
in 3489. Prometheus the Wise (3420) learned astronomy in
the mountains and taught it in the kingdom of Syria.
Then he learned how to get fire from stone. He taught
people to wear a ring on the fourth finger, where there
is a heart blood vessel; so a ring cheers the heart. It
became a custom in Rome; judges and grandees would wear
a ring of gold; others wore rings of silver and slaves,
of iron. Everybody praised this sage. Antares [Atlas]
was a wise man and some people say he was the son of
Prometheus. He was knowledgeable in the theory of
astronomy. He learned astronomy in Greece and people
said that he reached Heaven. He had seven daughters[38];
one of them was called Maia Maio. Maia was the mother of
Mercury and a mistress of Jupiter III. In her honour,
there is the month of May. And the Majas are civilized
women. Merchants worshiped and made sacrifices to
Mercury. In Christian countries, it is a custom to
celebrate the First of May. The days are long and thus
this month is called May, for in the foreign tongue
‘major’ means ‘big’. His second daughter was Ilicata
[Electra?] and his third was Istonofi [Asterope?], who
was the mistress of Martin [Mars?], mother of Aperkon
[Apollo?] and Zilbun [Sylvan?] They say she is forever a
virgin[39].
That is hard for Christians. His fourth, fifth, sixth
and seventh daughters were called Fida. Antares was king
of Tuscany, in Florence and Parma (3610). Then there was
Aspiros [Ascanos?], brother of Antares, who was king of
Hispania and the country was named after him. So they
called Noga [Venus] the star, and it is named after her.
His brother exiled him to Italy.
On the
Captivity of Egypt in 3541, Isidore says it lasted 144
years after the death of Joseph. Augustine, perish his
name, says 141 years. Our sages of blessed memory say
that it was about 140 years, according to the tradition.
There is just a small discrepancy between them: about
four years. It would be good if that were the case for
all other calculations. They say there was a scribe from
Persia at the pharaoh [’s Court]. He foretold that a son
would be born to the Jews, he would humble Egyptians and
elevate Israel. Thus the pharaoh ordered all males put
to death and gave the girls to Egyptians as wives. They
say that, before Moses was born, Amram had had prophetic
dreams that he would have a son who would redeem Israel.
He told the dream to his wife and they rejoiced for it
would reveal the greatness of Israel. When Moses was
born, his father and mother immediately saw the signs,
(namely his beauty and words) and [understood the
prophesy] would be fulfiled. For three months they hid
him before throwing him into the river. Pharaoh’s
daughter named Tamor [Tarmuta] came to the river and
gave the child to Egyptian wet nurses, but the child did
not want to nurse. His sister Miriam told the pharaoh’s
daughter that the child was unused to them, and she
called for a Jewess. She called his mother and named him
Moses, which is an Egyptian composite name, moy,
meaning ‘water’[40]
and she, meaning ‘taken out of’. So says Joseph
b. Gorion, but the Scripture does not say so explicitly.
Asia
Minor extends from Philistines and Syria to India, which
is already Asia Major. It takes its name after the King
Asia. There were four kings named Mercury, some came
before the Flood and some, after. There was also Maia,
as mentioned above. Saturn was a great king in Candia
[Crete] in 3600.
Aaron was
born in AM 3604 and Moses, in AM 3607. At the same time
lived Pluto, who was called the Ruler of Hell for he
disdained wisdom and merely worked the land. He was a
son of Saturn and brother to Jupiter. Negroponte
[Euboea] est. in 3652. The time of Job was before the
Exodus. He belonged to the fifth generation after our
forefather Abraham. He was a descendent of Esau. He was
a king of Edom, [his real name was] Yovav b. Zerah. He
was born of Basra. This was his mother’s name, but
according to the Scripture[41],
this was the name of a city in Edom, south of Palestine.[42]
The time of Job was three years before the Exodus, while
the Exodus was in 3687 [BC 1512]. According to the true
tradition of Israel, [the Exodus was in] AM 2448 [BC
1312], or Year 500 of Abraham, while Abraham was born in
1948. The discrepancy is 1,239 years. Mitolin
[Mytilene], an island near Turkey est. 3690. Janus was
the first king of Italy. He killed a beast named
janus and thus got his name. They say he was Zepho,
son of Eliphaz, grandson of Esau.[43]
He applied to Saturn for he was removed from Candia and
shared with him his kingdom. It was Year 5 of the Exodus
(AM 3692). He gave his name to the month of January; he
is shown with two faces and there were seven rulers by
that name. Janus I was a son of Noah; Janus II, son of
Japheth and Janus III, son of Tubalcain, son of Japheth,
and he was in Milan in Lombardy. As we said, Janus IV
was [he who gave his name to] the month of January. The
fifth was Janus Kreo and Janus VI, the Greek Grino[44]
son of Jupiter who came to Italy with Saturn. Janus VII
was a Trojan who enlarged the city of Genoa, and the
city was established by Nagiano [Genoan], who came from
Egypt, and because of the sea inogid [Ligurian?]
in foreign tongue, Genoa was named after him. Hannibal,
king of Carthage (near Tunis) sacked Genoa. The
Ishmaelites sacked Genoa as well when they entered
Spain.
Korah
rose against Moses, pbuh, in the 22nd year of
Moses’ reign in the desert (AM 3709).[45]
In 30th year of Moses’ reign there was
Hercules, a great astronomer. He had two sons, Sardinio
and Corsico, and the two isles opposite Genoa were named
after them. Israel came to the Land with Joshua in 3727;
Joshua reigned for 27 years. It is close to the opinions
of our sages of blessed memory. The Isle of Sicily was
built by Isiculus (it has the form of a triangle[46]),
three years after Joshua’s death in AM 3721; it was
named Siculo Ascalia[47]
after him. It is called the storehouse of wheat, food,
meat, cheese and all else. Othniel b. Kenaz judged
Israel after Joshua for 40 years (3779). For Phineas the
Hugh Priest (3701), we do not know how long he reigned.
In 3770, the glass mirror was invented. They say the
rape of Benjamin [the Levite’s] mistress in Gibeah took
place in Year 30 of Othniel b. Kenaz.[48]
Ehud b.
Gera judged for 80 years (3800). Trolaya Batikia, a
great city, was founded in 3840 (Year 40 of Ehud). It is
in Asia Major. Regarding Pisolina [Pistoia?] near
Florence in the kingdom of Tuscany, these cities are the
same as Florence and Pisa [and are] against Genoa.
Joseph b. Gorion called it Toscana. Pisolina was founded
in 3842 [BC 1357]. Sibyl was the first prophetess in
Italy (3843). Every woman who foretells the future is
called a sibyl.
Hercules,
the last of that name, was a giant (3845). He killed
snakes as a baby in his crib. He killed the lion and
performed 12 [great] deeds, as written, from the days of
Joshua till the Sack of Troy. That was in Year 3 of
Abdon b. Hillel (AM 4033). Then all Latin languages came
into being. Hapaitas in 3879 [BC 1320].
Deborah
of the tribe of Ephraim, and her husband Barak of the
tribe of Naphtali, judged for 40 years. In Midrash [they
say that] ‘wife of Lapidoth’ [should read] ‘woman of
thunder [barakim] and lightning’.[49]
Those 40 years contain the 40 years of the oppression by
Jabin, the King of Canaan. Thus spoke the sages. Our
Master Asher said[50]
that, because women are not fit to bear witness, neither
are they fit to judge. How then could Deborah judge? He
[gave two possible explanations]: Deborah was different
for they agreed to be judged by her [or] she advised the
judges of Israel by Divine guidance.
Mercury
the last of that name invented the art of harmony, this
is music (3900). Gideon b. Joash judged Israel for 40
years, including seven years of Midianite and Amalekite
oppression (3919). In Year 25 of Gideon, the Trojan War
began (AM 3944). Abimelech, son of Gideon, reigned for
three years. Then came Philemon. He invented the musical
instrument called kodo. Years 3968 and 3961, (at
the end of Abimelech’s reign) there was a great war
between aisentiaros [centaurs] and the men of
Tisiria [Thessaly?] in Javan in Greece. Then all the
centaurs were killed; none of these beasts survived.
Thola b. Puah (3962) reigned for 24 years. Then reigned
Paon, king of Latins in Italy. Priam king of Troy
reigned in the days of Thola b. Puah for 52 years. He
had 60 sons. Aeneas was his nephew. Then there was the
kingdom of Mibia Bara, its borders, or limits were Asia
Misr[51],
which is Damascus, Palestine and the Sea of Ocean, which
is the Sea of Jaffa and Gifri [Cyprus] or Kabris in
Arabic. The kingdom was called Midia after the woman
named Medea. Then Theseus reigned in Athens, the city of
wisdom in Greece, in 3974. He did many good deeds for
his kingdom, and he saved [his city] from their enemies,
like Hercules.
Jair of
Gilead judged Israel for 22 years (AM 4985 by their
count). In that year there was a woman called Nicostrata[52],
who was a witch and wise woman. She killed their wizards
and escaped to a fortress where Rome was about to be
founded. She married a Latin king. She made the Latin
letters for the language they spoke. She made the
alphabet of 19 letters, to which others later added
more. Jephthah of Gilead judged Israel for six years; he
sacrificed his daughter and slaughtered her and it was
against the Blessed God’s will (4007). In 4010 came
Hector, son of the king of Troy, and his son Astenakti
[Astyanax] the Hero. All men of Greece feared him.
Archilios [Achilles] the Greek killed Hector. Then there
was Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons. She taught the
Trojans the art of war against Greeks. That was in 4012.
When she heard about Hector, she desired him and went to
the battlefield of the Greeks to see him (4012). Then
there was a king in Tusria [Thessaly?] in Greece who was
a great astronomer, physician and sage. It was Archilios
[Achilles]; he waged war against Troy and killed Hector.
They asked their oracle when they went to Troy and were
told to go with Irkilos [Achilles].
Ibzan of
Bethlehem judged Israel for seven years (4013). Some
people say he is identical with Boaz who married Ruth.
So say the sages of Gentiles who took it from the words
of our sages of blessed memory[53]
and from the [Aramaic] translation [of the Bible]. That
year the Trojan War began. The king was Priam. The cause
of the war was as follows. The King invited three
beautiful women to a feast. They were called ‘deussos’
[goddesses]. Then, an uninvited woman came in. In order
to annoy them, he sent three apples for the women, with
the best apple intended for the most beautiful woman, in
order to foster hatred among them for they were divided
as to who was the most beautiful.
Elon the
Zebulunite was tenth Judge of Israel. Joseph b. Gorion
called him ‘Akilon’. He judged Israel for ten years. In
the Book it is written that the 70 Elders who translated
the [Scripture] did not write the letter ‘L’. Afterwards
Abdon son of Hillel from Ephraim judged Israel for eight
years (4030). He had 70 sons and 40 warriors. While
those three reigned, times were good and people well
fed, for they worshipped Blessed God. In Year 3 of
Abdon, Troy was sacked by Greeks and ruined forever (AM
4033 by their count[54]).
The Turk called Bene Tomi[55]
said he sought revenge against Greece for the blood of
his native Troy.
The city
of Benevento in the Neapolitan kingdom was founded in
4037; it was called by Piaitas,
Maleventum for 30,000 Romans died there.[57]
It belongs to the pope.
Naples
was founded the same year by the Roman king, while Gaeta
was built by Aeneas. He named the city after his nurse.
It is the most beautiful of towns and the great mother
[of cities]. The city of Icilea was founded in Italy.
Samson son of Manoah judged Israel for 20 years (4038).
In Year 2 of Samson, Ruth the Moabite and Naomi came,
according to Jerome. Samson was the last of judges until
year [40]58. That year died Uzzi b. Bukki b. Abishua b.
Phineas b. Eleazar b. Aaron, the high priest. The high
priesthood went to the seed of Ithamar for 120 years.
Eli was the first and Abiathar was the last, because in
his [Jerome?] opinion, Solomon killed Abiathar and the
high priesthood reverted to descendents of Eleazar,
namely to Zaddok the Priest. Ancona was founded in Italy
in 4051. Eli the [High] Priest judged for 40 years (51).
According to the 70 Elders, who translated for King
Ptolemy [Septuagint], Eli judged 20 years. Padua was
founded near Venice in 81. Out of it rode 120,000
horsemen. Sharbisenti was also built there. That year
began the kings of Zarephath, which is France and it was
called Gallia (4082). Its first king was Franco and thus
the people of Zarephath are called Francos. Lombardy is
called Francia Sizarpina [Cisalpine], including Genoa
and its area; the kingdom Francia Taraspina
[Transalpine] means ‘beyond rocks and mountains’.
The
kingdom of Inglatera [England] began in 83. The first
king was Brutanos, son of the Latin king.[58]
He killed his father the king of Latins by mistake while
hunting in the fields. He escaped from Ililia [Italy?]
to Inglatera [England], the big island in the Western
Sea. It is called Great Britannia in the West. It has
the shape of a triangle, like Sicily. There were Giants
whom he defeated and reigned over them.[59]
The longest day is 17 hours long there. It is a very
rich place, they have gold, wool and hunting dogs. His
mother died at childbirth. Then the Island of Birnia
[Hibernia, Ireland] was founded; there are two sorts of
precious stones, named akatis[60]
and iris[61].
In Year
4093, the Ark was captured. The Prophet Samuel, pbuh,
(98) judged Israel 26 years until 124. There is a
version that he reigned for 40 years, anointed Saul in
his 12th year of reign and Saul judged for 27
years during Samuel’s life. This version is erroneous
for it says afterwards ‘King David - [4]124’. In the
book of Ben Gorion it says that king Saul reigned for 20
years: 18 years in Samuel’s lifetime and what the
Scripture says[62],
two years after Samuel’s death. Aeneas of Troy came to
Italy and became king in 4111. That year Doeg put to the
sword Nob, the town of priests.[63]
The kingdom of Athens fell in 4113 [1086 BC]. Pisa was
founded in [4]193. They are strong at sea. They also
went to sack Jerusalem and took along the columns and
vessels. There is soil from Jerusalem. If a man is
buried there, his flesh disintegrates within three days,
like in the land of Israel. In Rome they also have a
field of Jerusalem soil with the same properties.
The
Fourth Era begins with
King David, pbuh (4194 [1005 BC]). From birth of Abraham
to David’s kingdom, there passed 940 years. Our sages of
blessed memory[64]
explained that 500 years passed from Abraham’s birth to
the Exodus and 480 years passed from the Exodus to
David’s kingdom. Forsooth, King David came in AM 2487
[1273 BC] by Jewish count. He reigned for 40 years. In
Year 13 of David, there was Dido, queen of Tyre. Her
brother killed her husband; she took all her husband’s
riches and went to [found] Carthage in Tunis.[65]
There she bought a field as great as an ox skin could
hold. Then she had shred the skin to pieces and
established [on the ground encircled by the shreds] the
great city of Carthage. On her way from Tyre she visited
Cyprus and took along some girls who worshipped Venus
the star. After she built the city, King [Iarbas, who
had sold her the land] wanted to marry her, but she
refused for she did not wish to be unfaithful to her
husband, though he was dead, and threw herself into the
fire.
Solomon
(4164) reigned for 40 years. He uttered 3,000 proverbs,
equal to the amount of trees in the world[66].
He compiled a book of nature, as well, but today only
three books of Solomon are extant[67].
He cast a spell over the demons, and [with their
assistance] began to build the temple early in his
fourth year of reign. He completed it in his eighth
year, but the Scripture does not record it[68].
Shemaiah the Prophet appeared in Year 15 of Solomon.
[Later he] convinced Rehoboam not to fight Jeroboam.[69]
Iddo, son of Nathan the Prophet, lived at that time as
well (Joseph b. Gorion called him ‘Idan son of Nathan
the Prophet’). By his will, the hand of Jeroboam
shrivelled up.[70]
He ate bread with a false prophet.[71]
A lion killed him.[72]
The Queen of Sheba came to Solomon in his 15th year of
reign (her name was Aqaula).[73]
She crossed the Red Sea with great trouble and travelled
far to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. She brought great
riches and gave Solomon 20,000 weights of gold, nice
perfume, balsam [afarsimon] and other gifts.
Zaddok was from the beginning of Solomon’s kingship and
was the eighth[74]
high priest. Rehoboam reigned for 17 years (4204).
Jeroboam reigned for 22 years (205). Abijah son of
Rehoboam reigned for three years (224). Asa reigned for
41 years (226). Then there was Hanani the Prophet[75].
Nadav b. Jeroboam reigned for two years (288). Baasha,
king of Israel reigned for 22 years (230).
Capua was
founded near Naples in 230. Jehu son of Hanani the
Prophet came in the days of Baasha (247).[76]
Ilah b. Baasha (252). Zimri (203). Jehoshaphat, king of
Judah reigned for 25 years (261). In the 13th
year of Jehoshaphat’s reign, King Tiberio [Tiberinus]
became the tenth king of Latins. He fell into the river
and died. Thus the river of Rome was named the ‘Tiber’
after him. It was previously called the Albula. He left
Agrippa, a son who became the 11th king of
Latins (Year 22 of Jehoshaphat). He reigned for 40 years
and transferred in his lifetime the kingdom to his son
Armolio [Romulus]. [Ahaziah] son of Ahab reigned for two
years (Year 23 of Jehoshaphat). Elijah the Prophet. Some
people identify him with Jonah the Prophet but it seems
wrong for Jonah was a disciple of Elisha. Joram son of
Jehoshaphat reigned for eight years (4290, Year 167 of
David). When he was 40, he married Athaliah, daughter of
Ahab. Jehoram became king of Israel in the same year. He
reigned for 12 years. In his days came the famine in
Samaria, and Elisha was there.[77]
Jehoiada
the High Priest lived 130 years (4299). Jonadab son of
Rahab, son of Jethro the father-in-law of Moses, of good
seed, of the House of Pharisees the Righteous ones: his
sons lived in the time of Jeremiah, they did not plant a
vineyard nor build a house. Year 299.
Ahaziah
king of Judah reigned for one year (4298); Athaliah
reigned for seven years. Jehu king of Israel reigned for
28 years (4303). Hazael was king of Aram and Damascus,
that is Syria, (Year 302). Joash was tenth king of Judah
(4306). Jehoahaz son of Jehu reigned for 17 years (Year
39). Amaziah reigned for 29 years (344). In 362, Elisha
died. The Scripture implies it was Year 36 of Joash,
King of Judah, which was year [4]342. Perhaps this is a
mistake. Jonah followed Elisha. Some people say Jonah
was the son of [the widow of] Zarephath whom Elisha
returned to life. Amos the Prophet prophesied in year
362. Amoz the Prophet, father of Isaiah, lived then.
Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel reigned for 41
years (year 363). Uzziah king of Judah reigned for 52
years (4375). When he entered to burn the incense, there
was an earthquake and a symptom of leprosy broke out on
his forehead.[78]
Know that after Amaziah king of Judah died, Judah had no
king for 13 years. The kingdom of Media was founded in
Year 381. Hosea son of Beeri, Joel and Obadiah the
Prophets flourished (389). The Jews say [Obadiah the
Prophet] is the same Obadiah who was in charge of the
House of Ahab in the days of Elijah. Isaiah the Prophet,
son of Amoz the Prophet, (year 399), was killed by
Manasseh, his relative, as he was sawed together with a
tree. Zechariah reigned for six months (420).
The same
year reigned Aolio Silfo[79],
15th king of Latins. He reigned for 44 years.
He exiled his elder brother[80]
and killed his elder cousin. He seized his niece[81]
and forced her into [Vestal] seclusion but she gave
birth to Romi and Romilo[82].
The brothers killed King Aolio Silvo[83]
and restored the exiled old man to the throne. Nobody
knows who lay with the mother of Romi and Romilus, but
she gave birth to twin boys. When the king learned of
it, he killed her, buried the mother alive. He ordered
to cast the twins into the river, but as the river had
overflowed its banks, they weren’t cast where the king
ordered, but they were cast at the riverbank. A shepherd
found them and took them home to his wife. She was a
harlot and nursed them. Some people say they were taken
and nursed by wolves. Maybe it is an allegory; a harlot
nursed them as a she-wolf would[84].
Menahem,
the 19th king of Israel reigned for 10 years
(408). Then reigned the 11th king of Corinth,
who was king of Greece. The son of Menahem[85]
(413) reigned for 11 years but two years according to
the Jews. Jotham king of Judah (426) reigned for 16
years. [Pecah son of Remaliah] king of Israel, killed
his Master and reigned for 20 years. Nahum the Prophet
flourished (426). Ahaz son of Jotham (42) reigned for 17[86]
years. He [became] king in Year 319 of David’s reign.
Until that time there had been 21 Latin kings in Italy.
The first was Janus, the second was Saturn, etc.
Rome was
founded in 4448 (Year 324 since David’s reign; Year 5 of
King Ahaz’ reign).
Construction was completed in the 11th year
of Hezekiah. Thus [Rome] was built in 22 years. There
were seven hills and seven towns. It was built by Romi
[Remus] and Romulus; they gave the city their name and
reigned for 38 years. Some say their father was Martos
[Mars]; others say he was his uncle Mamas. That is the
opinion of our sages obm in the Midrash of Psalms in the
verse ‘You are the helper of the fatherless’.[88]
They prepared a great feast for all the towns around
Rome, and for their women and daughters. At the feast
they snatched their wives and daughters and gave them to
the men of Rome who had no wives. Thus there were big
wars between them and the Sabines. Eventually they made
peace so that the Romans and Sabines became one nation.
In the
generation of Division, Nimrod the Giant came to Rome
and built a city there. While Rome was built, there were
prophets such as Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Obadiah,
Nahum, Isaiah etc. The Exile of the Ten Tribes occurred
in Year 453. There were 18 kings of Israel. Hezekiah son
of Ahaz (4491: should be 4459) reigned for 28[89]
years. The same year[90],
year 498, Saragosa di Sicilia[91]
was founded. The second king of Rome (Year 425). The
kingdom of Aram fell in Year 486. Then began the
Chaldean kingdom. Their first king Merodach-Baladan sent
[gifts] to Hezekiah king of Judah [as he had heard of]
his illness.[92]
Then there was the story of Tobias the Righteous. The
angel Raphael visited him, cured his father’s eyes and
more. It is told in detail in a separate book attached
to the 24 books [of the Bible]. The end of Hezekiah’s
reign was in 486. Manasseh son of Hezekiah (487) reigned
for 55 years.
Constantinople was founded in 4536 (Year 49 of
Manasseh’s reign). It was called Byzantium. King
Constantine would enlarge and broaden it almost 1,000
years later, and afterwards rename it Constantinople
after himself. It is called the ‘Second Rome’, for in
Year 301 of Nativity of That Man[93],
he began to reign, and he build the city up. He accepted
Christian faith in Year 318 of Nativity of That Man in
the days of [Pope] Sylvester and he built the city.
Afterwards, year 1093 of Christians, the king of Turks
took it. Afterwards, the French and Horsianos[94]
took it from them and the city remained in their hands
for 360 years, as the number of degrees in a circle. In
1453 of Christians (5213 Year of Israel) Mahmud son of
Tomi [Ottoman] took it. He is the Grand Turk, he died in
481 of Christians, 5241 Year of Israel.
Amon son
of Manasseh (4542) reigned for 12 years according to the
70 translators and for twenty [read: two] years
according to Jews. The author of the book accepted the
version of Septuagint, and said: Josiah his son reigned
in year 524 [read: 554] and reigned for 32 years; he was
eight years old when Hilkiah the High Priest reigned
(4569). Jeremiah (587). Baruch the scribe of Jeremiah
was a prophet and he compiled a book; the Christians
have it and it is attached to the Book of Jeremiah.
Jehoahaz (587) reigned for three months. Eliakim, the
elder son of Josiah, is Jehoiakim; he became the king
same year and reigned for 11 years.[95]
Jaconiah [Jehoiachin] became king in 597; he reigned for
three months and ten days. Zedekiah, who became king the
same year, reigned for 11 years.
Marsilia
[Marseilles] was founded by the sea in France in 599
[600 BC]. There is a chain to seal off the sea. The
Aragon king who conquered Naples burned it down and
resettled it later. Habakkuk prophesied in 423, in the
days of Hezekiah. He was held by the angel, when Daniel
was thrown into the lions’ den and the angel brought him
bread for nourishment and strength. Then Ezekiel
prophesied in Babylon. Daniel began in 660 when the
Temple was destroyed. In the Diaspora of Babylon there
was the incident with Susanna, daughter of Hilkiah and
wife of Ioakim. She was very beautiful, and three
elders, judges who used to visit her house daily in
order to commerce with her husband, desired and lusted
after her beauty. Once, when her husband was not at
home, they entered her garden while she was naked. She
was taking the ritual bath after her nidah
[menstruation]. They demanded sexual intercourse with
her, threatening otherwise to bear false testimony that
they had found her having intercourse with a boy. But
she said she would rather die than commit sin before
God. They did what they said, bore false testimony, and
sentenced her to death. Then Daniel in his wisdom and
gift of prophesy saved her. He investigated the case
again. He separated the elders and questioned them one
by one. Their testimonies did not fit. The elders were
executed. Maybe they were Ahab son of Koliah and
Zedekiah son of Maasiah, who were burned by the king of
Babylon.
In the
same year, King Zedekiah’s reign ended (660). Then there
was Pythagoras, who invented geometry, measures, weights
and music. He said human souls transmigrate. He arranged
religion in Italy. He did not wish to be called ‘wise’,
but ‘lover of wisdom’, which is ‘philosopher’. He
compiled many books but Hathinos [Athenians?] burned
most of them. Then there were the philosophers Anakarsos
[Anaxagoras?] and Moshon. Jerusalem was destroyed in AM
4609 [590 BC] (3338 by Jewish count [422 BC]).
There
were 22 kings of Judah.
David
reigned for 40 years.
Solomon
reigned for 40 years.
Rehoboam
reigned for 18 years.
Abiah
reigned for three years.
Asa
reigned for 41 years.
Jehoshaphat reigned for 25 years.
Jehoram
reigned for one year.
Ahaziah
reigned for one year.
Athaliah
reigned for seven years.
Joash
reigned for 40 years.
Amaziah
reigned for 29 years.
Uzziah
reigned for 51 years.
Jotham
reigned for 16 years.
Ahaz
reigned for 16 years.
Hezekiah
reigned for 29 years.
Manasseh
reigned for 55 years.
Amon
reigned for 12 years (according to their opinion).
Josiah
reigned for 32 years.
Jehoahaz
reigned for three months.
Jehoiakim
reigned for 11 years.
Jaconiah
reigned for three months.
Zedekiah
reigned for 11 years.
The
Fifth Era - the Exile of
Israel in Babylon for 70 years (609). Then there was the
case of Gedaliah, son of Ahikam.[96]
They say when he was merry of wine at the feast, Ishmael
killed Gedaliah. And immediately they fled to Egypt.
Five years later, Nebuchadnezzar marched on Egypt and
conquered it; then he took captive all people of Israel
who were there and in other countries, as it is said in
the end of Jeremiah. Nebuchadnezzar II, son of
Nebuchadnezzar reigned (628) for ten years. Evil
Merodach, the fourth king of Babylon, reigned for 18
years (638). Nebuchadnezzar I reigned for 35 years
though our sages of blessed memory say 45 years but they
do not mention Nebuchadnezzar II. About Evil Merodach,
our sages of blessed memory say that he reigned for 23
years, and it broadly fits. He freed Jehoiachin from
prison and sat him first among the kings.
Then
there was the great Greek physician Anaximander and
another of the same name. In Year 638, there was Isopit
who compiled many books. He was Greek but his books were
translated into Latin.
The
Kingdom of Persia began in Year 30 of the Captivity of
Babylon (AM 4660). Their first king was Cyrus who
reigned for 30 years; he fought the king of Babylon
named Belshazzar and vanquished him. He conquered all
the East, and conquered the kingdom of Tarslos and
killed them. One queen[97]
sent her son to the war and Cyrus killed him. Then the
queen went and killed Cyrus, and cut off his head and
member. Persia is the head of Asia Major; named after a
Greek king called Perses[98]
who married the queen and built the country that bears
his name. Misbania[99]
includes Karamanos [Karamania[100]],
Antioch and Britanos. Aruch says, Karamanos is up
north, beyond Persia and there are few fruits due to the
great cold.
Lucio
Tarquino [Lucius Tarquinius], seventh king of Romans,
was malevolent; he was exiled and died in 649. Then
there was Haggai the Prophet and Zechariah b. Berekiah;
they are of the 12 Books of Minor Prophets. Then there
was Omriya [Cimmerian?] Sibyl who compiled nine books of
prophecies. She came to Tarquinius, the well-known king,
but he did not wish to pay her what she asked.[101]
Then she burned three books before him on the first day.
On the second day, she burned another three books. On
the third day, he paid what she asked and got the last
three books. In them, all was written, all that would
happen to the Romans till the end of Time.
Then in
Turkey there was Ispitima the Sibyl (Year 655). Then
Belshazzar[102],
the fifth King of Babylon reigned for 17 years,
according to Joseph b. Gorion. In the first year of his
reign, Daniel had the vision of four beasts. Darius the
Mede, was a son-in-law of Cyrus I, who destroyed
Babylon; he was 62 when he became king in 656. Daniel
was his advisor and he was called the ‘man of desires’
for he desired to know the future. Cambyses, son of King
Cyrus (670) reigned for eight years. He was bad for
Israel. Holofernes was his army commander; he came to
destroy Israel but Judith killed him. In the book[103],
[the king] is called Nebuchadnezzar. This Book [of
Judith] is appended to the 24 Books of Bible. This
Cambyses captured the king of Egypt in his fifth year of
reign. Judith (year 670) killed Holofernes. Smerdis,[104]
the third king of Persia (678), reigned for seven
months; Darius killed him. Cambyses had no son. Darius
became king in year ‘79 (Year 70 of the Babylonian
Captivity). He was the fourth king of Persia and reigned
for 37 years. He returned the holy vessels to the Temple
and appointed Zerubbabel as pasha of Judah. He made him
great and sent him to Jerusalem with his people of
Israel in ’79; and he married the daughter of Cambyses.
He was a malevolent king. Joiakim the High Priest was
high priest (year 680) for six years; he was a son of
Jeshua [Jesus] the High Priest. He built the temple and
the city.[105]
In 680, construction of the temple was completed. Then
was the end of the Roman kings (Year 686). Thereafter
they had no king but only consuls until Julius Caesar
who took power by force. In their opinion they had no
king for 466 years but for 306 years in the opinion of
Jews. All that happened because of the [rape of]
Lucrece, of royal blood. [Her husband] and his
son-in-law were first consuls of Rome in 686 (Year 10 of
Darius). Girsos [Xerxes I] son of Darius (714) reigned
for 20 years; he favoured Ezra and vanquished the
Egyptians.[106]
Eliashib, [son of?] high priest Joiakim, became the high
priest in 725 when his father died and served for 32
years. This calls for more study. Artaban, king of
Persia (734), reigned for one year. Artaxerxes (735)
reigned for 40 years. He had long arms, down to his
knees. Nechemiah son of Hilkiah and Ezra the Scribe were
in 742, Year 7 of his reign. There was Aksagoras
[Anaxagoras?] the philosopher and Avocrat the Physician
[Hippocrates] – year 71, who made [the Book of Medicine]
(763). There was Gorgias the philosopher (‘64).[107]
Socrates[108],
master of Plato (‘71), compiled the book of Ethics. He
was a great philosopher. On his hand, he wore a ring
bearing the inscription ‘Wisdom is man’s friend;
foolishness is his enemy’. He mocked idols and thus he
was killed.
Xerxes II
was the eighth king of Persia; he reigned for two
months. Then the ninth king Shibdiano [Sogdianus], king
of Persia reigned for seven months. Then Darius king of
Persia reigned for 29 years (4729); he was the tenth
king. High Priest Joiada[109],
the fourth (year ’83), was the high priest for 45 years.
Artaxerxes II, Jews called him Ahasuerus, (805) reigned
for 40 years over 127 provinces from India to Kush[110].
In his 12th year of reign, he married Esther,
daughter of Abihail uncle of Mordecai (Year 817; 128 of
the Babylonian Exile). Queen Esther reigned with her
husband for 28 years. By their count, Mordecai was a
member of the Synedrion who was taken into captivity
with Jehoiachin 11 years before the Destruction of the
Temple and Babylonian Exile. Thus, in the days of
Esther, Mordecai was over 250 years old, and it is
amazing that Mordecai and Esther were cousins, children
of two brothers, and that she was a virgin. But we can
argue that Mordecai’s great-grandfather Kish, not
Mordecai, was among the exiles of Jehoiachin. But our
sages of blessed memory imply that it was [Mordecai]
himself, and that he lived for over 400 years. Thus he
was about 120 years old in the days of Esther.
There was
Isocrates[111],
a Greek philosopher (820). There was Plato the
philosopher (824 [375 BC]). He was the first to teach
the grammar of language; he was the master of Aristotle.
He was from Athens in Greece and went to study in Egypt.
He divided philosophy into three parts: ethics, logic
and natural science. He said there was one god, the
cause of all causes. He was a great sage in all kinds of
wisdom and the leading philosopher. He compiled a book
called Timaeus, about the world, stars and
immortality of the soul. Tully
said he did not understand the book in depth. He lived
for 81 years. He wrote Timaeus in 4830.[113]
Epicurus
the philosopher was a disciple of Socrates (833). He
certainly did not study for he wrote erroneously that
Blessed Name does not care about earthly things and that
the soul died with the body. His followers are called
Epicursin[114].
Artaxerxes III, son of Esther, reigned for 26 years. He
was cruel; he killed his sister, mother-in-law and all
her family. He reigned in 845. The kingdom of Egypt
began in 847[115].
In 848, Philip, king of Macedonia and father of
Alexander the Great, reigned for 27 years. Ilufona
[Olympia?] was his wife. All the chroniclers say
Alexander was not Philip’s son, but Nikolo Tomeo’s,
meaning Nektanibur, king of Egypt[116].
Jonathan son of Joiada the High Priest (849) served for
43 years.
Demosthenes invented rhetoric, the art of effective
speaking, in 856. He lived in Athens in the days of King
Philip. Aristotle was 52 in 856 [343 BC]; his masters
were Socrates and Plato. He lived for 23 years after
Plato’s death and taught Alexander. He said, ‘the sage
hides his knowledge’. In the end, the envious men said
he spoke against the idols; he fled in order to avoid
the fate of Socrates. He lived for 62 years[117]
and wrote countless books. Arses, 13th king
of Persians (871) reigned for four years. Onias son of
Iadua (889) was the 7th high priest and
reigned for five years. Simeon the Righteous son of
Onias, was the eighth high priest (894) and reigned for
26 years. He was called ‘righteous’ for he was merciful
towards the people. His son Onias was small; Eleazar
served Simeon the Righteous. Iadua was the sixth high
priest (875) after Jonathan his father; he served for 18
years.
Alexander
king of Macedonia (874) reigned for 12 years. He became
king at 25; he was promiscuous. After his father’s
death, he conquered Asklabonia, the Roman Isles, Africa
and Syria. He came to Jerusalem and the priests paid him
honours. He founded Alexandria, named after him. Darius
the first [last?] king of Persians (4865) reigned for
six years. Alexander killed him and crossed the
Euphrates.
Altogether there were 14 kings of Persia
1 Cyrus I 30 years
2 Cambyses 8 years
3 Smerdis 7 months
4 Darius 37 years[118]
5 Xerxes[119]
20 years[120]
6 Artaban 1 year[121]
7 Artaxerxes [I] 40 years[122]
8 Xerxes[123]
[II] 2 months
9 Sobdianus [Sogdianus or Secydianus] 9 months
10
Darius [II] the Famous 29 years[124]
11
Artaxerxes [II] (Ahasuerus, Esther’s husband) 40 years[125]
12
Artaxerxes [III] son of Esther 26 years[126]
13
Arses 4
years[127]
14
Darius [III] the last, 6
years[128]
The total
is 240 years, or 290 years in opinion of our sages of
blessed memory.
Three
kings of Egypt named ‘Hermes’ [Trismegistos] are called
Enoch in our tongue. One is called Mercury, a great sage
who compiled the Book of Prophesies and Astrology in
889. Then there was Apulio [Apollonius of Tyana?],
friend of Plato, who wrote The Cosmography
and many other books. Then there was Diamas and Glistini
[Callisthenes of Olynthus],
disciple of Aristotle and Democrites.
The
Sixth Era – The kingdom of
Inglaterra [England] was founded. Malta [?] was built in
840 by Ahasuerus king of Persia. Some say it was built
in the days of Joshua and it is true. Fabia was founded
in Italy in 882. Kimo [Como], Bir Amon [Bergamo],
Brescia were built near Milan same time. Verona was
built in Lombardy along with Cremona and more many
places in Lombardy and Ferrara, that is of Marquis of
Ferrara near Venice; Bologna and Florence were built 390
years before the Nativity of That Man. Siena was built
383 years before the Nativity of That Man; as were
Alexandria and Italia.
The
Seventh Era - Ptolemy,
king of Egypt, reigned for 40 years after Alexander
(887; 283 years after the Babylonian Exile). He troubled
Israel a lot. Then Israel dispersed among the nations in
the kingdom of Aram [Rum?] (887) after Alexander. The
kingdom of Asia began in 893. The king was Alexander’s
brother. Then there was the first [Punic] War of
Carthaginians with Romans in 4917.
Eleazar the ninth high priest (902) reigned for 37
years. They say he was the brother of Simeon the
Righteous (Year 35 of Ptolemy). He sent 70 Elders,
translators of Scripture to Ptolemy king of Egypt.
Within 17 days they translated it into Greek. The book
was gilded and covered with precious stones. Ptolemy
gave them many gifts and asked them to visit him in
Egypt from time to time. Ptolemy II reigned for 38 years
(930; Year 323 after the Babylonian Exile). Antiochus II
of Syria (that is Damascus and Aram) reigned for 19
years (4930). The following kings were named ‘Antiochus’
after him as well. The [Punic] War of Carthaginians and
Romans (year 939), people of Rome fought Sicily,
Sardinia and Africa. The people of Africa rode elephants
in the war. Antiochus III king of Aram (951) reigned for
15 years. Peace between Romans and Carthage in 961.
Ptolemy king of Egypt (965) reigned for 26 years. The
same time Antiochus IV of Aram reigned for 20 years.
Onias[131]
son of Simeon the Righteous the high priest (964)
reigned for nine years; he was kili
[parsimonious?]. Ptolemy king of Egypt demanded money
from him but he did not wish to pay. The best people of
Jerusalem went to him [Ptolemy] to accommodate him.
Joseph was the greatest of them all; he and his son
Hyrcanus were honoured by the king. Onias fled to Egypt
for fear of Antiochus. At that time, the Romans took
Milan. Simeon b. Onias was the 12th high
priest (978) and served for 22 years. He built up the
temple and raised the walls higher. Then there was a
miracle: the cisterns were filled with water. In the
book of Ben Gorion it is said that Onias son of Onias
went to Egypt and he wrote to King Ptolemy and the Queen
in Alexandria. [He wrote that] a big house had collapsed
and asked for royal permission to build there a temple
similar to the Temple of Jerusalem. [He wrote that] it
had to be done for Isaiah had prophesied it 420 years
earlier. The king replied that he was amazed that Onias
would want to build a holy temple in the land of whores.
He said he was not hostile to the Law of Moses and would
allow construction of the temple. As for Isaiah’s
prophecy, may it be fulfiled. Then he came to Alexandria
and built the temple and altar; there he found priests
and Levites and made [holy] vessels. But one cannot
compare the inferior quality of this temple and [holy]
utensils with those of the Temple of Jerusalem. Then the
sages of the Samaritans and those of Jerusalem came to
King Ptolemy to speak about the temple on Mount Gerizim
and there was a heated dispute. Besides the true reason
[grounded] in the Law that there should be no temples
but the temple in Jerusalem, they found that all Gentile
kings of all times had sent sacrifices to Jerusalem
[while none sent any to Mount Gerizim]. So [the Jews]
won the dispute. The king ordered to kill the Samaritans
and let the [Jews] do as they wish. Then the
Alexandrians turned away from the temple they made, too.
A similar story is recorded by our sages of blessed
memory in the end of Menachoth.[132]
Antiochus
The Great, the second king of Aram (87) reigned for 37
years. Hannibal, king of Carthage, fled to this king
from Scipio the Roman general. Then there was Jesus b.
Sirah in 590 [990?]. He wrote books that are appended to
the 24 books of the Latin Bible. In 993, Hannibal and
his brother Hasdrubal were minors when their father
died, and they divided Spain along the river Ebro: the
bank on the Roman side went to the Romans, while the
other bank remained Carthaginian and they built the
Carthage of Castile[133].
In 996, Hannibal was 25 and he became the king of
Carthage. Onias the High Priest, son of Simeon, reigned
(Year 5000) for 29 years. In those days, Antiochus the
Great, king of Aram, vanquished King Ptolemy, conquered
Jerusalem and devastated it. Some people of Jerusalem
opened the gates [for him]; he killed 60,000 Jews,
seized all the holy utensils and took 10,000 into
captivity. He did great evil to Israel. There was
Aristobulus the Jew, the philosopher (AM 5000 [200 BC]).[134]
Then there was Adrachmedos [Archimedes?], the engineer
and philosopher; he was great in geometry. Ptolemy, the
fifth king of Egypt (5008) reigned for 24 years.
There was
Panicio [Polybius?], the teacher of the Roman general
Scipio (5011). Scipio went to Spain and led great
battles for Rome. He fought Hannibal in Carthage near
Tunis and destroyed it. He was a philosopher, and it was
the said year. King Ptolemy the seventh king (5032)
reigned for 35 years. Titus Livy[135],
the historian (AM 5033). The same year - Philo[136]
the Jew [of Alexandria], descendant of priests. He wrote
a book of wisdom in Greek. Cato the philosopher and
historian of Egypt - the same year. There was another
Cato, the first philosopher of Rome. Then there was the
war of Romans against Macedonia (5062). Macedonia is
Baiskala Bonia, hundred miles from Venice. It is called
Bondalakia. The war was in the Gulf of Venice. In 5034,
heresy spread among the priests of the Temple. Then
Simeon the Righteous died. Three sons survived him:
Onias, Jason and Johanan. Pious Onias had no sons. The
other two fought for the high priesthood. They applied
to Antiochus the Great, king of Aram, so he banned
circumcision and made Israel adopt Gentile names. They
also adopted Gentile names. Joshua was called Jason in
Greek and Johanan was called Menelaus, the Gentile name,
but Onias did not change his name. Menelaus bribed king
Antiochus and reigned for 11 years and his younger
brother for the next ten years. They applied to the king
for him to persecute Israel and impose Gentile names
instead of Jewish names. Then Onias went to the king to
convince him to cease the persecution but Menelaus sent
his favourite to kill him en route and he killed him.
The king killed the assassin for he was angered.
Mattathias (5043 [156 BC]), son of Jonathan son of
Simeon son of Hasmoneus, belonged to a Jerusalem family
called Jehoiarib. He had five sons: Johanan, Simeon,
Judah, Eleazar and Jonathan. He adhered to the Law of
Moses and he would prefer to die rather than transgress
its laws. Antiochus sent [an emissary telling him] to
change his religion. He refused and fought, and his sons
were with him. As he grew old and was about to die, he
commanded his sons to be ready to die for the Law and to
follow Simeon’s advice and the heroic might of Judah.
They changed names: Johanan became Jaddua; Simeon,
Thashai; and Judah, Maccabee. And after him they were
called Maccabeans, while Eleazar and Jonathan did not
take other names.
Year 46.
Judah Maccabee reigned. Then Antiochus king of Persia
came to raise a loan and left four generals in the Land
of Israel. Judah the Maccabee expelled them all. He made
a peace treaty with the Romans. Antiochus sent new
generals to fight Judah and he was killed. Before that,
Judah had come to the Temple, purified it, fixed the
breaches and held a feast. He killed the Jews who had
abandoned the Mosaic Law. His brothers Jonathan and
Simeon ransomed his body for a great amount of gold and
buried him. [Judah] reigned for four years. Then
Jonathan reigned for 19 years. Antiochus king of Greece
tried to kill him as he had killed his brother Judah.
There was a great war and the entire army of the king of
Aram invaded the land. Jonathan became famous all over
the world and made the peace treaty with the Romans.
Abrakus
[Hipparchus?] the astronomer (5029). The Third Punic War
(year 62). The Sack of Carthage[137]
(65). Ptolemy king of Egypt (67) reigned for 29 years.
Simeon son of Mattathias (73) reigned for eight years.
Ptolemy, son-in-law of Antiochus[138],
invited Simeon to the feast and killed him, his twelve
sons and his wife; two other sons were taken hostage.
King Hyrcanus[139],
son of Simeon (81), the seventh Hasmonean, reigned for
26 years. He was a prophet fit to be [high] priest. He
was called Hyrcanus after a king he vanquished and
slain. Antiochus king of Aram besieged Jerusalem in the
days of Hyrcanus [and demanded] to apostatize. For the
people’s benefit, Hyrcanus opened David’s Tomb and found
there … gold drachmas. He removed them, paid 300 to King
Antiochus, who lifted the siege. Hyrcanus went to
Samaria and destroyed it. It was eventually rebuilt in
the days of Herod and renamed Sebaste rather then
Samaria. Hyrcanus ended the controversy with the
Pharisees. He was very old and died at a ripe age. He
was survived by five sons: Aristobulus, Antigonus and
three others. He prophesied on his deathbed that his
sons would not adhere to the Law and it happened so. His
son Aristobulus (5107) reigned for one year and
exchanged the priesthood for royalty; he took the royal
crown for himself[140].
As
mentioned above, Onias the Great, son of Simeon the
Righteous, was the High priest in the days of Antiochus
the Evil. Afterwards Seleucus son of Antiochus sent his
general to loot the Temple of Jerusalem. As he entered
it, two boys assassinated him. Fearing the king, Onias
prayed to the Lord who resurrected him. The general
returned to the king and told him, whomever you wish to
be killed, send him to [loot] Jerusalem. After Onias’
death, his son was a little boy, and the king gave the
high priesthood to Johanan, called Menelaus.
Jaddua
the High Priest, son of Jonathan, was the sixth high
priest after Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest in
the days of Alexander the Great. His brother Manasseh
was son-in-law to Sanballat or to other Samaritans. They
were expelled from Jerusalem and built the temple on
Mount Gerizim. They spoke evil [of the Jews] to
Alexander the Macedonian, while he was in the Sidonian
kingdom and Alexander came to Jerusalem and laid the
siege. Surrounded by priests, High Priest Jaddua went
out to him wearing ecclesiastical dress. When Alexander
saw him, he dismounted and prostrated himself before the
Name, which was written on the diadem. One of his
generals asked why he prostrated himself before a Jew.
He answered, ‘I bow to his God, as [His Name] is written
on his forehead. I prostrate myself for I saw this image
in my dream.’ He entered Jerusalem joyously, made
sacrifices to the Blessed Name and gave presents to the
High Priest and other priests. He invited the leaders of
Jerusalem to ask him for a favour. They asked for seven
years of tax relief for Jerusalem, and he fulfiled this
wish and others of theirs. When Alexander died, Jaddua
the High priest died immediately. The Book of Ezra lists
the high priests before Jaddua: Joshua son of Jehozadak,
Ioakim, Eliashib, Jaddua, Jonathan and Jaddua. As for
Ezra himself, there is some doubt about whether he was a
high priest or, as the Book of Ezra states, perhaps only
head of a priestly family while his brother was
Jehozadak, and Joshua was his nephew.
Let us
return to Aristobulus. He reigned for one year[141],
starting in ‘84 of Babylonian Exile. On advise of his
brother Antigonus he arrested another brother of his. He
died a painful death from internal bleeding of the
intestines. After Aristobulus, Alexander [Jannai], the
second brother of his father Hyrcanus, reigned for 27
years. His [Jewish] name was Johanan[142].
At first he was good but later became evil. He killed
1,000 elders and 40 [important] men with their wives;
and died of great disease[143].
This Alexander became the king in 5108; the Antiochus
dynasty of the kings of Aram ended in 114. Alexander
left two sons: Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Alexander left
his wife Alexandra to reign as queen for the common
good. She reigned for nine years and died at the age of
73. She made her elder son Hyrcanus the high priest. He
was the 23rd high priest for 24 years. After
their mother’s demise, the sons fell out. Hyrcanus
vanquished his brother Aristobulus but they made peace.
Aristobulus became king and Hyrcanus, high priest. But
later Hyrcanus regretted the decision and joined forces
with the Arabian king. They besieged Jerusalem and
Aristobulus. Thus came Roman rule to Jerusalem. Pompey
came to Jerusalem, saw the Temple and its dignity[144]
and did not loot it. Later he went to Rome and Julius
Caesar vanquished him. Pompey escaped to Egypt to
Ptolemy, who cut off Pompey’s head and sent it to Julius
Caesar. Pompey was the first to make Jerusalem pay tax
to Rome.
Julius
Caesar[145]
was a Roman leader (147 [52 BC]); another Roman leader,
Crassus, looted the Temple (148) and went to Persia
where he was killed. Then there were Marcus Filius and
Tullius, Lucretius the Poet[146]
and Apollodoros the Orator. Marcus Tullius Cicero, the
philosopher, had great talent for the Latin tongue and
its purity. After the Egyptian kings, Cleopatra daughter
of Ptolemy, became queen. She did not marry but was a
whore and witch. She is mentioned in a Ch. Mapelet
and the Ch. One, AZ[147],
‘Queen Cleopatra was vanquished by the Romans and they
seized her country.’ In the Ch. Helek there is a
reference to ‘Queen Cleopatra who asked R. Meir’ but it
is not the same Cleopatra as 200 years separate them.
She asked Herod to lay with her but he declined for she
was a goya. Cleopatra became the queen in year ‘150; 557
of Babylonian Exile, and reigned for 22 years and there
were no more kings of Egypt. The same year (150), a
great city called Ankita was built 30 miles from
Carthage in Africa.
Julius
Caesar, the first monarch of Rome, reigned from year 191[148];
542 of Babylonian Exile for four years and seven months.
He established a monarchy in Rome and was assassinated.
Rome remained without a ruler for three years. Then
Octavian [Augustus] Caesar became the king[149]
in August 151 [48 BC] for 56½ years. He was a son of
Julius Caesar’s sister. After the first 18 years, he
reigned the entire world in peace for 38 years.
Herod the
Galilean, son of Antipater the Idumean, reigned for 37
years and came to power in 161 when Antipater died of
poison (he was a great warrior). He had five sons. The
high priest was Malchion. Until then the office of high
priest would pass from father to son, but from that time
until the third year before the Destruction, the office
was sold for money and there was a new high priest each
year. In his 15th year of reign, King Herod
built the exquisite Temple as well as houses in
Jerusalem and elsewhere. In year 26, he killed Hyrcanus
the High Priest, his master, who was a righteous man. He
was assassinated as he returned from Babylon. Herod also
killed his sister’s husband. And he killed the
Synedrion. His sons were Archelaus, Antipas, Antipater,
Lysinius and Philip. Virginius the philosopher,
physician, astronomer (165) in Rome, and Tullius Miro.
Hyrcanus
the high priest was killed by Herod in 186 (28, Year of
Augustus). He was 80. All Hasmoneans were wiped out
then. [Hyrcanus] lived in sorrow all his life, as after
the death of his mother Alexandra. he reigned for three
months; then his brother Aristobulus came and fought
him. Then came Pompey, the Roman general, who restored
the kingdom to Hyrcanus; he served for 40 years before
he went to Babylon. After his death, the office of high
priest was sold for money each year. Thus Daniel’s
prophecy[150]
was fulfiled: the Annointed [the high priest] would be
cut down after 70, 70 and 60 years and justice would be
destroyed: that is the Synedrion.
The last
Sibyl (5170) of the prophetesses of the nations of the
world. Titus Livy, the historian (183). Ovid,
philosopher and poet (182).
Mariamne
the Hasmonean, sister of Aristobulus the boy priest who
was killed by Herod. She was Herod’s wife and of
unsurpassed beauty. Her face shone and people said she
was not a woman, but a heavenly body like the sun and
moon. As Herod had killed all her family, she was very
hostile to him. She was a person of great heart and soul
and refused to lay with him. Her mother-in-law and
sister-in-law told King Herod that she had sent a letter
asking Rome to remove Herod and install her brother
instead. Herod judged her in the Synedrion and she was
killed.
The
Eighth Era – This was the
Nativity of That Man[151]
and John the Baptist (5199). John was the son of
Zechariah the Priest, his wife was barren and John was
born six months before That Man. They have various
theories; according to Isidore He was born in 5200, or
5210, or some say in 199. His mother Miriam gave birth
when she was 14. Archelaus[152]
son of Herod (204; 47 Year of Augustus) reigned for nine
years. He and his brother Antiochus[153]
fought wars and conquered lands. Archelaus’ brother
Antipas[154]
(213) took the sceptre from him. He reigned for 24 years
and divided the land into four parts, Galilee for
himself etc. He was cruel: he killed his sons, abolished
the priesthood and transgressed the Law. He slaughtered
John the Baptist, as he reproached him for marrying the
wife of his brother Antipas[155].
After that he was taken to Rome and sent to Lyon, a city
in France, where he and his wife, and daughter drowned
when the bridge collapsed.
Tiberius[156]
(214) reigned in Rome for 23 years. Valerius< |
