Seleucus began to raign twelv years after the death of Alexander as appeareth by Albaâ—egnius and the Almagest which consenteth also to Diodorus Siculus who affirmeth that the first year of Seleucus was the first of the 117 Olympiad Therefore this Aera was fixed in the 4402 of the Julian Period which was the 3638 from the world's Creätion the Cycle of the Sun was 6 and the Moon 13. The Aera was fixed saith Scaliger though Petavius will not yield it by Calipus of Cyzicum who finding that Meton's ciclus decennovenalis exceeded the Moon 's Revolution one quadrant of a daie put four of these together and detracting from thence one whole daie for the quadruple excess of hours gave an exacter account of the Lunations then before This Cycle the Author to the honor of Alexander began the 28 of June in the Summer Solstice at the new Moon which followed the fight at Gangamele And this was in the year of the world 3619 as the Eclips assureth which hap'ned eleven daies before but becaus this fell out to bee in the second year of that Olympiad Calippus altered his minde and stayed nineteen years to make his Period concur but Alexander deceasing within seven years the Aera could not begin till twelv years after which was the first of the reign of Seleucus and 3638 of the World CHAP. XI Aera Dhilcarnian IS the same with the Alexandrea Graecorum and hath nothing proper but the Name which it self also is nothing but Alexander in other words as by the Arabick Geographer and otherwise 't is made known Dhilcarnain that is habentis duo cornua as Albumazer's Translator expresseth it So Alexander was called with relation to the Ram in Daniel's Vision as som divine but then they are fain to read it Ailcarnain not considering that it is not the word in Arabick as in Hebrew for a Ram the Arabians if they had meant thus would have said not Aiie but Hamelcarnain but let that pass for the word written in it's own language manifestly importeth no more then one that hath two horns So Alexander saith Christman might bee called either for that his Empire was bipartite into Asia and Syria which is not altogether so true or otherwise for that hee joined the East and West together with Conquests holding as it were the two Hornes of the World in his Victorious hands And this hee saith becaus as Hercules in the West so Alexander set up two Pillars for a non ultra to the Eastern World The Arabians themselvs saie more For though the more commonly known Historians of this Conqueror Q. Curtius and Arrian out of his Ptolomie and Aristobulus take no notice of Alexander's falling in the Western World Cedren excepted wheresoever hee had it yet the Arabick Geographer doubteth not to affirm that hee was the man by whose appointment and Design that Isthmos Gaditaneâ—s was cut out and the Atlantick Ocean let into the Mediterranean so making that Streight or Fretum therefore not to bee term'd Herculeum now called the Sreights of Gibralter or as it should bee Gebal Tarec that is Tarec's Hill so called saith the Arabick Geographer from Tarec the Son of Abdalla who having transported his Barbarians over the Streight secured his Army with the Natural fortification of that Place Geographus Arabs 1. par cl 4. But why Alexander should bee called Dhilcarnain or habens duo cornua Scaliger's reason is beyond exception and which Petavius himself could not choos but commend Alexander to rais himself a reputation of Divinitie suborned the Priest to entitle him the son of Corniger Ammon thenceforth the Cyrenians who had formerly used to express this Jupiter horned in their Coins transferred this honor to the Conqueror and so the reputed son as the Father was known by the name of Corniger which when it came to the Arabians was to bee said as here it is Dilcarnian CHAP. XII The Jews Aera ALexander the Great with his Grecian Armie marching towards Jerusalem with all intention of hostilitie the High Priests and Levites came forth to meet him all in their Holie Garments The King beholding this reverent Assemblie made an approch himself alone and drawing near to the High Priest fell down and worshipped The Captains wondring to see the son of Jupiter Ammon who had given command that all men should worship him himself to fall down to a Jew Parmenion drew near and made bold to ask him the question To whom Alexander 'T is not the Priest saith hee but his God whom I adore and who in his verie habit appeared unto mee long ago at Dius in Macedonia and encouraged mee in my undertakings for the Empire of Asia This don the King ascended the Temple where Sacrifice first don to God the prophecie of Daniel was brought forth the high Priest turning to that place which foretelleth of a mightie Prince of Graecia that was to conquer the Persians which the circumstances well agreeing the King readily applyed unto himself and so departed verie well pleased and full of hope leaving the People to their Antient peace Antiquitat Lib. 11. So their Historian Josephus and the Book Taanith Cap. 9. But it is added moreover by Abraham the Levite in his Cabala that the High Priest by waie of acknowledgment made faith to the King that all the children which should bee born that year to the holie Tribe should bee called by his Name and moreover that from the same Time they would henceforth compute their Minian Staros or Aera of Contracts c. fol. 3. CHAP. XIII AEra Dionysiana Philadelphi A Celestial year is such an one as keepeth touch with the Sun the Months whereof begin at his entrance into the Signs precisely and especially serving for the Prognostication of the Seasons Such a kinde of year Dionysius an Astrologer in Egypt set up after the example of Metan and others as by Theon 't is noted upon Aratus The Aera whereof hee fixed in the first yeare of the famous Ptolomie surnamed Philadelph 'T is often cited in the Almagest which also giveth Testimonie that this Aera began in the 463 of Nabonassar's Thosh Ptolm lib. 10. C. 4. 5 Almagesti which was the fourth year of the 123 Olympiad answering to the 4429 of the Julian Period which was the 3665 of the world's Creätion The Cycle of the Sun was 5 and the Moon 2. But neither was this this year of Dionysius meerly coelestial 't was also civil as Scaliger discovereth yet of no greater use in Historie to reconcile one place in that golden book as the same Autor termeth it of Jesus the son of Sirach That wise man saith that in the 38 year when Evergetes was King hee came into Egypt c. but how could that bee saith Scaliger seeing this Ptolomie raigned but 26 years To saie as som do that hee meant the years of his own life Emendat Temp. lib. 5. or the life of Evergetes is rather to excuse the Autor then interpret him And
produced besides the Correspondence in Points of Learning which hee held with divers famous Men abroad aswel Jesuites and Jews as others And now being like the Sun in his Zenith readie to shine in his greatest lustre Behold the whole Kingdom began to bee clouded with Judgments Ovid. Met. lib. 1. Sic Deus inductâ nostras caligine Terras Occuluit lïke that Egyptian Darkness which even then began to damp and hath since quite extinguisht the greatest and purest Lights of this Nation such as were not to bee parallel'd by anie other for Pietie and Learning Among whom notwithstanding the Hope of a clear Daie preserved this Learned Autor awhile sufficiently spirited for Studie whereby hee composed and published a little before his Death those his Excellent Notes upon som Passages of Scripture in which kinde of holie Studie hee intended to spend the rest of his Life But behold after 20 years trouble with an Hereditarie Gout improved by immoderate Studie and now invading his Stomach Atropos stand's readie to cut his Thread of Life beeing laboriously spun out but 39 years when fore-seeing the Glorie was now departing from our Israël his Spirits began to fail in an extraordinarie manner For Recoverie and Supportation whereof his first Noble Patrone the Bishop of Sarum being disabled by Sequestration c. the liberal hand of a second Mecenas was presently extended which though it could not save him as Christ's did St Peter from perishing in these waters of Affliction yet 't was not in vain for as our Saviour said of that Unguent so may I of his last Patrone's Charitie Mat. 26.12 Joh. Antioch Hist translated out of Greek into Latine with Annotations Was it not to burie him yes and to rais him too with the Trump of Fame beeing very active and free toward the Publication not onely of this Posthumous Off-spring but also of som other of greater Exspectation And here Reader I cannot but drop a Tear for the loss of that his excellent Piece entituled by himself Alkibla In which Tract with very great Judgment and Learning hee vindicated the Antiquitie of East-ward Adoration especially in all Churches as far beyond an Altar or a Crucifix the Romish Bounds as the Flood preceed's in time these Superstitious Distinctions of the Christian Which gallant Refutation of that Popish Error I the rather mention becaus som suspected him a Favorer of that Waie but to my certain knowledg their Jealousie was unjust and groundless hee having often declared and protested not onely to mee but also to manie of his familiar Friends his Abhorrence of Poperie and his sincere Affection and Constancie to the Protestant Religion as it was established in England by Acts of Parliament At Kidlington Mar. 13. 1646. and was buried in Christ-Church in Oxford And as hee lived so hee died also a most Obedient and Affectionate Son to his Distressed Mother the Church of England for whose Sufferings hee forrowed unto Death a more painful and exquisite Martyrdom then that by Fire or Sword By these the Soul break 's prison in a minute to an Eternitie of Libertie and Felicitie that keep 's us on the Rack of Death not only to the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 15.31 wee die hourly This Account would have run into a Volume should I have given you a Particular of his Virtues as his Courtesie Humilitie c. not disdaining the meanest Scholar nor proud of his victorious Discourses with the best Learned And how free and liberal hee was of his Treasurie to the full satisfaction of all Inquisitors I may confidently appeal to all that knew him But I must not so remember my lost Friend as to forget my self in my Promise of Brevitie nay I will rather chuse to bee somwhat indebted in this kinde to the Dead well knowing the Mourners following will compleatly discharge those Arrears To whom I now therefore hastily refer you Upon the DEATH of my dearest Friend the AUTOR WOuld you the Caus why this my Son did die 'T was to prevent my Immortalitie As Twins inform'd by one soul part being dead The sad surviver live's half-murthered So I in my Retirements being fixt On Him in Mee both Life and Death are mixt Nor crave's our * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Motto less though God denie's To match our Wishes with our Destinies What then remain's but that I often look Upon thee and enjoie thee in thy Book Whose Learned Matchless Lines shall still bring forth Thy Lovers as Eternal as thy Worth Who when wee are in Bliss will sigh complain And curs the Age suffer'd thee to bee slain Slain by an Ichabod and manie more 1 Sam. 4.24 Masters Oxonienses Cartwright Oxonienses Digges c. Oxonienses Whom though this hate the next Age will adore Whose Ashes shall revive if anie bee Fit Subjects for Celestial Chymistrie Thus Shine yee Glories of your Age whil'st Wee Wait to fill up your Martyrologie And envie not this our Ambition though You wounded were to Death Wee have scars too And from those darts but with this diff'rence You Let them stick fast which wee with scorn with-drew Thus different Glories in one Sphere may bee Equal in Height though not in Dignitie Whil'st like that Manna past or that in store The Least was fill'd nor is the Greatest more J. G. B. D. An ELEGIE On the Learned AUTOR THough yon' close Anchorite's contracted Shrowd Made his innarrowed Carcass seem a Crowd Yet the cag'd Votarie did wider dwell Then Thou in thy large Roof and spreading Cell Both liv'd alike immur'd but Mansion's space To Him was Emptiness to Thee was Place Which the Retirement's different Ends decide Thine was to Toil and Sweat but His to Hide Who though sat down contented with the Store Thou brought'st from Nature coveting no more Yet like a Wealthie Heir by that Advance Thou hadst liv'd high on thy Inheritance Who ere is born to an Estate to 's hand Is full as Rich as Hee that buie's his Land And such wert Thou but least free Nature's Gift Seem mis-bestow'd unless improv'd by Thrift 'T was thy strong care to melt down Native Parts And shape up great Endowments into Arts. Hence sprung Thy vigorous Pains unwearied Sweats Whil'st each past Toil edg to fresh Toil beget's Till thy torn Nervs stretch't in their Search before Grow suppler by 't and so put on for more And thy Bent Thought or'e his deep Object crack's Nor Torture bring 's but Patience from thy Racks Oft did the Sun ow Thee his Morning Streams And at thy Earlier Taper light his Beams When now declining in his West and gon Thou bad'st him sleep for Thou would'st Journie on When Midnight Silence did thy Motions see As Night were made for all the World but Thee Nor did thy watchful Temples harbour Rest Till thy great Monster-Scruples fell supprest Alcides scorn'd to deem his Labor sped Whil'st Hydra wore or threat'ning
c. The Raiment of a Man saith a Learned Rabbin is his Bodie And had our Father Adam stood wee had needed no other Thou hast Clothed mee saith holie Job with Skin and with Flesh when therefore wee die wee are said in S. Peter's language to put off this Tabernacle as in S. Paul when wee rise again to bee Clothed upon with our hous from Heaven O're night wee put off this weed of Mortalitie but the Morning cometh and wee shall bee covered again with our skin and put on Incorruption our Better Cloths as to go and see God in this Flesh The same flesh wee put off the night before but with this difference that this Fowl Garment which could not bee kept Unspotted of the world shall in the mean time bee washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb. Our Clothes put off wee laie our selvs down and take our rest And to Die In the Prophet Isaiah's Phrase Isa 43.17 57.1 is but to lie down in our Beds And when thy daies shall bee fulfilled saith Nathan to David and thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers so indeed wee read it as wee may but the Original is And thou shalt lie down with thy Fathers 2 Sam. 7.12 So Asa the King's Coffin is called a Bed 2 Chron 16.14 and our forefathers in their Saxon tongue style a Burying place legerstoƿ or place to lie down in as in the Laws of King Canute Numb 3. In the Case of Natural Rest 't is not the whole man onely the Earthlie part falleth asleep the Soul is then most awake The Bodie 's Night is the Soul's Daie our Better part saith Cardan is never it 's own man till now when exalted unto a State of Separation as it were in the bodie it spendeth the time in Contemplations free and congeniall to its own Extraction So in the sleep of Death 't is not the totus Homo the Bodie indeed is dead becaus of sin the Soul is then most Alive Here as a Servant it is still required to the Exigencies of the Bodie having no time of it's own to spend but what it can get by stealth when the Master is gon to bed But there like it's Redeemer free among the Dead and delivered from the Incumbrances of the Bodie it begineth to bee a Soul to it self minding that which is above and looking with a more piercing eie upon the Invisible things of God It is noted by the Naturalists and wee finde it true in observation that no nois awaketh Natural Sleep more suddenly then an Humane voice Nay though it bee that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that dead and dangerous sleep as the Aphorism noteth it in Hippocrates But especially the Experiment holdeth if the voice calleth upon him in his own name But that wee shall all bee awaked out of this other Sleep by the sound of our Proper Names is more then I can pretend to though S. Peter's call was Tabitha surge and our Saviour's to his Friend Lazare veni foras Lazarus com forth To saie nothing to Epiphanius his Tradition that when our Lord went down into Hell and there found our Father Adam fast hee took him by the hand and called him by his own Name in the words of S. Paul Surge Adam qui dormis so indeed som Antient Copies read it Arise Adam thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead Christ taketh thee by the hand But this I am sure of that wee shall all bee awaked by a voice the voice of an Archangel and the word shall bee as som think Surgite mortui c Nor shall it bee the voice of a God and not of a Man it shall bee an Humane voice for by the Archangel wee are to mean the Son of Man For the hour cometh in which all they that are in the Graves shall hear his voice and shall com forth Job 5.28 Which why it should bee strange of us I know not since it is true of the Swallows by a certain and confest Experience that when the Winter cometh they lie down in the hollow of a Tree and there falling asleep quietly resolv into their first Principles But at the Spring 's approach they are n t so though throughly dead but that they hear the stil nois of Returning Nature and awaking out of their Mass rise up everie one to their life again Ego novi hominem c. I know a man saith the Learned Prince of Concordia who in his soundest Sleep could walk talk write and dispatch anie business of the most required Vigilance They seem to have had som such conceit of Death who hold it no absurditie to write Letters to their dead Friends as the Emperor Theodosius to S. Chrysostom more then thirtie Years after his deceas as if Death were a kinde of live Sleep Such an one as that which Jupiter sent of an Errand to awake Atamemnon And may wee not as properly saie that to bee Dead is to bee Alive as to saie to Die is to bee Born And yet the Antients as if Corruption had been their Father and the Worms their Mother were wont to call the daies of their Death Natalia not Dying but Birth-daies Mos inolevit in sancta Ecclesia it hath been the custom in the holie Church saith Haymo when a Saint of God departed this life to call it not the daie of his Death but the daie of his Nativitie That which wee call Death's they call Life's door Seneca himself said as much Dies iste quem Tutanquam Supremum reformidas Aeterni Natalis est As if all this were so indeed the Jews to this daie stick not to call their Golgotha's Batte Caiim the Houses or places of the Living At the least they have an Effectual life in them for the Mummies are known to bee most soveraign and Magistral in Medicine and the Principal Ingredient of the weapon-Salv is the Moss of a dead Man's-skul as the Recipe delivered by Paracelsus to Maximilian the Emperor Once more and I leav the Parallel Sleep wee know is most natural to Animal-Creatures and for Men so Necessarie that Aristotle saith that the end of it in us is Bene Ratiocinari And yet hee himself is cited by Olympiodorus to have known a Man who never slept in all his Life And the strangeness hath been quitted by an Experience of later daies The Comparison hold th in the Sleep of Death 't is Omnibus communis common to all men as wee use to saie And yet som Jews believ that the last age of Men shall bee so long liv'd as to prevent the Resurrection But S. Paul himself hath promised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wee shall not all die som shall bee changed And therefore 't is no vain Article which wee so daily profess that our Saviour shall com to judg both the Quick and the Dead Wee are to saie then of all those that are departed this life as the Jews of their Father Jacob Non est Mortuus or as our
Saviour of Lazarus and the Maid Why trouble you your selvs they are not Dead but Sleep And when a Friend leaveth this world wee are to bid him but Good Night in sure and certain Hope to meet again in the great Morning of the World But now How long how long Lord Holie and True will som saie or as those in S. Peter Where is the promise of his Coming For since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue to bee as they were from the begining to the Creätion But these Men have not the knowledg and this is to bee spoken to their shame The Lord is not slack as concerning his Promise for Behold hee cometh quickly and his Reward is with him When wee awake out of our natural sleep bee the Night never so long to us it seemeth but a Moment And the Night is no longer in the Prophet David's account Psal 30.5 For his Anger endureth but a Moment that is weeping may endure for a Night but joie cometh in the Morning 'T is no otherwise in Death for when first wee awake out of this sleep wee shall think that wee did but then lie down and were it a thousand Years it would seem no more to us then it doth to God himself but as one daie It is Observable that the Holie Ghost which accounteth Natural Death as a Sleep yet calleth the Life of a Sinner by the name of Death To bee truly Dead is to bee Dead in Trespasses and Sins And therefore S. Paul not making mention of the Great Resurrection bid's his Corinthians awake to Righteousness and sin not For a Righteous man hath more Hope in his Death then a Sinner in his Life and no man can bee Dead to Nature that is Alive to God But if to Die bee but to fall Asleep wee should put off this Garment of Flesh with as good a will as wee do our Clothes And that wee may sleep well in the night wee should forbear sleeping in the Daie not Idleing in the Market as those in the Parable nor sitting down in the seat of the scornful but working out our salvation for the Sleep of a Laboring man is sweet And that wee may rest in these Beds in an undisturbed peace wee are to provide that no Innate Furies no Stings of Death like gross and restless Vapors do arise from a guiltie Conscience Such a man will bee scared with Dreams and terrified with Visions and bee full of tossings to and fro until the dawning of the the daie Job And becaus to the Conciliation of Rest and Sleep it is required that there bee a Moderate Repletion for Paulus Aegineta maketh this to bee of the Definition wee are by no means to go to bed till first of all wee have sate down to the Great Supper till wee have eaten of that Bread and drank of that Cup which shew the Lords Death but our Life till hee com and are therefore not unfitly termed by the Fathers of the Nicene Councel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sacraments and Emblems of the Resurrection This don wee may laie our selvs down in Peace and take our Rest for the Lord will make us to dwell in safetie And as the Disciples to our Saviour concerning Lazarus if thus wee sleep wee shall do well Of the first Consideration thus much Pass wee now from Death to Life from the end of our Daies to the end of our Hope Resurrection I Said that was twofold Frst of the first Fruits then of the whole Lump And first of the Resurrection of our Saviour but which I am not here to make Proof of for it is taken for granted in the Text. But if anie should bee so foolish and slow of heart as not to believ all that is written in the Prophets the Heathen Tacitus will tell you one Article in the 15 of his Annals That hee suffered under Pontius Pilate And the Jew Josephus addeth the other in the 18. of his Antiquities That hee rose again the third daie from the Dead That which most properly I am to make known to you is upon what Consideration our Saviour can bee called The First then by what Analogie The first Fruits The Patriarch Enoch was Translated and the Prophet Elias went up to Heaven in a fierie Chariot And the Assumption of Moses hath been disputed for by som though it should seem by the Contention betwix the Arch-Angel and the Divel about his bodie that there was no such matter Howsoever these all rather died not then rose again As for the Rising of Samuel to which the Cunning Woman of Endor pretended it was nothing less then a Resurrection 't was an Apparition And Saul should have said to the Woman as Hee to Her Why hast thou deceived mee for this is not Samuel Elisha indeed raised up the Shunamite's Son and our Saviour raised up his friend Lazarus after hee had been Dead four daies And yet still This was the first Resurrection The rest did not go before as the Scripture seemeth to saie but follow'd This. For as hee was a Lamb slain so was hee a Lamb Risen too from the begining of the World The rest were Raised Hee onely Rose from the Dead Elisha's dead Bones raised up Another Man's Our Saviour's dead Bones raised up themselvs They raised Others by His power Hee Himself by his own To saie therefore there was anie Resurrection before This is to saie that Abraham was before Christ The rest were all but second Brothers in the Resurrection Hee onely was Primogenitus Mortuorum the first begotten of the Dead Wee have seen in what sens our Saviour is to bee accounted the First I am now to tell you in what Proportion hee standeth to the First Fruits But then I am to lead you back to the Old Law of the Omer or Sheaf Levit. 23.9 Where the Children of Ifraël are commanded that at the reaping of their Harvest no Bread or Parched Corn or Green Ears bee eaten in their dwellings till a Sheaf of the Frst Fruits bee offered and Waved before the Lord together with a Lamb for a Burnt Offering The Traditions here and not unnecessarily supplie that those who lived far from the Holie Citie might eat of the New Corn when Mid-daie was past for that is was presumed the Sanhedrim would see the Sheaf offered up ere that time Thus the Letter and Cerimonie which how well it is answered in the Truth and Substance I shall briefly shew you The Typical Sheaf as the Doctors deliver in the Talmud was to bee cut down in the Night So was the True Codmenac Hee was cut down indeed in the Daie time but the Darkness was the greater for the verie Light of This Daie was Darkness and therefore how great was that A darkness that indeed might bee felt A darkness over the face of the whole Earth Such an one as in the Begining was over the face of the Deep before the Creator had said Let there bee Light And
fol. 142. though som of us Christians have so little to do and think our selvs so well acquainted with the unsearchable waies of God Cunmannus Fliusbachius as to bid our Readers take it upon their word Mundi hujus aetatem supra sex millia annorum tanquam certam immotam metam quam Deus mundo sapienti inscrutabili consilio determinavit non excursuram esse c. And what will becom of the Millenarie Sabbath of Rest if the six thousand Years whereon that depend's bee of no weightier consideration But to weaken or defend the Tradition I have no ingagement upon mee It yieldeth mee this Observation That in the Opinion of those which held it Our Saviour was to com in the Flesh in the sixth Millenarie of the World But by the Hebrew Account the Messiah was to com long before as the Angel Gabriel prophecied in the seventie Weeks determined upon that People It amounted therefore to this That either the Tradition must com down to the Text or the Text made to com up to that In the Arabick Catena and there onely I finde the Imputation laied upon the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is That the Jews cut off from the Ages of the World 3600 Years co conceal the Epiphanie of Christ that their Books might not convince them of the contrarie c. Caten Arab. C. 19. I begin to think how readily Morinus and others of the Romish Partie will resent this Testimonie Learned Men I confess but of a strange brow to pretend to the world Chronologiam juxta Lxx Interpretum numeros subductam Antiquis Hebraeorum codicibus videri conformem That the Chronologie computed according to the Numbers in the Septuagint probably differeth not from the Antient Hebrew Coppies But for the Sinceritie of the Hebrew Text the Foundation of God and man standeth sure And for that of Julius Africanus the onely thing which hath been urged to purpose in this Caus it shall bee unexspectedly answered Julius Africanus saith That the Jews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. themselvs delivered this Computation of years taught by the Sprit of God in Moses and out of the Hebrew Histories c. Not meaning as Morinus would have him that the Greek account was drawn from the Antient Originals of Moses but as Joannes Antiochenus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. For like as God made Man in the sixth daie as Moses expoundeth Psal 90. Orat Mos c. who also hath it in his writings That one daie of the Lord is as a thousand years c. So in the sixth Millenarie daie our Lord Jesus appeared And this was all Moses had to do with it That the things was don by the Jews I denie not but by those I mean the Hellenists And I take upon mee that the Corruption proceeded not by subduction from the Hebrew but the accession to the Greek Scripture and that it was don hard by the times of the Translation and to no other end then to what I pretended which was to make the Accounts fall even with their Tradition of the Messias coming in the sixth Millenarie of the world as it falleth out by the Epilogisms of Demetrius cited by Alexander Cornelius Eupolemon cited by Clemens Alexandrinus Euseb P. Evang. p. 248. Timotheus and others cited by Joannes Antiochenus differing som from the rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But all agree in this that our Saviour came in the sixth Chiliad The distinctest Enumeration of this Account is that of Theophil Antioch before the Insertion of the Caïnan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That is Adam was 330 Years old when hee begat Seth Seth 205 Enos Enos 190 Caïnan Caïnan 170 Malaleël Malaleël 165 Jared Jared 162 Enoch Enoch 165 Methusala Methusala 187 Lamech Lamec 188 Noah Noah 500 Sem Sem 100 Arphaxad Arphaxad 135 Sala Sala 130 Eber Eber 134 Phalec Phalec 130 Ragau. By this Account there passed from the Begining of the World to the 600 Year of Noah's life 2362 Years from thence to the 130 Year of Phalec 529 which added to the former Summ maketh up from the begining of the World to the same time 2891 Years 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as the same Period of Theophilus From the Flood to the time at which Abraham our forefather begat Isaac 1036 Years from Isaac the son of Abraham to the Sojourning of the People with Moses in the Wilderness 660 Years from the death of Moses to the death of David the Patriarch 498 Years from thence to the Captvitie in Babylon 518 Years from the begining of Cyrus to the end of Aurelius verus 744. Years that is from the Flood to the death of Aureliâ—s 3456 Years to which if wee add the 2362 Years from the Creäâ—ion to the Flood the Total is 5818 Years Substracting from thence 192 Years from the 42 of Augustus to the death of Aurelius our Saviour cometh into the World in the 626 Year of the sixth Millenarie But the Tradition as otherwise delivered will have it so That our Saviour must com precisely at the sixth hour of the sixth daie or verie middle of the sixth Millenarie So the Arabick Catena 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Cat. Arab. Ms. in Arch. Bib. Bod. The Lord Christ was to bee manifested after the end of 5500 Years for the Redemption of Adam as bee promised saying unto him The sixth daie at noon I will com unto thee and redeem thee Caten Arab ubi Suprá And therefore Eustathius Antiochenus observeth That Christ was Crucified the sixth Hour of the sixth Daie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to intimate the middle of the sixth Millenarie The form of the Period as it standeth to this Alteration is drawn up by the Patriarch Nicephorus in his Chronicon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 5500. So Joannes Antiochenus Eusebius the Aethiopian Calendar c. But also the Tradition especially required that the 6000 Years should bee equally divided by the times of Phalec 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. saith Eustathius Antiochenus Phalec in the Hebrew signifieth Division and the time of the World's duration was divided by his daies into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Joannes Antiochenus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Joan. Antio Ms. Lib. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From Adam to Phalec 3000 Years according to the Prophecie So Cedren p. 12. Suidas in Phalec and Hesychius in the Questions of Anastasius To reconcile the Numbers to this it was proceeded after this manner By the Period of Theophilus The interval from Adam to Phalec was 2891 Years To this 110 Years were to bee added First therefore and to make it look the more unlike a cheat they cut off 20 Years from Methusala's summ and whereas Theophilus had reckoned him at 187 they set him down 167 as in som Copies it still standeth
in opposition to the Sun yet neither do the Eclipses com to pass as often as these Lights oppose or conjoin for then they should bee Monethlie Onely that Conjunction or Opposition maketh an Eclips which is Diametral that is when the center of the Earth and the centers of both the Luminaries shall bee in the same line which hapneth to bee there onely where the Moon 's Eccentrick cutteth the Sun 's in that Line which is therefore called the Ecliptick This intersection is as needs it must but in two places called by Ptolomie the Nodi one asscending the other descending The Arabians term them the Dragon's Head and Tail from the fashion of the Intersections as they imagine it But neither do these Intersections keep one certain place but moving make a Circle of 18 Years so that the Eclips of the Moon which shall fall out the tenth of December next in the 20 deg of Gemini shall 18 Years hence com to pass in the same Sign again Therefore Eclipses beeing Periodical the begining of the World supposed the Astronomer by Calculation can attein to anie and all that ever have been by the same Rules by which hee foretelleth those that shall bee so that if anie where in Storie this Character shall occurr nothing can more assure the Time Let Instance bee made in the Begining of the Grecian Empire the appointment whereof dependeth upon the Battel at Arbela or as Plutarch correcteth at Gaugamele Eleven daies saith the same Autor before this fight an Eclips of the Moon was seen 'T was the second hour of the Night saith Plinie the Moon then rising in Sicilie Astronomical calculation demonstrateth that this Eclips all things considered could not fall out but in the second Year of the 112 Olympiad which was the 3619 of the World the Sun beeing then in the 24 deg of Virgo And therefore that God in Cicero mistook the cours of the Stars who presaged Cic. de Divinat lib. 1. that if the Moon should bee Eclips'd in Leo a little before the Sun's rise the Victorie should fall on Alexander's side So indeed it did but neither was the Moon then in Leo nor the Sun in the East De Emend Temp. lib. 5. Chronolog Bunting fol. 126. For such is the assurance of this Character that though the Astronomer learn of the Historian that there was an Eclips yet where and oft-times when it was the Historian might learn of him Eusebius and Dio set down that there was an Eclips of the Sun a little before the death of Augustus but by a Calculation Astronomical the Eclips was not of the Sun but of the Moon nor was it a little before but a little after his death S. Hierom reporteth that in his time about the Year of Christ 393 so terrible a darkness overshadowed the earth obscurato sole that everie man thought the World was at an end Nos scindimus Ecclesiam saith hee to Pammachius qui ante paucos menses circadies Pentecostes cum obscurato Sole omnis Mundus jam jámque venturum Judicem formidaret But the Astronomers finde that there could bee no Eclips of the Sun then nor near about that time but in such cases they answer that the Interposition was made by som unusual exhalations of that opacitie which might intercept the Sun's light in as great a measure as if the Moon had com between Such an one was that Eclips as som Historians miscal it which was seen so often in one Year before Cesar's death and that of the Year 798 the Sun beeing so dark for 18 daies together ut naves in mari aberrarent Scal in Prolegom pag. 51. which was a greater Eclips then the Moon could make Yet neither is it here to bee dissembled that the Astronomers themselvs do not alwaies agree about this infallible Character for Moller findeth out by his Frisian Tables manie Eclipses which cannot bee attein'd unto by the Prutenick Tables or those of the King Alphonsus c. To excuse this wee are to laie an imputation upon their Tables as beeing not all exacted from the same Hypotheses or not performed with like elaborate erection Or otherwise wee are to saie supposing the Tables to bee exact that som error was committed in the calculation of the Eclips And in this case wee are to guid our selvs by the greatest Masters in the Art For what if Moller saie that the Year of Cesar Augustus his diseas cannot bee demonstrated by the Eclips of the Moon in the begining of Tiberius becaus the Moon was Eclipsed both the Year before and after Sethus Calvisius may satisfie that neither of those could bee total as this was and whereas the one of those was seen at 7 the other at 8 of the Clock at night this was seen at 5 in the Morning And therefore all this notwithstanding the Character is to bee accounted excellent and of singular importance which Aristotle himself not ignorant of appointed Calisthenes at the siege of Babylon to reserv with all possible care the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Astronomical calculations of the Chaldeans as Simplicius relateth And the care was taken yet none of these observations though known to bee very manie could escape the injurie of time save onely three Eclipses which came to Ptolomie's hands unto which himself added three more of his own observation serving very much to the advancement of Historical Truth though this bee but a small number in comparison of those manie which the Historians here and there have committed to Memorie for indeed wee are not for this matter much less beholden to ignorance then to knowledg Wee know when it was that a Romane General durst not give Battel for fear of an Eclips and that of the Moon in the begining of Tiberius as one mentioned Tacitus Annal 1. as Tacitus can tel us affrightned the mutinous Souldiers into order and accord And 't is not long since the Conqueror of the Indies persuaded the Natives that hee had complained of them to their Moon and that such a daie the God should frown upon them which was nothing els but an Eclips which hee had found out in his Almanack However this ignorant Admiration was an occasion to the Men of those daies not to leav so strange an Accident as an Eclips out of their Storie especially if it happened to bee great or concurring with anie notable design little aiming at that which the reach of those daies hath brought to pass upon them which by turning over the leavs of that celestial volume recovereth their Eclipses again and by application of this Character maketh as sure of the time proposed as if it had been written in Heaven CHAP. III. Concerning the Cycle of the Sun THe division of the Year into 52 Weeks becaus it setteth off one daie supernumerarie maketh an alteration in all the rest so that the daies of the Week which use to bee assigned by the letters of the Alphabet fall not alike
therefore 't is to bee said that hee referreth to the Dionysian Account in the 38 whereof hee might com into Egypt in the time of Evergetes And therefore Petavius upon his Epiphanius first and again in his Doctrina Temporum had little reason to fall so foully upon the much more learned Autor of this and manie other admired Revelations CHAP. XIV AEra Hispanica JVlius Caesar in the fourth of his Dictatorship appointed his Mathematicians to the Correction of the Roman Year Dion lib. 11. which is the begining of the Julian Account The The 283 whereof Censorinus saith was the 1014 of Iphilus and that the 986 of Nabonassar Therefore the Julian Account began the 703 of Nabonassar which was the 4669 of the Julian Period and 3905 from the Worlds Creätion The Cycle of the Sun was 21 and the Moon 14. Seven Years after and 38 before the Nativitie of Christ the Spaniards beeing brought under the subjection of the Empire received also this form of year their Aera from that time forth bearing Date from hence which though it was the fifth of Augustus yet the Style went in the Dictators Name and so the King Alphonso would bee understood in his Tables when hee calleth this Term Aera Caesaris meaning the Dictator CHAP. XV. Aera Actiacae Victoriae c. CAEsar Augustus having triumphed over Antonie and Cleopatra in the battel of Actium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Dion became himself to bee Monarch of the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. insomuch that hee gave command that the Empire should begin to compute their Acts from this daie's Achievment which was the second of September by Dion It was the year of the World 3919 and 4683 of the Julian Period as otherwise and also by an Eclips noted in the Fasti Seculi 't is manifest yet by the decree of the Senate this Aera was fixed in the destruction of Alexandria which was taken August the 29 of the year following 't was the 16 Julian year and the 294 from the Death of Alexander Till this time the Egyptian account measured by Nabonassar's year consisting of 365 daies without anie intercalation of the odd hours in the place hereof the Julian form succeeded And becaus the Egyptians called everie daie in the year by the Name of som God which were therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and everie year of their Lustrum's or Quadriennals in like manner which were therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anni Deorum these years were henceforth called in honor of Augustus Anni Augustorum Deorum or Anni Augustorum as 't is recorded by Censorinus who onely mentioneth them by this Name This Aera Actiaca continued in use till the time of Dioclesian who having gained himself an Opinion of Wisedom and Fortune among his People thought himself worthie from whom the Computation should now begin which was don It was therefore called by those of the Empire Aera Dioclesianea but by the Christians Aera Martyrum Sanctorum from the great Passion of Saints in the 19 of this Emperor's Raign wherein more then one hundred fortie and four thousand Christians suffered persecution in Egypt Thus Ignatius the Patriarch of Antioch answered Scaliger by his Letters Vir saith Scaliger quo doctiorem Oriens nostro seculo non tulit But the Aera Martyrum and that of Dioclesian begin at the same time as Christman upon his Alfraganus proveth out of Abull Hassumi an Arabick Historiographer And to assure the beginning of Dioclesians Aera Theon upon the Almagest noteth an Eclips of the Moon at Alexandria Theon Hypom 6. in Ptolem. Almag p. 248. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in the 81 year of Dioclesian and 1112 of Nabonassar Ashyr the 29 and 6 of Phamenoth and this Eclips exacted to the Julian form hapned November 25 a little after midnight in the year of the World 4313 and 364 from the Incarnation the Sun was in the 5 of Sagittarie Therefore Dioclesian's Aera was fixed in the 1032 of Nabonassar which was the 284 from the Incarnation Therefore as it is called Aera Martyrum it referreth not to the persecution in the 19 of Dioclesian but to that of his first year wherein Diodorus the Bishop celebrating the Holie Communion with manie other Christians in a Cave was immured into the earth and so buried all alive Eusebius in Dioclesian This Aera is used by S. Ambrose Epiphanius Evagrius Hermannus Contractus Bede and others It stood in common Christian use until the times of Dionysius the Abbot who in stead hereof brought in the Aera of Christ's Incarnation so that as Peter Aliac our Bede and others the Christians did not use to reckon by the years of Christ until the 532 of the Incarnation yet Scaliger may bee seen De Emend lib. 5. p. 495. p. 496. p. the 18 of his Prolegomena Nor is it to bee thought saith Christman that this Aera Martyrum was utterly abolished except we mean it of Rome for saith hee 'tis yet in use among the Egyptians Arabians Persians Ethiopians and generally the Eastern men Scaliger saith it once and again how truly I doubt that it never was but as it still is used in the Egyptian and Ethiopian Churches No doubt but that it was most proper to Egypt where it first began for which caus it is called by the Arabians Teric Elgupti the Aera Aegyptica From the Egyptians the most part of the world received it though the Abassines or Ethiopians in a directer line as whose Patriarch and Religion is subject to that of Alexandria The Ethiopians call it the Anni Gratiae CHAP. XVI Aera Christi Nati DIonysius the Abbot who as wee said was Autor to the world of accounting by this new Aera infinitely more concerning then that of Dioclesian fixed the same in the 4713 of the Julian Period which answereth to the 3950 year from the World's Creätion so that the Anni Christi were not in use of Computation till the 532 year after the Nativitie as it was fixed by Dionysius This Dionysian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the more accurate in Chronologie finde to bee at fault but not themselvs agreeing upon the difference To saie nothing of the Bishop of Middleburgh who affirmeth that this Aera was behinde-hand with the true Nativitie 22 years and that S Paul himself had revealed this to him though afterward hee changed this opinion S. Paul it seem's not beeing in the right and believed that this Aera was so far from beeing 22 years behinde that it was two years before-hand with the truth Capellus laboreth to prove that it is a Metachronism of six years Kepler of five Decker of four others of three Scaliger of two who demonstrateth as hee himself thinketh that the first year Dionysian of Christ ought to bee reckoned the third Learned Bunting one of the first who took this exception demonstrateth that the difference is but of one year Hee proveth it thus Taking for granted out of S.
wee a Cross in ours From this Aera Fugae Muchammedanae they reckon their years CHAP. XIX Aera Jesdigerdica THis Aera was fixed saith Albumazar Anno Hegirae 11 Rabie prioris 22. fer 3. which answereth to the 16 of June Anno Christi 632 so called from Jesdagerd the last Persian King in whom that Empire saith Haithon the Armenian was lost the same year of our Lord unto Othman the Saracen to bee reckoned not from the inauguration as Alphraganus and Isaac the Monk and som others but from the death of Jesdagerd The Persians begin their year at the Vernal Aequinox accurately observing the Sun's entrance into the first point of Aries which daie they call Neuruz that is Novus dies from ruz which in their tongue signifieth a daie and Neu novus new entertaining this time with great solemnitie which they hold so sacred that no Matrimonie there is accounted legitimate if not contracted in the Spring Now becaus the Aegyptian year to which that Aera did applie still anticipated the Sun's motion and gave an unjust account of the Equinox the Sultan of Corasan or Mesopotamia appointed eight of the most learned Astrologers of that age amongst whom Aben sina or Avicen was one to make an exact determination of the Tropical year which was don as they could This new form was fixed in the Aequinox observed by them the Sun entring the first point of Aries Thursdaie the 18 of Phrurdin at two of the Clock in the afternoon in the 448 year of Jesdagard and 471 of the Hegira which was 1079 of the Incarnation according to Dionysius The Cycle of the Sun was 24 the Moon 16. This Aera from the Style of the Emperor was called Gelalaea that is Aera Augusta or Imperatoria as that word signifieth in the Persian Dialect CHAP. XX. What is Proleptical and what Historical Time HIstorical Time is that which is deduced from the Aera Orbis Conditi Proleptical is that which is fixed in the Chaos The Jews call it tempus Tohu as the Chaos is called by their Moses Gen. 1. So the new Moon which they suppose to bee upon the second of the fix daies that is if the Luminaries had then been they call Novilunium Tohu for that as yet there was neither Sun nor Moon The first example of Proleptical Time was given by the Greek Church who in their Computations follow the Holie Scripture of the Septuagint Therefore their Aera Orbis Conditi is sixed in 5500 year Ante Christum Natum Their more Artificial men perceiving that this vast Epilogism was good for somwhat els besides the measuring of Times applied it to the Characters and they found that divided by 19 and 28 it gave the Circle of the Sun and Moon but divided by 15 it gave not the true Indiction therefore they added 8 to the summ and so it became a Technical or Artificial Period comprehending the three Characters and becaus it supposed 8 years of the Tohu it was Proleptical but which the Times following not considering reckoned Historically as if the Aera Orbis had then been fixed but are thus to bee corrected This Account is used by the Maronites Grecians and generally by the Eastern Church it is called Aera Graecorum or more properly Periodus Constantinopolitana from the Seat of the Empire where it may seem to have been devised By this Example Scaliger made up his Julian Period which it self also as this consisteth of Time partly Historical and partly proleptical CHAP. XXI Considering the Causses of that infinite Varietie which is found to bee amongst Chronologers FRederick Husman in his Epistle to the Elector Palatine reckoneth up 40 several Opinions concerning the Connection of those two famous Aera's this of Christi Nati and that other of Orbis Conditi And I doubt not but this diversitie might bee redoubled if anie bodie would undertake that such frivolous pains The extremest varietie is that of the Greek and Hebrew Scripture making a difference of two thousand years an occasion justly taken by som equally to disparage the autoritie either of the one or the other For it cannot bee but that this Epilogism must bee detracted from the Hebrew or superadded to the Greek there beeing no mean waie of reconciliation But certainly the Hebrew though I hold it not so everie waies incorrupt as if not one jot or title of the same suffered the common fate of time yet I believ it to bee the Original and by the incredible diligence of the Masora subservient to the greater providence of God to retain more of it 's own puritie then anie other Scripture whatsoever and therefore that it resteth in the Greek Translation to account for this difference yet neither do I think that choice Assemblie so neglected by God in a matter so importantly cared for by him as to recede so fouly from their Original I rather cast this corruption upon the dregs of Time assuring my self that this imposture was put upon us by the Hellenists those among them who affected that antient Heresie of the Chiliasts the conceit whereof I affirm to bee the occasion of this corruption Other differences in that Connexion have these lesser Causses That profane Historie maketh no certain account of Time before the Olympiads That in the Romane affairs a most important piece of Historie the Consulships are not registred in the Fasti with that distinction and care as was necessarie experience whereof hath been made by the industrious examinations of Onuphrius and Cuspinian That the Historians themselvs generally did not consider so much the designation of Time otherwise then with a reference to their own Aera's which were but uncertainly fixt That manie of them wrote not the Historie of their own Times That som of them took libertie to relate those things inclusively which others related exclusively That several Nations reckoned not by the same form of years That all Nations not Christian affected an Opinion of greater Antiquitie then their own beginings endevouring therefore to leav the Storie of their rising as possibly uncertain to posteritie as in them laie So the Egyptians tell us of Heroes past who by their reckoning reigned long before the world was made which they saie with as much credit as the Indians tell us that they have out-liv'd four Suns alreadie and that this which wee have is the fifth from their begining To saie nothing of Janbazar Tsareth and Roani men that lived before Adam's time as the book Heubattish make's report and that one Sombasher was Adam's Tutor But the greatest caus of all is for that Professed Chronologers of our own times such as Funccius Beroaldus Bucholcer nay Satian Baronius Torniellus and Gordon themselvs were altogether unacquainted with anie Artificial waie of this work not knowing how to make application of Natural and Civil Characters to the assuring of Times One of the first who began to know what was to bee don in this matter was the most learned and perceiving Mercator who Instituted a Chronologie
Aera or Epoche doth restrain matters noted in Antiquitie to that certain time which is so called Concerning the Circle of the Sun and Moon each Almanack can tell as for Eclipses Simplicius in Secunâ— lib. de Coelo the Babylonians beeing great Astronomers observed the most that were visible in the Horizon of Ashur during the space of this Monarchie as Misthenes searched out in the Chaldean Archives at the request of Aristotle in the time of Alexander but these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 came not to our hands where anie such observation shall bee found to bee wee will make use of that which is left and griev for what is lost That which first require's our diligence is to finde out whither this Monarchie were the first which will prove a question though it is not ordinarily doubted of The reason of the Question is the account of Affricanus which Scaliger following findeth it to reach backward beyond the Flood and therefore hee setteth down according to Julius Affricanus two Dynastics before this of the Assyrians the first of the Chaldeans whose State was overthrown by the Arabians In libello Canonum Isagogic and then theirs by the Babylonians The Scripture maketh no mention of anie King before Nimrod and this Monarchie of Syria is amongst all the Greeks and Latines accounted the most antient yet if it were as Julius saith then were they but som petit governments or els which is most true this Assyrian Monarchie was the first after the Flood R. Aben Ezra which also is the verie minde and speech of a great Doctor among the Jews The second thing to bee don is to finde out the Aera of this Monarchie when it first began which that it may bee the better performed wee must first make sure of the great and grand Epoche of the World's Creätion unto which the most of Nations direct their Chronologies Supposing therefore out of Christian Philosophie that this World had a begining 't is most probable that it began in som Cardinal point of the Celestial Motions either in the Solstice or in the Equinox Gerard Mercator supposeth the Worlds Creätion to have been about the Summer Solstice the Sun beeing in Aries but the Contrarie will appear The greatest controversie hold's to the Equinoxes the most holding that the Creätion was in the Vernal Equinox the best in the Autumnal The Saeder Olam or Jewish Chronologie relates that there was a great disputation between Rabbi Josue and Rabbi Eliezer concerning this Aera Rabbi Josue striving for the Vernal Eliezer for the Autumnal The Latter will bee found to bee the most Orthodox in the opinion as shall thus appear And first no man can Question but that the world began in that Period from whence the old world reckoned their years which hee that maketh trial shall finde to bee from the Autumnal intersection as is most apparant in accounting the time of the Flood Scaliger in Cap. de Cond Mundi This manner of Computation Abraham taught the Egyptians as an Antient Autor Alexander Polyhistor testifieth Euseb l 9. de praep This Custom the Egyptians long reteined the Opinion alwaies for so according to their minde Julius Firmicus the great Astrologer reporteth that this was current that the World was Creäted in posterioribus Librae as wee finde saith hee in the Barbarian Sphear Hee spake with a respect had to the Phaenomena of his time but it appeareth plainly what the Egyptian Sphear which hee calleth Barbarian See for the reason the great Critick upon the Sphoera Barbarica of Manilius had determined for the Epoche of the World's Creätion The like Attestation may bee observed in the Antient Hetrurians whose custom was at the begining of everie Year in stead of other Kalendars to fix a Nail in their great Temple which Festus Rufus and Livie witness to have been don in the Autumn Add hereunto that Moses calleth that the seventh Moneth which in som part answereth to the Autumnal Equinox This Moneth was called Aethanim which the Chaldie Paraphrast expounding confirmeth all that hath been said in these words The Moneth Aethanim which is now the seventh was antiently called the first Moneth Wherefore the Almightie God layed the foundations of this greater World in the first daie of the Week at Even begining the 26 of October the first portion of Aries beeing in the first Hous and the first of Capricorn in the tenth Libra in the seventh and Cancer in the fourth The Sun if then hee had been should have entred the first degree of Libra Mercurie the twelfth and Venus the fourteenth The Moon at the Conjunction Saturn in the first of Aries Jupiter in Virgo Mars in Leo and the Dragons-head in Pisces This was the figure of the Heavens when they were first formed the same beeing Astronomically calculated and erected according to Tycho's Tables See Calvisius The Aera of the Deluge reckoned from hence will easily appear out of Moses who listeth to search his Genealogies of the old World shall finde the summ to bee 1656 years with a fraction of 46 daies The Septuagint accounteth more the Samaritans less 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Computus Samariticus ad Scaligerum id est Min Adam el Mocho Meeth Shanah c from Adam to his death are 130 years c. Saeder Olam Rabba Zâ—tah That which wee have set down is the account of the Hebrews both in their great Chronologie and the less and is most agreeable to their great Prophet Moses These things beeing don wee shall the better finde out to what Aera our Kingdom of Ashur must bee referred which shall bee found out in this manner A priori this cannot bee but à posteriori thus It must bee observed in what year the Citie of Babylon was taken in the time of Alexander the Great and that may easily bee accomplished by the help of the Olympiads and Nabonassar's Aera Calvisius with others hath don it to our hands and it is exact It was saith hee in the 3619 year of the World This year of the World was the 1902 year of the Babylonish Monarchie as the Chaldeans themselvs declared to Calisthenes the Philosopher who was imploied in this search at the intreatie of his Tutor Aristotle the latter summ beeing deducted from the former Simplicius in Secund. lib. de Coelo there remaineth 1717 the Epoche or Aera which wee sought for within a smal matter And for this wee are greatly engaged to the dextrous care of our great Philosopher whose diligence if it had not here also helped us the begining of this Kingdom had put Chronologers to an endlels labor And now wee dare believe Diodorus hee saith that the state of Ashur stood from the first to the death of Sardanapalus 1360 years from thence to the taking of Astyages by Cyrus Clesius a Physitian of Cnidus accounteth 313 years which thing happened in the year of the world 3391 in the first year of the 55