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THE Egyptian HISTORY Treating of the PYRAMIDS The Inundation of the Nile and other PRODIGIES of EGYPT According to the Opinions and Traditions of the ARABIANS Written Originally in the Arabian Tongue by Murtadi the Son of Gaphiphus Rendered into French by Monsieur Vattier Arabick Professor to the King of France And thence faithfully done into English by J. DAVIES of Kidwelly London Printed by R. B. for Thomas Basset at the George near Cliffords-Inn in Fleet-street 1672. To my Honoured Uncle Mr. JOHN GRIFFITH Of Llangwendraeth in the County of Carmarthen Dear Uncle WHen I was upon the Translation of this Piece I often entertained you with several Stories of it and you thought them not unpleasant You now have them all together and what must needs add to your satisfaction and diversion you will find a strange account according to the Arabians of a Countrey which affords matter of Admiration to those who travel thither even in our days You know how often I have bemoan'd your loss of divers excellent Manuscripts Prophecies Poetry and other Subjects relating to our own Countrey for certainly nothing so pleasant as to survey the Genius and Humours of our earliest Predecessors But since it is vain to call Time to an account for all the excellent things it hath devoured and to fasten on its Envy what is justly attributed to Humane Negligence give me leave to recommend this Prodigious Treatise which hath had the Fortune to escape its Teeth to your perusal and when I consider with what complacency you quote and reflect on the Actions and Apophthegmes of those who have Inhabited the World many Centuries of years before us I cannot doubt but you will approve the publick acknowledgment I make by the present address of my being Honour'd Uncle Your most affectionate Nephew and humble Servant J. DAVIES A TABLE Of the most remarkable things in the ensuing History of Egypt THe Priests of Egypt Page 4 The Cater 5 The Magick of the Egyptian Priests 7 Gancam King and Priest commands Spirits to build him a Palace 8 The Priestess Borsa and her Acts. 10 c. The Brazen Tree 14 The Maritime Pyramid 16 Divers Kings of Egypt 17 c. The City of the Black Eagle 21 The Pyramids built by Aclimon 24 25 Saurid's Mirrour 26 Pyramids built before the Deluge 29 The Brothers Annals 30 The three Pyramids 34 The Guards of the Pyramids 39 Stories of the Pyramids I II III IV V. 42 c. Predictions made to King Saurid 51 Nebuchodonozor 53 The Spirits of the Pyramids 54 History of the Deluge 59 King Darmasel 64 The Ark. 71 The Deluge 73 Different opinions of the Deluge 76 The History of Noah according to an Ancient Book found by the Author 77 Noah's Wife 82 The time from Adam to the Deluge 86 The Elephant and Lion in the Ark. 87 What part the Devil hath in the Vine 89 The Scorpion and the Serpent 91 Kings of Egypt before the Deluge 92 c. Moncatam's Chemistry 101 The Pharaos of Alexandria 102 Noah's Prayer for Masar 104 Masar's Tomb. 106 Kings of Egypt after the Deluge 108 The History of Abraham and Totis King of Egypt 109 Charoba Totis's Daughter 112 Abraham's Prayer for Charoba 114 Charoba poisoning her Father reigns after him 117 The History of Gebirus and Charoba 119 The Nymph Marina 123 Painters in the bottom of the Sea 126 The seven Tombs 128 Charoba's Nurse defeats Gebirus and his Army 131 Charoba's death 135 Dalica Queen of Egypt 136 Kings of Egypt after her 137 Words of Mahumet advantageous to Egypt 139 Augmentation of the Nile 142 A Virgin Sacrific'd to that end 443 Pharao 146 Sources of the Nile 150 Causes of its overflowing 151 Qualities of Egypt 158 The History of the Egyptian Slave 159 Other qualities of Egypt 163 Gamra and Zephta 173 Omar 174 The Land of Alphiom 177 The Mamunus 178 The Rajan Joseph's Pharao 181 The Acts of Joseph in Egypt 185 A second story of Alphiom Ibid. The Nilemeter 188 A third story of Alphiom 190 A fourth story of it 194 Joseph's Prison 195 The place of Jacob's Camel 198 Zelicha Joseph's Mistress 199 Caphor's Prayer 200 Joseph's Prayer 202 The Pyramids 206 Macherir the Blind man 207 Mussulman Daemons 211 The Pyramids 212 Quisias the son of Caltham 214 The Front of a Mosquey 220 The augmentations of the Mosquey of Masre 226 History read in the Mosquey 229 The green Tables of the Mosquey of Masre 230 Pharao's Castle 234 Caron the Wealthy who is Corah 236 Moses's Chemistry 239 Omars Letter to Gamrou 245 Gamrou's answer to Omar 246 A Statue of Mahumet at Masre 254 Another Statue of Mahumet 256 Mary of Egypt 258 The last words of Mahumet 259 Other words of Mahumet 261 The words of a Sage of Egypt 262 The Prophets and devout Persons liv'd by their Labour 263 The cries of a Devote at the Mosquey Gate of Masre 265 THE French Author's Preface Rendred into English Giving an account of the design of this Treatise and its publishing EGypt is a Province so pregnant in prodigies that from the earliest times those whose curiosity excited them to the knowledge of excellent things have made it one of the principal objects of their considerations Pliny names thirteen famous Authors who had written before him of the Pyramids which are one of the things admir'd therein and Herodotus desirous to say something of that Countrey in general before he came to the particular Narration of the expedition which Cambyses King of Persia had made into it and whereto the design of his History led him spent in that digression all his Euterpe that is to say one of the nine Books wherein it was his intention to comprehend whatever had been remarkable in the World to this time All the Authors who have since written in Greek or Latine or any other Language known in Europe have not omitted treating of the same subjects according to the occasions they have had to do it as being likely to prove the noblest Ornaments of their Works As concerning the Arabians though the Treatise whereof I here publish the Translation be short enough yet have they discoursed very amply of it in several Books and it is not long since I saw in the Lord Chancellors Library two Manuscripts in Folio of great bulk and close written which treat only of the rarities and singularities of Egypt at least if the Titles which have been put thereto by such as have examined them be true for I have not yet had the opportunity to consider them at leisure And therefore I shall not give any punctual account of them calling to mind that at the beginning of this very Manuscript out of which I have made this Translation some Italian had written these words as it were for its Title De Negromanzia e dell ' origine de â—i Negromanti which had obliged me at first to slight it and diverted me from looking more narrowly into it if the
it Masre a name common to all Aegypt and which we have several times rendred the ancient Metropolis of Aegypt in the Mahumetan History Alexandria is on the Sea-side near the Western mouth The Nile flows in one single Chanel through the midst of the plain from Eliphantina to the point of the Delta which is about fifty leagues from the Sea there it is divided into two afterwards into several branches before it falls into it Their conjecture who held Aegypt to be a new Land and come from some remote part was that heretofore the space between the two Mountains from Elephantina or a little below it to Alexandria had been a gulph of the Sea like and in a manner parallel in its situation to that which is called the Red Sea and entred into the Countries from the North towards the South as the Red Sea enters into them from South to North and that in processe of time the abundance of slime which the Nile brings down when it is overflown had filled that space and framed therein the land which is now seen there and which had no resemblance to those of Arabia and Africk which are adjoyning thereto whence they imagined it a stranger and come from far Herodotus was of opinion that that collection of slime might have been made in less then twenty thousand years taking haply his conjecture according to the increase of it from Homer's time to his own For Homer affirms that the Island of Pharos was in his time at a far greater distance from the Continent then it hath been since as Pliny hath observed inferring consequently thence that Aegypt was augmented and advanced nearer the Sea What I think miraculous in this is that the Inhabitants of a Countrey which in appearance began not till a long time after the rest should count the Years of their Antiquities in a far greater number then other Nations their Neighbours and should make in their Countrey sumptuous Structures which yet could not preserve the memorie of their Authors to a time when other Nations were but in a manner beginning to entertain thoughts of doing somewhat of that kind though they have lasted a long time after the ruine of those which were made much later And yet all this methinks depends on the same cause which is the excellency of the soil of that Province and the facility of cultivating it in as much as having always been able to maintain a far greater number of men then were requisite about the culture of it the Princes who were possessed thereof were obliged to find out other employments for the greatest part of their Subjects and this occasioned the early invention of Philosophy by those who were inclined to meditate on the wonderful things of nature and to spend the rest allowed their bodies in employing the intellectual faculties of their souls in those noble labours Aristotle speaks thus of it when he says that they studyed Philosophy in Aegypt sooner then any where else because there they soonest permitted the Priests to live in a commendable exemption from labour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As for others who could only work with their hands in regard the mild temperature of the Air dispenced with their employing themselves in many professions necessary elsewhere to secure mens bodies from its injuries it was requisite they should be employed in such works as might declare the powerfulness and magnificence of their Kings Whence I conceive Pliny justly blameable for the character he gives these Miracles of the World when he says they are Regum pecuniae stulta ostentatio and that after he had said that those who had written of them before him differed about the Names of the Kings who built them he should add these words Justissimo casu obliteratis tantae vanitatis authoribus For if all the works which contribute nothing to the supply of the necessities of humane life are follies Pliny himself is in hazard to be esteemed to have done many and this conceit of his is in my judgement much different from that of Pythagoras who as Cicero relates affirms that among the several sorts of persons who met ordinarily at the great general Assembly of all Greece those who came not thither upon any business nor out of design to get any thing but only to see what passed were the honester people Genus vel maxime ingenuum whom he therefore compared to the Philosophers These great Princes therefore are methinks rather to be bemoaned that their Names were already forgotten above fifteen hundred years since after they had made for the eternization thereof the Works which are to this day seen and admired rather then they are to be blamed for having done such noble things And this oblivion also no doubt proceeds from the excellency of their Countrey which having been envyed by all Foreiners who have known it hath always been one of the first preys of the Conquerours and by that means so often changed Masters that it is no wonder the memorie of the most Ancient should be lost whereas the Princes who once settled themselves therein were well satisfied with that possession and thought not of disturbing their Neighbours True it is that Strabo affirms that in Thebais above Diospolis and Memnon's Temple he saw on the magnificent Tombs of forty Kings Obelisks on which there were writings graven which mentioned great Conquests made by those Kings as far as Scythia Bactriana and the Indies Herodotus affirms the same of Sesâ—stris but it may be doubted whether these great Conquerours were natural Egyptians or Strangers who among other Countries had subdued Aegypt for Alexander the Great was no Aegyptian though he had his Tomb at Alexandria and had been the Founder of that great City However it were yet this is certain that the inclination of the Kings of Aegypt for great Structures is very ancient since the Pharao's who Reigned in the times of Joseph and Moses and who probably are comprehended by Herodotus under the single name of Pheron had it as may be seen by the complaints of the Israelites against them when they made them work hard in the making of Brick and paid them ill That Pheron of Herodotus was such a Person as the Pharao's are represented to us for he was no Conquerour but an insolent and impious Prince and the Pharao's were such as the Arabian expression at this day affirms it who say To play the Pharao that is to demean himself insolently and tyrannically whence haply comes the French word Faire le Fanfaron As to the Antiquity of the Sciences in Aegypt there is no doubt to be made of it since Plato and Eudoxus learn'd Astronomy there in a School where they studied thirteen years and which was shewed at Heliopolis as a rarity in Strabo's time who affirms he saw it there and adds that the Grecians never knew exactly of how many Days Hours and Minutes the Year consisted till they had read thereupon the Books of the Priests of Aegypt
Worldly concerns came according to their wishes King Saurid having compleated the Structure cover'd them with Silks of several colours from the top to the bottom and caused a great Feast to be celebrated for them whereto all the Inhabitants of the Kingdom came not so much as one being wanting from all the Coasts of Egypt Then he commanded them to make thirty Gernes or great Vessels of colour'd stone which they excellently cast He also ordered covers to be made of the same Every Vessel held a hundred Mules load He caused them to be set in the lowest Story of the Eastern Pyramid and had brought thither precious Stones and Jacinths till the Floor was full thereof He caused the Vessels to be cover'd with their Covers and Lead to be melted thereon then he caused pieces of Gold and Silver to be scatter'd as much as might divert their sight who should look on them Then he caused to be brought thither all he could of his Treasures and the most precious of his Wealth Jewels Plate Precious Stones cast and coloured Pearls Vessels of Emerald Vessels of Gold and Silver Statues excellently wrought Artificial Waters Talismans precious Iron that would twine about like Cloath Philosophical Laws the Nurses of Wisdom divers sorts of Medicinal Drugs exquisite Tables of Brass on which divers Sciences were written as also Poisons and Mortal drinks which Kings have ready by them and wholesome Preservatives and Antidotes and several other things which it is impossible to describe But all this could not secure them from the evils wherewith God afflicted them for their Infidelity In the mean time they imagin'd that their Fortresses would defend them against God but God came to them on the side they were not aware of and destroyed their great Flocks by the Deluge and other misfortunes Praise be to him he is the only and the Almighty God All is perishable save onely his Majesty to him belongs Wisdom and to him you will return After that says the Author King Saurid caused to be brought into the second Pyramid the Idols of the Stars and the Tabernacles of the Celestial Bodies and what Statues and Perfumes his Ancestors had caused to be made by means whereof men had access to him and their Books and what Annals and Histories they had caused to be made for themselves of what had pass'd in their time and of the predictions of what was to happen after them to the Kings who should govern Egypt to the last times and the state of the fixed Stars and what was to happen by their repose and motions from time to time Then he caused to be put into the third Pyramid the Bodies of the Kings and Priests in Gernes or great Vessels of hard black Stone and by every Priest his Book and the Miracles of his Art and Life He also caused to be set along the walls of the Pyramids Idols which held in their hands all the Arts according to their ranks and measures the description of each Art and the manner of exercising it and what was necessary for that and in like manner the Caters For the Priests were distinguish'd into seven Orders the first whereof was that of the Caters who were they that served all the seven Planets every Planet seven Years With the Cater was the Universal Doctor The second Order was theirs who serv'd six Planets and immediately followed after the first degree After that they named that which served five of them and under the following and inferiour Then he caused also to be brought into the third Pyramid the Bodies of the Masters of the Laws with those of the Priests and the wealth of the Houses of the Stars and their Ornaments which they had had by Offerings and the goods of the Priests After that he appointed one of them for a Guard to each Pyramid The Guard therefore of the Eastern Pyramid was an Idol of Jamanick shell black and white which had both eyes open and sate on a Throne having near it as it were a Halberd on which if any one cast his eye he heard on that side a dreadful noise which made his heart faint and he who heard that noise dyed There was a Spirit appointed to serve that Guard which Spirit never went from before it The Guard of the Western Pyramid was an Idol of hard Red stone having in like manner in his hand somewhat like a Halberd and on his head a wreathed Serpent which flew at those who came near him clung about their necks and kill'd them There was appointed to serve him an ugly deformed Spirit which parted not from him For Guard to the third Pyramid he had plac'd a small Idol of Baby stone on a Basis of the same which Idol drew to it those who look'd on it and stuck to them till it had destroy'd them or made them distracted There was also a Spirit appointed to serve it which parted not from it Saurid having finish'd the building of the Pyramids and compassed them with the bodies of Spiritual substances he offer'd Sacrifices to them and presented them with the Offerings chosen for them The Spirits appointed for the service of each Star knew the Ascendant of the Stars they served and they serv'd them according to their rank one after another He distributed and appointed the names under which should be divided the Works that should be presented to them The Coptites affirm that King Saurid's Name was written upon the first Pyramid with the time spent in the building of it Some say he had it built in six moneths and that he defied those that came after him to demolish it in 600 years though it be certain it is more easie to pull down then to build He said also speaking to them themselves I have cover'd them with Silk do you cover them if you can with Linen cloth But those who have reigned after him at several times have seen that they were nothing in comparison of him and that they could not cover them so much as with Mat and with much ado should they have cover'd them with any thing else As to the miraculous stories related of the Pyramids the Author of that Book God shew him mercy says that in the Annals contained in the Books of the Egyptians and their Miracles there is such plenty of admirable Histories that it is impossible to relate them all I shall onely adds he relate some of them and among others this The Commander of the Faithful the Mamunus God shew him mercy being come into the Land of Egypt and having seen â—he Pyramids had a desire to demolish them or at least some one of them to se what was within it Whereupon it was thus said to him You desire a thing which it is not possible for you to have If you attempt it and fail it will be a dishonour to the Commander of the Faithful Whereto he replied I cannot for bear but I must discover something He therefore put
of the Kings of Egypt before the Deluge The first of the Kings of Egypt after the Deluge was Masar the son of Mesraim who is Bansar the son of Gham the son of Noah to whom God grant peace and mercy This Masar was son to the daughter of the Priest Philemon who believed in Noah For they say that Pharaan the last of the Kings of Egypt before the Delugu grew proud upon the earth and treated his people insolently and tyrannically taking away their goods and committing Injustices such as none had done before or after him and shedding Mens bloud by his continual murthers Nay Kings themselves were afraid of him and respected him He it was who writ to Darmasel the son of Mechavel King of Babylon and advised him to put Noah to death Darmasel had already written to the Inhabitants of Gueraca and of all the other Provinces to know of them whether there were any other Gods besides the Idols and had related to them the History of Noah and the Religion which he preached and how he incited them to the worship of one onely God different from those whom they adored Every one of them had rejected this and had advised him to put Noah to death But after God had commanded Noah to build the Ark Pharaan King of Egypt writ to Darmasel exhorting him to fire it which Darmasel thought to do but at the same time the Prince of the Priests of Egypt Philemon gave him other advice and writ to him that he counselled him to leave it as it was in regard that if what that man said was true that is what Noah said the King should embarque with those of his house and then put Noah to death that he might be no more troubled with him The Learned of Egypt knew well that the Deluge was to come but knew not how great it was to be nor how long it was to continue on the surface of the earth The Priest Philemon dreamt as he slept that he saw Emsos which is the City of Masre overturned upon its Inhabitants and the Idols falling with their Noses to the ground and that there descended from Heaven men armed with sharp-pointed Instruments of Iron wherewith they beat the people and that he seemed to approach one of them and spoke to him thus Why treat you the men after that manner Because replied he they are ungrateful and irrespective towards their God who hath created them and gives them subsistence Is there no means for them to be saved said Philemon Yes replied the other those who would be saved are onely to apply themselves to him who hath built the Ark. Philemon awaked thereupon very much astonished He had a wife and two children a son and a daughter and seven of his Disciples He therefore settled his affairs with an intention to go to Noah Gods peace be with him Then afterwards he saw another Dream He seem'd to be in a green Medow where there were white Birds which smell'd of Musk and as he stood still to take a view of them and to admire their beauty one of them began to speak saying to the rest Let us go let us deliver the Believers Whereupon Philemon said to him Who are those Believers They are replied the Bird the men of the Ark. He thereupon awaked very much astonished and affrighted and related that to those of his House and his Disciples Then he went and spoke to the King in these terms I have seen a Dream according to which if it please Your Majesty to send me to Darmasel King of Babylon I shall know what that man is who hath built a Ship in a dry Countrey I will discourse with him and dispute against him about this new Religion which he preacheth and would introduce and will inform my self of the truth of his pretensions and I hope at length to turn him out of the way which he would have others to follow The King approved the design and ordered him to depart Philemon then left Egypt with his Family and his Disciples and travelled till he came to Babylon and discoursed with Noah Gods peace be with him so as that he found what he said to be true and believed in him and followed his Religion When God will put a man into the right way said Noah no man can put him out of it Philemon continued with Noah ever after and ceased not to serve him and his Children and his Family and his Disciples till they imbarqued with him in the Ark. Mean time Pharaan God curse him continued his divertisements and remained in his errour unworthily treating the people of Egpyt and afflicting them by his Injustices and Murthers which caused many Tumults and Spoils in the Countrey and dearth of provisions Men oppressing one another and no body reproving vice The Temples and the Birbas were lock'd up and their doors full of dirt The Deluge came upon them and the Rain overwhelm'd them on Sunday the 24th day of the Moneth Pharaan being then drunk so that he came not to himself till the water began to fasten on him He started up of a sudden and ran away as fast as he could but his feet sunk into the ground and he fell on his Face and fell a roaring like a Bull till the Unbeliever perish'd he and all his Nation Those who retired into some Cave or other secret place perished there also The water cover'd the Pyramids to the end of the Quadrature The marks of it are manifest to this day After the Deluge the first who Reign'd in Egypt was Masar the Son of Bansar the Son of Cham the Son of Noah The Mussulmans who follow the Traditions affirm that this Masar was the first King of Egypt after the Deluge and that he became so having been before designed for it by his Grandfather Noah which happen'd upon this that Philemon intreated Noah to have a particular affection for him and for his Family and his Children and spoke to him thus O Prophet of God I am come to you out of desire I had to believe in God and to follow your precepts I have to that end forsaken my Countrey and the place of my Birth give me some Prerogative and Preheminence which may cause me to be spoken of after I am What do you desire in order to that said Noah I desire said Philemon that you would joyn my Family to yours and that you would take this my Daughter to be Wife to one of your Sons Noah took her and married her to Mesraim the Son of Cham to whom she bore a Son whom his Grandfather Philemon named Masar When Noah would afterwards divide the Earth amongst his Children Philemon spoke to him in these terms O Prophet of God send along with me this my Son meaning Masar and permit me to bring him into my own Countrey to shew him the Treasures of it and to teach him the Sciences and remarkable things thereof Noah sent him along with him accompanied
of God Gracious and Merciful God bless Mahumet and his Family From Gabdol Omar the son of Chettabus Commander of the Faithful to the Nile of Egypt After that If thou hast flow'd hitherto onely by thy own virtue flow no more but if it hath been the Only and Almighty God that hath caused thee to flow we pray the Only Great and All-mighty God to make thee flow again Gods peace and mercy be with Mahumet the Idiot-Prophet and his Family Gamrou took the Note and came to the Nile one day before they celebrated the Feast of the Cross the Egyptians and others being ready to leave the Countrey for they could not carry on their affairs nor subsist therein but by the annual overflowing of the Nile but the next morning they found that God had caused the Waters to rise sixteen Cubits in one night So God delivered the Mussulmans out of that affliction praise and thanksgiving be to him for it Gabdol the son of Gamrou the son of Gasus Gods peace be with them both speaks thus of the Nile The Nile of Egypt is the Lord of Rivers God obliges all the Rivers from the the East to the West to wait on it at the time of its overflowing he turns them all into its Chanel and increases its course with their waters When God would have the Nile of Egypt to overflow for the convenience of the Inhabitants the other Rivers lend it their waters and God causes new Springs to rise out of the Earth When its course is risen to the height that God would he orders the waters to return to their Sources God All-mighty speaks thus of it And we have made them to issue out of the Gardens and the Fountains and out of the manured lands and out of the precious places The Gardens saith he were the two sides of the Nile from its beginning to its end upon both the Banks between Syene and Rasid Egypt had then sixteen Cubits of water accounting from the lowest part of the flat Countrey They empty'd and filled the Chanels and Rivulets of it every year What was yet more noble were the Places appointed for Orations which were a thousand in number upon which they called upon God for Pharao and they pray'd him to grant him a long life and to make him liberal and of easie access Aburaham the Semaguian in his Comment upon these words of Pharao Is not the Kingdom of Egypt mine and the rest of the Verse peaks thus There was then no greater King upon Earth then the King of Egypt for all the other Kings stood in need of Egypt All the Currents were made with the hands of Men and the Aqueducts and the Fountains and the Bridges all according to Measure and Geometrical proportion They drew them out of the Nile and brought them into all their Houses and into all their Castles and made them flow under the places of their Habitations detaining them when they pleased and dismissing them in like manner Mechacol the Son of Tabicus speaks of it in these terms I have read a hundred Books upon the Law of Moses and have found in one of them that there are seven Climats in the world which pray to God every year weeping and crying and say O Lord send plenty into Egypt and make its Nile flow For when Egypt is water'd we have Meat and Drink enough Withall there is on our surface of Wild Beasts and Reptiles and Tame and Rational Creatures Gabdol the son of Gamrou said By the true God I know not any year wherein the Inhabitants of Egypt went out of their Countrey to seek a subsistence elsewhere We shall never go out of it says one of them if some enemy do not force us thereto Not so reply'd he but your Nile shall be swallowed under ground so that there shall not be a drop of it left It shall be full of Sand-banks and the wild Beasts of the Earth shall devour its Fishes Jezidus the son of Chebibus speaks thus of it The Nile of Egypt in the time of Pharao and the Precedent Kings had People appointed to make its Chanels to repair its Bridges and Banks and to clear its Rivulets and Trenches of Oziers Ordures Paper-plants and what ever might obstruct the course of the Water when there was occasion to the number of six score thousand Work-men always ready to work Winter and Summer receiving their pay Monethly out of the publick Treasury as the Soldiery as well by Sea as Land receiv'd theirs out of the Kings Money The son of Lahigus saith that he heard it of one of Alexandria that the Nile one day discover'd a Rock on which there was somewhat written in the Roman Language which was read and signify'd as followeth I do what is good and he seems to forget it but when I do what is evil he remembers it well He who is such will not be long ere he meet with a long repose An Abbridgement of what is said of Pharao and how God destroy'd him by the Decree of his Divine Will Gali the son of Abutalchus speaks thus of him Pharao King of Egpyt was a Dwarf or little Man but seven spans in height Others say he was three Cubits high and that his Beard was two Cubits long so that when he sate he drew one Cubit of it on the ground before him He twisted up his Mustachoes and put them above his two ears When the water of the Nile was turned into Blood in the time of Moses Pharao drunk the juice of Orange-leaves with fine Sugar put into it Some affirm he was of low Stature mark'd with white spots and that he trod on his Beard it was so long Abubeker the Truth-teller Gods peace be with him said that Pharao had lost all his Teeth Others affirm he was of the Race of the Amalekites Others say he had a large fleshy face Others say they call'd him Abumarus that is Married Others say he was a Weaver of Ciprus an Inhabitant of Ispahan and that Haman was his Associate that both of them became poor and lost all they had so that necessity having forc'd them to quit the Countrey and run away they came together into Egypt and prevail'd so much by their sleights and artifices that they became Masters of it and that there happened to them what God revealed to Mahumet Gods peace and merey be with him as it is related by the son of Gubasus Others say that Pharao was a Coptite of a City named Damra the most Western of any in Egypt and that his name was Dolmes Mahumet the son of Gali the son of Gabdol the Teminian says thus A Barbarian Egyptian of the Inhabitants of Copta skill'd in the History of Egypt and what concerns the nature and properties of the Countrey told me that he found it written in one of their ancient Books that the Nile of Egypt hath its rising out of a Lake in the most remote Countries of the West on both
sides whereof the Kings of the Moores have their Habitarions and that by the Lake there is a great Mountain always covered with Snow Winter and Summer out of which there falls down Water besides many Springs that are in the Lake and which do also supply some and that it is thence the water of the Nile comes which is afterwards augmented by Rains which augmentation happens in regard the Rains fall in Summer in the Countrey of the Moors whence it comes that the Nile overflowes in Summer and not in Winter in Egypt that in all the former Climat and in part of the Second the rains fall in the Summer and in like manner in India and in Sinda and in the other Countries which are in the same latitude as well in the East as in the West Jezidus the son of Chebibus saith that Moses the son of Nasirus speaks thus O Egyptians you know not what I would say neither you nor any other Inhabitanr of Egypt I have heard that one day the Nile became very low in the time of Pharao which oblig'd the Inhabitants of his Kingdom to come to him and say Cause the Nile to flow according to its ordinary course for behold our Cattel die and such as are big bring forth before their time I am too much incens'd against you replied Pharao to be so easily appeas'd and to restore you so soon the course of the Nile They departed and after a moneth returned to him again and said The Cattel perish the Trees dry up all is spoiled and destroy'd cause the Nile to flow for us I am not yet reconciled with you said he If you make not the Nile flow as it is wont replied they we will make another God besides you This reply troubled him but it was not in his power to do what they desired His Visier Haman was he who knew his secrets who disposed of all his affairs who heard his complaints and eased him of his grief He had slights and subtile insinuations which neither Pharao nor any other man could imitate One day Pharao spoke to him onely they two together and acquainted him with the discourse had passed between him and the Egyptians confessing to him that he could not do what they desired and that that business of the Nile was beyond his strength I cannot said he take any course in this case nor find any means to satisfie them What do you advise me therein Is that all that troubles you says Haman And what would you have me do in it replied the King Great King replied Haman they have not bethought themselves of asking you a thing which would have been much more impossible then this and might have given them greater occasion to proclame your weakness in all places What is that replied the King If any one of them said Haman had bethought him of requiring you to raise up his father or brother after their death that would have been more difficult to you then the affair of the Nile Speak not of such things says Pharao for Walls have ears But what advice do you give me in the affair of the Nile Light off your Mule said Haman and restore to every one what belongs to him and the Nile will resume its course You know replied the King that hitherto I have not wronged any one nor deprived my Subjects of any thing belonged to them that I should restore it again and as for my white Mule I promise you never to get on her back any more He had a white Mule which in swiftness no other Beast in Egypt could go before or indeed come near The Mule I mean said Haman is not the animal so called but Arrogance and Pride Humble your self before the God of Moses and Aaron acknowledge in your self what you ought give him thanks for his favours and confess his Omnipotence and Unity for you know well that he is the Creator and Preserver and that you are one of his Servants who can neither do him harm nor service Pray him that he would cause the Nile to flow for his Servants for he is merciful and meek he is not hasty and fears not that he hath not done a thing soon enough I will do it with all my heart said the King You have at last found out a way to deliver me out of my trouble Make an end O Haman as you have begun I shall not fail said Haman The Egyptians came afterwards to him the third time and said the same thing they had said to him the two former times His answer was this Repent you that you have disobeyed me We do repent us of it replied they Go your ways said the King to the end of the Upper Egypt clad and dressed the best you can They did so and there remained in Egypt but such as were not able to go out of it Pharao went up to them on his Mule then he turned a little aside from them alighted off his Mule prostrated himself on the ground and made his prayers to God in these terms Great God you know that I acknowledge there is none but you alone who can re-establish this Nile in its course and that I am obliged to this people in a thing which is not within the compass of my power and that I cannot keep my promise with them Cause it therefore to flow for them as it was wont and make me not infamous among them for you are full of leâ—ity and goodness you are not hasty nor impatient and fear not that you have not done a thing soon enough Immediately the Nile saith he swelled and flowed after a more excellent manner then it had ever done before or hath done since Then Pharao came up to them and said Return to your homes for I have restored the Nile for you into its course They thereupon prostrated themselves all before him and adored him and then returned to their habitations speaking continually of their King and incessantly resounding his praises He returned himself to his Castle but Gabriel went to meet him by the way in the shape of a Shepherd laid hold on the Bridle of his Mule and said to him Great King do me justice against my Servant What has thy Servant done to thee said Pharao I have a Servant replied Gabriel to whom I have been liberal of my kindnesses and favours and yet he persecutes me and those whom I love and obliges those whom I hate he is rebellious and disobedient to my commands ungrateful and not acknowledging the good I have done him even so far as to say he knows not who I am A very wicked Servant said Pharao If you bring him to me I will have him drown'd in the Red Sea and shall not content my self for his punishment with the water of the Nile which is sweet and pleasant Great King replied Gabriel let me have a Decree written to this purpose that whereever I shall find him I may punish him according thereunto