very diligent in the reading and studying of them and in observing the precepts thereof Being come to forty years of age God gave him the gift of Prophecy and sent him from Heaven thirty sheets His Father made him his Successor by Will gave him the Sciences he was possess'd of and sent him to King Darael whom he taught Writing and Astrology For he is the first who writ in the Syriac after Seth and who described the state of the Stars The Nations of Writing affirm he was the first who made Slaves and Servants and establish'd Weights and Measures He led Captive the Children of Cabel he was skilled in Medicine and the Astronomical Tables according to a supputation different from the Indian God shewed him after he had prayed for it the sublime Figures Spirits spoke to him he knew the names of the Ascent and Descent and Ascended and Descended and turned the Sphere and knew the significations of the Stars and all that was to happen and graved all Sciences upon Stones and upon Bricks He had a long adventure with the Angel of Death which it would be too long for us to relate To speak briefly of him he died and God raised him up again he saw Hell and entered into Paradice where he still is being not come out of it They relate says the Author Gods mercy on him that King Mechavel sent to desire Jared to send Edrisus to him for he desired to see him But he would by no means do it whereupon Mechavel sent an Army against him which yet could not come at him in regard his Uncles and all the progeny of Seth secured him against it for after Seth there was no other Prophet but Edrisus Jared died aged 750 years Edrisus was called Edrisus that is Reader because he had much read and studied the sheets He was raised up into Paradise at the complete age of 300 years God grant him peace and mercy He was also called Hermes which is the name of Mercury He taught Sabi to write and after Edrisus all who could write were called Sabi He it was who foretold the coming of the Deluge and the destruction of the world by water which was to come over the Earth Edrisus before he was raised up had made his Will in favour of his Son Matusalech and had put the sheets into his hands He had also recommended Sabi to assist him Sabi was a man taught by Edrisus and one who had made a great progress in the Sciences They say Edrisus was the first who ordered the waging of war for the Faith and that he did it himself against the sons of Cabel Matusalech lived 932 years after which the Testament passed to Malec his Son who took possession of the sheets and joyned the Sciences together He confederated with the Children of his father and assembled them together and hindred their holding any correspondence with the children of Cabel 'T was he who saw as it were a Fire issuing out of his mouth and burning the world after which he had to his Son the Prophet Noah Gods peace and mercy be with him Darmasel the Son of Mechavel the Son of Enoch the Son of Gabod the Son of Cabel the Son of Adam Gods peace be with him then reigning This Darmasel had lifted up himself and was grown great and had subdued Kings which had happened because the Devil whom God curse had called him to the worship of the Stars and to the Religion of the Sabaeans insomuch that he had made Idols and had built Temples to them wherein he served them They say no man got out of the bowels of the Earth so many Precious stones Pearls and other Minerals as this King did He was very severe to the Prophet of God Noah and endeavoured much to do him harm but God prevented him and preserved the Prophet Darmasel had lived 300 years when God sent Noah who was then 150 years of age He lived in his Nation according to what God had revealed to him 1000 years wanting 50 then he lived after the Deluge 200 years He was the first Prophet that came after Edrisus to whom God grant peace His Law was to profess the Unity of God to pray to pay the Sacred Tribute to observe Abstinence and to fight in the way of God against the Children of Cabel After that he called his Nation to God and made them fear his chastisements But they began presently to ill-treat him Yet was it long ere they discovered his enterprise to King Darmasel during which Noah was continually in the houses of their Idols and in their Temples And when he said unto them My Friends say there is no other God then the true God and that I am his Servant and Apostle h Tey put their fingers into their Ears and their Heads into their Mantles so displeasing was the discourse to them Then when he came to say there is no other God then the true God the Idols fell down with their faces to the ground and then the People fell upon him and beat him till he fell down After that King Darmasel heard of his carriage and ordered him to be brought into his presence accompanied by his own people who held a Ponyard to his Throat and to whom the King spoke thus Is this he who you say speaks reproachfully of the Gods and would destroy Religion Yea replyed they Then he said to Noah O Noah what do they here tell me of thee that thou opposest my Religion and what thy Fathers Children believe what Magick is this whereby thou hast made the Idols tumble out of their places who taught thee this Doctrine Great King replyed Noah were they Gods as you imagine my discourses could not hurt them and they would not have fallen out of their places For my part I am the Servant of God and his Apostle Honour the true God and imagine nothing equal to him for he sees you Thereupon Darmasel put Noah into Prison till the Feast of the Idols came to the end he should offer Sacrifice to them He also caused the Idols to be returned into their places on their Thrones and made Oblations to them Then when the time of the Idol-Feast drew near he commanded a Herald to assemble all the the Peóple that they might see what he did to Noah Then Noah implored the assistance of God against him and he was immediately troubled with a great Head-ach and a Phrensie which continu'd a week after which he died He was put into a golden Coffin wherewith a Procession was made in the Temple of the Idols his Subjects weeping about him and cursing and railing at Noah Then they carried him I mean the King into the Pyramids and disposed him into a Tomb which had been prepared for him He had appointed his Son to be King after him He brought Noah out of Prison esteeming him a distracted person and forbid under great penalties his
Ocean out of which they affirmed the Nile to take its origine but they explicated not after what manner this was done Others affirmed that this overflux proceeded from the Snow which they pretended was dissolved in Summer upon the sides of the Nile Herodotus refutes all these conjectures and then gives his own opinion which is that the Nile coming from some very remote parts of the South that is from a Countrey from which the Sun is far distant in Summer when it is very near Aegypt its course which at its coming out of the source is always equally big comes then quite to Aegypt without losing any thing of its fulnesse in regard the Sun consumes nothing or very little of it whereas in Winter it decreases much by the way for the contrary reason which is that the Sun being then directly upon its waters devours a great part thereof Strabo who thought not this reason of Herodotus more probable then the others recurs to that which he says had been observed by Homer when he called Aegypt that is to say the Nile in Homerical terms a River falling from Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He would therefore have the overflux of the Nile proceed from the Summer-rains which saith he are frequent in Ethiopia according to their Relation who have sailed on the Red Sea as far as the Countrey which produces Cinnamon as also of those who have been at the Hunting of Elephants The Relation of the Monk Cosmas inserted by the most Learned and Ingeniously curious person Monsieur Thevenot in the First Part of his Collections says methinks the same thing But besides that the sources of the Nile are at a far greater distance then is supposed by that reason alledged also by our Author in its proper place there is no great likelihood that the rains should be so frequent in Summer in a Countrey next adjoyning to Aegypt where it never rains and more Southerly then it Whence it comes that at this time the ablest Philosophers endeavours to find out some other cause of so considerable an effect and Monsieur de la Chambre among others by an extraordinary sagacity hath found out one for it in the Bowels of the Land of Aegypt whose Nitrous qualities stirred by the heats of Summer are in his judgement capable of causing the Waters of that River to rise up to so great an overflux as we see by experience that it does This opinion when we shall have comprehended the subtile Discourses and considered the excellent remarks whereby that great great person confirms it will doubtless be found the most likely to be true Monsieur Chapelain to whom most of the Virtuosi do now give an account not onely of their works but also of their designs out of the confidence they have of his excellent judgment and sincere advice told me not long since that the most Learned and most Eloquent Monsieur Vossius hath a Treatise ready on the same Subject wherein we are like to meet with many things yet unknown to us To make it appear then that I have also made some reflections on this Miracle I shall here set down the reason I have imagined to my self for it which does not contradict Homer though it agrees not with Strabo for it will haply suffice those who may not have the leisure to examine such as are more subtile I observe then in the first place that to my thinking it is affirmed by Macinus that the risings of the Nile are framed above Aegypt For towards the end of his forty eighth Chaliph he says that the Nile being very low in the time of Michael Patriarch of Alexandria that Prelate was sent by the Mustanser Choliph of Aegypt to the King of the Abyssines who upon his intreaty having cleared the passage of the Water it rose in Aegypt three Cubits in one night and came to its height I suppose next the two propositions by me already alledged That the sources of the Nile are far beyond the Equinoctial Line and That its course thence into Aegypt is in length above twelve hundred leagues that is fourteen of fifteen hundred I suppose further that at the Sources of the Nile as in many other places the Waters are higher in Winter then in Summer according to what is affirmed by F. Maffaeus in his first Book of the History of the Indies where he has this passage Processit ad ostium ingentis Fluvii qui exipsis Nili fontibus originem trahens Zaires ab incolis dicitur actanta aquarum vi praesertim hyeme sese in Oceanum infert ut prodatur in octaginta millia passuum ab eo vinci mare I suppose moreover that the Waters of the Nile when they are high advance within the Chanel wherein they flow at about the rate of four leagues a day according to what observation I have made upon the like occasion For those who have seen the Nile overflown in Aegypt have assur'd me that its course is about the same rate of swiftnesse as that of the Seine when it is in the same condition at Paris Now the waters of the Seine and the Rivers falling into it according to my computation when they are risen make about the same measure of way every day For at Montereul in Normandy where I writ this we have a small River which is of that number and into which there come Waters when it is high from about four leagues distance though its ordinary current comes but from the Spring of Ternant distant from it but a league and a half When this little River rises of a sudden by a storm as it happens often and that sometimes even in Summer the Waters are up but one day at Montereul which argues that those which come last are a day in running the four leagues whence they come There passes by Cernieres which is but half a league from the same place another small River into which there come Waters from a distance double to the other whence it comes that they are up two days whereas they are but one at Montereul In the last Inundation of the Seine which was great and sudden enough at the end of Winter in the Year 1665 by reason of the abundance of Snow which was dissolved in a short time I observed being then at Paris that the Waters began to rise the 18th day of February and continued till the end of that Moneth after which they notably decreased till the 10th of March which discovers that the last-arrived were twenty days coming from the places where the Snow was dissolved Those places I conceive to be about fourscore leagues from Paris and consequently those Waters had advanced about four leagues a day All this supposed I say for example that the Waters which cause the overflowing of the Nile this day being the first of August in Aegypt were got together in the places where its course began about a Year before whether occasioned by Rain or Snow melted Wherein there
is nothing Miraculous or extraordinary For at that time it was Summer in Aegypt as it is this day and consequently at the same time it was Winter in those Places where the current of the Nile begins since the Sources of it are at a great distance beyond the Equinoctial Line where the Seasons are directly contrary to those which are on this side it The Waters therefore were then about those Sources higher then at any other Season but having fourteen or fifteen hundred leagues to advance ere they got to Aegypt after the rate of about four leagues a day they were about a year by the way and consequently there could not be an overflux of the Nile in that Province sooner then now And if it be true that the Ganges overflows also in Summer as Pliny and Modern Relations seem to affirm and that consequently it is now in the same condition in the Indies as the Nile is in Aegypt the cause may haply be the same For its course being but half the length of that of the Nile there needs but six Moneths for the Waters to get from the Sources to their Mouths it being supposed those of the Nile take up a whole Year Now it was Winter six Moneths before at the Sources of the Ganges which are on this side the Equinoctial Line as it was a Year ago at the Sources of the Nile which are beyond it The same is to be said of the River Menam As to the long continuance of the overflux of the Nile which is a hundred days according to Herodotus or rather six Moneths according to the same Author in another passage where he says that in his time the water flowed out of the Nile into the Lake Myris or Moeris during the space of six Moneths and returned out of the same Lake into the Nile at the same place whereat it had entred into it during the other six Moneths of the Year this continuance I say hath no other cause according to this position but that which prolongs the Inundations of other Rivers For it proceeds partly from the length of time that the Snow is dissolving or the Waters falling and partly from the different distance of the place from which they come into the Chanel of the Nile after the dissolving or falling For thence it comes that some get a long time after others from the place of their Rendezvous and consequently they come in like manner into Aegypt We see also in all other Rivers something like the overflowings of the Nile For many times the Seine for example is high and overflows at Paris when no rain has fallen thereabouts nor any Snow dissolved and it is ordinarily some days after the Rain is past or the Snow dissolved when the weather is fair and clear that its overflux is in its greatest force and height Moreover That the Waters which cause the augmentations of the Nile and its Inundations in Aegypt come from the Torrents the slâ—me which they bring along with them and which hath made some conjecture that it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seem to testifie it For the Waters which come from running Springs by ordinary Chanels are not muddy It may also methinks be inferred from the same slime that those Torrents force their way through cultivated and manured Lands for the Waters which fall from the Sky upon Desert and Untilled places are pure and clear in their descent thence If this be true with the conjectures we have mentioned before it must follow that the Meridional parts of Africk were inhabited and cultivated before Aegypt was in the World and that being granted if the Nitre of Aegypt be of the nature of our Saltpeter which is framed of old Manure amass'd and fermented a long time together it might seem to be rather an effect then a cause of the overflowing of the Nile But haply we have said too much of the Nile and Aegypt in a Preface which was to serve only for an Introduction to what is said thereof by our Author of whom the Reader might expect we should give some account though we have nothing to say of him but only what may be conjectured by the Reading of his Book according to which he was as I conceive of Cairo that is to say of Masre for thus is that Famous City called to this day by its Inhabitants as we have already observed and the name of Cairo under which it is known in Europe came to it from that which the Mugazzoldinil after he had conquered Aegypt caused to be built near it for the Quartering of his Militia and which he called Cahire or Cahâ—re that is to say the Victorious or Conqueress either for the reason given thereof by Macinus in the Year 362 or in regard that being the Habitation of the Soldiery it subdued in effect and caused its Commands to be obeyed not only by the Neighbouring City but also by the whole Empire of the Phatimite Chaliphs as the Camp near Rome in the time of the Roman Emperors Commanded both the City and the Empire and many times the Emperour himself Our Author then as far as I can conjecture was of the same Countrey with Macinus and lived about the same time that is above four hundred Years since For methinks he speaks of the Sultan the Macolcamel the Son of Abubeker the Son of Job as of a Prince Reigning in his time and he mentions not any other that Reigned since though he speaks of divers who had Reigned before The esteem which the Arabians have at this day for his work sufficiently appears in my judgment by the beauty of the Copy out of which we have made this Translation and which was communicated to us by the late Cardinal Mazarine's Library-keeper by the favour of Monsieur Colbert who amidst his infinite cares for what concerns the Glory of his Majesty and the happiness of his Subjects is some times pleased to think on our Arabian Muses and forgets not our labours in the distribution of the Favours which he obtains from his Majesty for those who seriously apply themselves to the noblest kind of Learning The Manuscript of the Onirocrit Mussulman whereof we have lately published the Translation was put into our hands by Monsieur de Montmor principal Master of Requests a Person as Eminent for his great Wit and rare Learning as his Quality I am glad to make this Discovery for their satisfaction who were desirous to know whence I had it and that it might be an acknowledgement of the kindnesses I have received from that Person upon that and divers other occasions But to return to our Aegypt Were there nothing butthe History or rather the Fable of Gebirus and Charoba and the Nymph Marina which is about the middle of this Work I should not repent me of the Translation of it for I little imagined to find in a Mussulman Author any thing so much allyed to the witty Fables of the ancient Greek and Latine
time as his enterprize having been observed Men bewared of him and the King heard of him They say that Mechavel God curse him imprisoned Noah 3 years before he died and that after his death his son Darmasel who was his Successor brought Noah out of Prison and commanded him to forbear corrupting Religion and exclaming against the Gods There was among them for their seven great Idols a Feast which they celebrated every year during which they assembled to offer Sacrifices and make Processions about the Idols The time of that Feast being come which is also the Feast of Jagoth the people came together from all parts and then Noah came to that Assembly and having pass'd through the midst of the People and cry'd with a loud voice O Friends say as I do There is no other God then the great God The people put their fingers into their Ears and their Heads into their garments but the Idols fell at Noah's cry which obliged the men to fall upon him and to beat him cruelly giving him several wounds in the head then dragging him along the ground with his face towards the Kings Palace into which they made him enter and brought him before him Have not I done thee a favour said the King in taking thee out of Prison though thou hast spoken against our Religion rail'd at our Gods and forsaken the footsteps of thy Fathers and Grand-fathers Mean time thou comest again to exercise thy Magick against the Gods so as thou hast made them to fall from their thrones torn from their stations and the places of their honour and their glory What hath forc'd thee to this extremity If these Idols replied Noah were Gods as you imagine they would not have fallen at my voice Fear God unhappy Prince turn to him and believe nothing equal to him for he sees you Who is he said the King who has made thee so confident as to speak to me in these terms I will sacrifice thy Bloud to the Idols He thereupon commanded him to be kept in prison till the day of the Feast of Jagoth that he might be sacrificed to him and that the Idols might at the same time be exalted to their thrones But he saw afterwards a Dream which startled him and obliged him to order Noah to be put out of prison giving out among the people that he was distracted Noah being afterwards 500 years of age had his son Sem and after him Cham and after him Jam then Japhet Their mother was named Noubaâ—he the Daughter of Enos the son of Enoch Noah was afterwards a long time preaching to hiâ— Nation yet could convert to the profession of the Unity of God but a small company of the meaner sort of people wherefore they made this reproach to him according to what God himself said to him Thou hast been followed by the drâ—gs of the people Noah was a Carpenter and those who believed in him were of his own profession He spent afterwards three Ages in preaching always to the people the Religion of Almighty God without other effect save that they grew the more impious and insolent Nay they kill'd some of those who believed in him and rifled their honses and then God revealed to him that of his Nation there would be no other Believers save onely those who had already embraced the Faith Noah despairing of their Conversion began to pray to God against them and to say O my Lord suffer not upon earth any habitation of the Unbelievers Then Almighty God commanded him to build the Ship then he smote them with Sterility as well to the Fruits of the earth as the Procreation of children making their women unable to bring forth and in like manner the Females of their Cattel incapable of generation and withdrawing his benedictions from their Orchards and Agriculture They invoked their Idols but it did bestead them nothing with God Then Noah began to build the Ship and spent three years in cutting down Indian Plane-trees and polishing them in making Nails and Pins and providing whatever was necessary then he set it together in the moneth of Regebe Those of his Nation would needs pass by him as he was at work laughing and making sport at him After he had finished it God commanded him to put into it two pairs of every species Those who embarqued with him of the sons of Adam and his own were Sem Cham and Japhet and the others who belonged to him and were of his family The Angels brought to him Adams Shrine which was in the Countrey of Tehama which is the Septentrional Territory of Meca There was also with him in the Ark the Egyptian Priest Philemon with his family and his daughters The rest were of the children of his Father and of his Grandfather Edrisus After the chastisement was completed by the destruction of the Inhabitants of the Earth that the Heaven had given a check to the Rains that the Earth by the permission of her Lord had drunk up the waters and that the Ark rested on Mount Gâ—edis they went out and built a City which they called The Match of Fourscore and which is at this day famous in its place under the name of Themanine which signifies Fourscore They say that the several Nations though they were not ignorant of the Deluge and that they knew well enough it was to come yet could not learn of their Priests precisely the time of its coming because it was the will of the Almighty and All-good God to punish them The Mountains cast stones at them and they knew not which way to turn to avoid the falling of the Rain and the Stones They say also that the water which fell was hot and corrupted as if i had come out of a boiling Pool of Sand. Some affirm that the Ship continued on the water a hundred and fifty days others that it continued 11 Moneths God knows how it was Some affirm also that the Deluge happen'd in the Moneth of Regebe and that the Ark nested on Mount Geudis the tenth day of the Moneth of Mucharram There were between the descent of Adam and the Deluge two thousand one hundred fifty six years When God would restore the Earth to a good condition he sent a wind upon the water which dry'd it and put a stop to the Springs The ordinary light return'd to the World and the Sun and the Moon and the Night and the Day Forty days after God commanded Noah to open the Ark. He opened it and let out the Raven to see how low the water was The Raven went out and stayed to feed on the Carrions of the dead and returned no more Whereupon Noah made imprecations against her that she might always be a Stranger and never a domestick Bird and that it should feed on Carrions Then he let out the Dove after her She soon return'd with her feet dy'd with the slime of the Earth which was grown hot Wherefore Noah prayed God to
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
the better Ioseph said the King God inspired Ioseph what he had to do and ordered him to cause three Chanels to be made one Chanel coming out of High Egypt from such a place to such a place an Eastern Chanel from such a place to such a place and a Western Chanel Ioseph got men together to carry on this work and caused the Chanel of Manhi to be digg'd from the Upper part of Asmounine to Lahon which he caused also to be digged afterwards Then he caused the Chanel of Alphiom to be digged and the Eastern Chanel with another Chanel near it named Benhamet from the Villages of Alphiom which is the Western Chanel and draws from the Desart of Benhamet towards the West By this means there remained no water in Geouna That done he got Labourers to cut down all the Reeds and Tamarisk that was in it and carry it away and then the Nile began to flow into it and Geouna became pure and clean ground The water of the Nile rose and entered at the beginning of the Manhi and flowed therein till it came to Lahon whence it turned towards Alphiom and entered into its Chanel so that it was watered thereby and made a Champain Countrey overflown by the Nile The King the Rajan came to see it with the Favourites who had given him that advice After they had considered it they were all astonished at the Wisdom and extraordinary Invention of Ioseph and began to say We know not whether we should more admire to see Geouna cleared of the water and rid of the Reeds and Paper-plants and Tamarisks and Willows whereof it was ful or to see it o'reflown by the Nile after the levelling of the ground Then the King said to Ioseph How long were you Ioseph in reducing this Land to the condition I now see it in Seventy days said Ioseph Pharao turned to his Favourites and said to them It is not likely any one could have done it in a thousand days This occasioned the calling of that Land Alphiom that is to say A Thousand Days and that very year it was sowen and ordered as the rest of Egypt Jesidus the son of Chebibus says that God made Joseph Gods peace be with him Master of Egypt at 30 years of age and that after he had governed il 40 years the Egyptians said among themselves Joseph is old and hath not now the prudence he had heretofore and that thereupon they devested him of the power which they had given him over them and said to him Make your choice of some barren and useless ground which we may give you to cultivate and people for by that means we shall make trial of your prudence and judgment and then if we find in your management thereof any thing to persuade us that your Understanding is yet in a tendency to advancement we will re-establish you in your government Ioseph considered the desart places of the appurtenances of Egypt and chose the place now called Alphiom which was presently given him He brought thither from the Nile the Chanel of the Manhi so that he made the water of the Nile flow all over the Land of Alphiom and finished all their digging work in a years time We hear also that he did it by inspiration from his Lord and that he imployed therein a great number of Workmen and Labourers The Egyptians considered that work and saw that in all Egypt there was not any like or equal to the dead Land which Ioseph had raised up again whence it was concluded that there was not a more excellent judgment nor safer advice nor better conduct then that of Ioseph and they thought themselves obliged to commit the affairs of Egypt into his hands He governed them 130 years that is to his death Gods peace and mercy be with him Others affirm that he died at 130 years of age God knows better then we do how it is Some relate as having it from Hasam the son of Isaac that Ioseph after his his re-establishment in the government of Egypt was well beloved by the Kings Favourites and that they made their excuses to him After which he spoke thus to the Rajan You have not yet seen neither you nor your Favourites all my wisdom and conduct can perform And what can you do more replied they I will put into Alphiom said he a Family of every City in Egypt that they may there build a village for themselves so that there shall be in Alphiom as many villages as there shall be Cities in Egypt When they have quite built their villages I will bring into every village as much water as shall be requisite proportionably to the Land I shall have assigned it so as there shall be neither too much nor too little I will also have an Aqueduct come to every village for the time that water cannot come there but under ground and I will make it more deep for those who are seated high and less deep for such as shall be low according to the times and hours of the day and night I will do all this for them by measure so that every one shall have neither more nor less than is requisite Pharao answered him thereupon This is of the Kingdom of Heaven Ioseph It is so said Ioseph After that says the Author Ioseph began the execution of that enterprise causing the villages to be built and assigning every one its limits The first village built in Alphiom was called Betiana and there Pharao's Daughter had her habitation He afterwards caused the Chanels to be digged and the Bridges to be built and when he had done that he began to allot the Proportions of Land and Water and there began Geometry which before that was unknown in the Land of Egypt for they onely followed Ioseph in that and it was one of the things which had been taught him by his Lord. They say also he was the first who measured the Nile in Egypt and who established the Nilometer in the City of Memphis After him the ancient Cagalouca who was Queen of Egypt and built the Wall of the ancient City caused a Nilometer to be made at Alsena where the Cubits are small and another at Achemima Gabdolgueziz the son of Merouanes caused also one to be made at Choluan in High Egypt Zaid the son of Asam during the Caliphat of the Valide the son of Gabdolmelic under the Reign of the House of Ommie caused a Nilometer to be made in the Island which is opposite to Masre between its Rivers and this is greater then the others As to that which is now used it was built by the Mamunus the son of Harounes the Law-observer Almighty God shew mercy to both For when he entered into the Land of Egypt he found the Christians negligent in measuring the water when by the permission of God it encreased which obliged him to speak thus This is a miracle of God wherein he hath put
preserve Some make another Description of Egypt saying that it is a Land wherein there are for famous places Qâ—irata and Ecbata and Damiette and Igora and Rebata whose River is clear and its waters sweet where diseases are dispell'd and hope crown'd with effect where the vicissitude of things passes without confusion and without disturbance Those who come thither with an intention to do ill return thence without accomplishing their design those who contrive the destruction of it meet with their own those who have their Habitations therein are in safety and make their advantage and those who leave it repent them of it It was said one day to an excellent person What say you of Egypt What reply'd he would you have me say of that Province Those who leave it repent them that they ever did it It quels Kings and destroys them and supports the poor All those who have an affection for it find there how to employ themselves about what they like best according to their power An Extract of the Annals of the Geranian An ancient Egyptian of the chiefest of the Countrey relates as having taken it out of Abuquilus the Mogapherian the Pacifier whom Gabdol the Son of Nasilus had taught That Noah Gods peace and mercy be with him after he had divided the Earth among his Children had a numerous Posterity by whom he caused it to be Inhabited and Cultivated The Kingdom of Egypt fell to Masar the son of Bansar the son of Cham the son of Noah who had many children and by them a great progeny Noah had prayed God for Masar or Mesraim that he would give him his benediction in his Land and to his Children after him whence it came that the Land was fertile and abundant to them it s Nile overflow'd all its quarters fructify'd its Cattel were multiply'd its Mines had been discovered The Trees bore Dates as big as Pillars The Grains of Wheat were as big as Hens Eggs soft as Butter and sweet as Hony There were some among them who particularly apply'd themselves to the Mines of Topazes which are adjoyning to the Countries of Syene at the upper part of High Egypt opposite to the Provinces of the Nubians whom Mesraiâ— the son of Bansar had appointed for his Lieutenants upon the Frontiers of of Egypt saying unto them Be my Lieutenants over the Frontiers of this Land whence they were called Nubians that is to say Lieutenants One man took out of the Mines such a piece of Tapaze as that he might make a Table of it with Dishes and Trenchers to set upon it All their Vessels were Marble and Gold and Silver and Topaze The Nile cast on its Shores certain Leaves which came from Paradise so Odoriferous that they needed not other perfumes There were on both sides of the Nile Gardens from Syene quite to the extremities of the Land of Egypt so that a man walking along the Banks of the Nile had a perpetual coolness and shade and had not his head any way incommodated by the heat of the Sun The first City which Mesraim founded in the Land of Egypt was Memphis There was not then in Egypt any thing that incommodated the Inhabitants of the kind of Serpents or other venemous Beasts They lived along time without being impaired by old age sickness or infirmity and without having any having any hatred or envy one against another till they alter'd the Religion of their Ancestor Noah Gods peace and mercy be with him and changed his Law Then the Devil Gods enemy got dominion over them by his craft and circumventions distracted their affairs and sowed discord and enmity amongst them He made them delight in the worship of Idols so that they adored them during the space of five hundred years whence it came that their fruits diminish'd their Cattel perished and their Mines became barren There came out against them mischievous Creatures out of the Earth and out of the Sea the shade forsook them the Benedictions were taken away from them and exemplary punishments fell upon them Certainly God changes not the state of a Nation untill it be changed of it self and the rest of the Verse Thus their affairs went worse and worse till the King of the Amalekites came out of Syria to War against them The King of Egypt then was Cophtarim the son of Cophtim the son of Masar the son of Bansar The King of the Amelekites was named Gainon from whom Baitgainon in the Land of Syria derives its â—ame He was insolent and impious and very corpulent He had to his Uncles among the Amalekites Gebirus the Mutaphequian and his Brother Gebrin This King then came with his Forces consisting of a thousand Amalekite Lords and six hundred thousand Soldiers They entred into the Land of Egypt and Encamped upon its Frontiers on the side of the great Banks Gainon Warred against the Inhabitants of Egypt for the space of a Moneth after which he defeated them and took possession of the Countrey Cophtariâ— and his Forces having forsaken it and got into the Desarts of the West The Amalekite continued in Egypt without injuring any person for he said to the the Egyptians You are the Inhabitants of the Countrey his Subjects who is possessed of it and his Servants who is Conquerour He afterwards gave them security as to his part and appointed over them for Governour his Brother named Gamrou on whom he bestow'd for Visier a Coptite named Zephton who was then of the principal Inhabitants of Egypt being there possess'd of a great estate and having many Friends and others inclin'd to his party His skin was black and he resembled the children of Cham. Gamrou founded a City upon the Nile's side which he named Gamra and ordered his Visier Zephton to build such another opposite to it The Visier obeyed him and named the City he built Zephta each of them deriving its name from the Founder They caused them both to be built and whitened with great care and Vault to be made therein under ground and Aqueducts coming out of the Nile and compassing the publick places They also caused Walls and Trenches to be made about their Cities enrich'd them with Villages and Farms ordering Justice and Equity to be strictly observ'd in the Land of Egypt They took but the tenth part of the profits of the Dairies and Farms In the mean time Gainon got Provisions together and fitted his Army to pursue Cophtarim and his People who were fled towards the West They pursued them so closely that they forced them to enter into Afriâ— and to take refuge on a Mountain called the Mount of Sosa where Cophtarim and his People Fortify'd themselves There was on the descent of the Mountain a Castle built by one of the Children of Cham very high and inaccessible They held out stifly in that Castle and got into it their goods There was on one side of the Castle a Spring of fresh water which occasioned them to put their Cattel
and Horses that way Gainon the Amalekite came and Encamped about the Castle and Besieged it That Siege lasted two Years for they play'd upon him with Stones and Arrows and he could do them no hurt whereupon he caused Trenches to be made about them and pressed not upon them having resolved to take them by a long Siege He therefore caused Houses and Huts to be made in the Plain his Visier Gamrou relieving him with Money and Provisions which he sent out of Egypt They grew at length so confident that they began to neglect the business of Cophtarim and his People so that at last in a Winter night the weather being cold they entered into their Tents and fell a Drinking having no Guard abroad because they had no distrust Cophtarim had Spies among them who presently gave him notice of that opportunity and told him the Enemies were all Drunk and immoveable as dead men and if he let pass that night without taking advantage of the posture they were in he should never escape out of their hands Upon this intelligence Cophtarim came out of the Castle accompany'd by his Infantry onely without Horse His People being set upon the enterprise he divided them into four Battallions and ordered them at the same time to set upon the four quarters of Gainon's Camp They gave a great shout and fell a cutting them to pieces not one of them making any resistance The slaughter continued all night till the next morning those who escaped fled some one way some another not knowing which way to go and afterwards dyed of hunger and thirst Cophtarim's men took all their Baggage their Cattel their Horses and their Money and took King Gainon Prisoner with the chiefest Lords of his Court King Gainon recovered not himself out of his Debauch till they had bound him with Chains of Iron weighing fifty pound They set him on a Camel and immediately took their way towards Egypt joyful and well satisfy'd This news coming to Gamrou Gainon's Lieutenant he secretly packed up for his departure out of Egypt with those that were about him His Visier Zephton followed him with his Baggage and Equipage and his Family and those of his party They got both of them into Syria Cophtarim and his Forces returned in good order with Colours flying marching night and day not making any stop upon any occasion whatsoever till he got into his Countrey and had put on his Arms and was advantageously dressed and his Soldiers in like manner causing to march before him Gainon bound and chained and the Camels loaden with the Heads of his Favourites who had been killed and their Cattel and their Horses The Egyptians went to meet him joyful and glad of his coming after they had beautified and adorned the City for his reception Cophtarim came and lodged in his Royal Palace with great joy and caused it to be publickly Proclaim'd that his intention was to have Justice and Equity and good manners to flourish He ordered also that Gamra and Zephta the Cities built by Gamrou and Zephton should be demolished as well out of the horrour he had for their Names as to give a good presage of their punishment saying He would not leave in Egypt any track of the Amalekites Wherefore the Coptites have it among their Proverbs Gainon was blind and Zephton covered with Infamy When any one digs the ground and finds it so hard that he cannot get forward they say of him He hath met with Zephton ' s good Fortune Mean time the chiefest among them put Cophtarim's action among the Stratagem of the Coptites inasmuch as his flight say they was a mischievous subtilty against Gainon and not an effect of the fright he had put him into for they will ever be sly and subtile The tracks of the two Cities Gamra and Zephta continued a long time in the same condition they were afterwards both rebuilt by one of the Kings thendestroy'd again by Nabuchodonosor when he entered into Egypt and wasted it Then when those who were remaining of the Inhabitants of Egypt return'd thither with Belsa the son of the Coptess when he entered into Egypt after his death that is after the death of his Father Nabuchodonosor they advised him after he had build the Castle of Cira and the Church of Mugalleca and the others to built also upon the ground of the City of Gamrou and that which was opposite thereto upon the Nile but he would not Yet they say concerning these two Cities that a long time after there were two Villages built upon their Ruines which were called by their names and that those names have continued to them God knows how it is how ere it be kept secret from men They relate that when the Commander of the Faithful Omar the son of Chettabus Gods peace be with him came into Syria to receive the Keys of Jerusalem according to what Abugabidas had writen to him of it in regard the Patricians of the Romans who were then in Syria had intreated him to do it when he was come near them he made a halt at a Village not far from Jerusalem and continu'd there some time during which the Governour of the City sent a Spy to him saying Go thy ways and observe the King of the Arabians who comes hither to take possession of our Lands and the Patrimony of Caesar and return quickly to tell me how he looks and describe him so to me that I may know him as well as if I had seen him my self The Spy came away and made a shift to get just over against Omar and view'd him as he sate on a She-Camel he had clad in a Wollen Garment mended with a piece of Sheep-skin made as it were into a thread on that side towards the Sun which had already burnt and blacken'd his face with a bag hanging behind him into which having put his hand he pulled out pretty big pieces of Barley-bread and with his Fingers struck off the husks saying In the Name of God then he did eat till he was satisfied and afterwards took a Bottle of Leather which he carry'd with him full of water and quench'd his thirst saying after that Praise be to God The Spy brought this news to the Patrician who sent him and describ'd in what posture he had seen him whereupon the Patrician continued along time without saying any thing and then he spoke thus to such as were about him Grant these people all they desire for otherwise there is no way to be rid of them without fighting with them and they have the favour of Heaven Their Law and their Prophet enjoins them Humility and Modesty and Compliance and these qualities lead to advancement and dominion This description proceeds from that little party which appears above all the Inhabitants of the Earth Their Law shall abolish all the Laws My Father predicted this to me having learnt it of his Father who had received it from his Grand-father They