Aventinus 81

Johannes Turmayr's 1520 History of Bavaria, Chapter 81, 82 - translated and annotated by Ras Feqade, AD 2021.

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## 81. Of the captains of the Jewish people, at first of Gedeon with the shovel, the seventh captain of the Jews, and his son King Abimelech, likewise of the ninth captain Thola.

[This chapter follows the Book of Judges on Gideon, 1284-1244 BC, Abimelech 1244-1241 BC, and Tola 1241-1218 BC, with the first of these, Gideon, being contemporaneous with Ylsing by my calculations.]

## 82. Of other famous nobles in other countries.

When king Ylsing ruled with us, there was king in Greece, in Morea, **Pelops**, from whom Peloponesus was named, that is the au Pelops. His sons **Atreus** and **Tyestes**, of whom the poets write many strange, cruel things to hear. Also at the end of the regime of our king Ylsing, the king of Troy after his father Ilus was **Laomedon**, in our language Luitweg, he ruled thirty-three years. At that time the Greek Hercules was born, of whom I shall write more afterwards; he would also have been in Germany around the Danube, as Pindar the poet writes and I will report more afterwards.

[Pelops ruled the Peloponnesus 1332-1273 BC, his sons and successors in Mycenae, Atreus and Tyestes, were in constant bitter conflict over the throne of Ahhiyawa 1273-1208 BC. During this time Laomedon ruled in Troy 1266-1233 BC while his son Priam or Piyama radu was active in local politics.
The Greek Hercules or Alcaeus was also born in this time, in 1248 BC.]

## 83. Of King Brenner the First, who reigned thirty-eight years with us.

After the above-mentioned Bavarian king, there ruled with us, namely around the Danube, king **Brenner** 38 years, of whom I read quite a few old rhymes and songs, according to the old chronicles, in the library. It is said that he would be buried at Passau. From him Brennberg, which is a monastery in front of the forest, and the Brenner, now a stream between the Isar and the Inn am Birg, the mountain Brenner near Stertzing got the name. With Aristotle I find in the book that he wrote about the origin of rivers, something like that with Pliny the younger, that all this, stretches from Inn to Swabia on Lake Constance (*Bodensee*), divides Italy and Germany, in the past was called Brenner, in Saxon Birner, out of it and thereafter flows the Danube, the greatest river of Europe, as Aristotle writes.

And while this king ruled, the German knights were there, as on the Black Sea, where the Danube flows in, sat king **Prichs**. But the war women's Queen **Themyschyr** with her sisters and associates **Myrlei** and **Amastrin** took the three countries that lie against Constantinople in Asia, adjoining Armenia from the east, from the west to the narrow Greek Sea, from the north to the Black Sea, where the Danube flows in, called the old Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Cappadotia. All there built three towns, each of them a separate one in each country. Themischyr settled in Cappadocia not far from Armenia, took a fertile plain there, it had many trees and brooks, was delineated from the north with the aforementioned Black Sea, in the other places with mountains, in the middle of it ran the river Thermodon. There, where it fell in the Black Sea, Themischyr built a city, named it after her, also gave the name to all the now indicated territory, called the city and plain Themischyr. Myrlei owned the country of Bythinia, which lies across from Constantinople to the west, built there a city on the narrow Greek Sea, called Myrleiburg after her, later it was called Apamea and Kaisering. The middle country, Paphlagonia, had in Amastrin, also built a city on the Black Sea to the north, named after her Amastris, which is also called Kromna, whereof Ptolemy and Stephanus also report the country and city.

[Brenner I's 38 years as king of Bavaria were from 1245-1207 BC, though Anderson says he ruled 35 years, according to him 1221-1186 BC. Brenner's counterpart over the Cimmerians in this chapter is said to be Prichs, but later (chap 85 below) the kings of the Cimmerians contemporary with Brenner I are Sigl and Pinzgar, who also appear in Magnus' account of the Getae rulers as Sagillus and Penexagoras. While Prichs may have been their king at the start of Brenner's reign, he should probably be moved up to be more contemporary with Ylsing, since it seems Galter, presented as Ylsing's contemporary, had in fact preceded Ylsing as king of Germania.]

## 84. Of the Jews and their captains, the tenth, eleventh and twelfth, with names Jair, Jepte and Abesson.

[Chapter omitted about Biblical judges of Israel: Jair (1218-1196) BC, the Ammonite oppression (1196-1177 BC), Jephthah (1177-1172 BC) and Ibzan (1172-1165 BC). This is largely missynchronized.]

## 85. What had happened splendidly in other lands among the pagans of this time: of the Greek Hercules and his company.

When king Brenner reigned with us, lived at this time the Greek and last Hercules, called from his lords by his right name Alcaeus. He was a great sea rover, as Manethon the Egyptian priest writes of him, he had many young fellows from Greece, like Jason, **Theseus** king of Athens, Orpheus the poet, and others, they roved back and forth on the sea, everywhere the surrounding lands were attacked, the animals and the beautiful women were carried away, namely from the Black Sea from the land of Kolchos, the king **Aeëtes**, his daughter Medeam, comrades of the above-mentioned war women, whom the Greeks called **Menalyppe** and **Hippolyte**, whom Theseus would take to marriage and acquired a son from her, named after her Hippolytus. From the king of Troy Laomedon, they also took his daughter Hesiona and killed him. And since Priam her brother met them again, they didn't want to return her, whence the ten-year war, as our Germans write, came about, as I will report afterwards. But since the above-mentioned war women were inside, who in their comrades had fooled the Greeks outside, they gathered a large people with the help of the knights, the German Kempher kings **Sigl** and **Pinzgar**, who took the women with them over the narrow arm of the sea, moved with a mighty hand to the shore of the same sea in Europe as far as the Danube, even moved to the middle of Greece, occupied places and the most ruined city of Athens, caused great damage, returned home unbeaten. Quite a few call the women's chief **Orithya**, others differently: quite a few Ötterin, Öscher, our Ozhör.

[This paragraph, thanks to Jerome, as also the Parian Marble, conflates events on either side of the gap in Athenian records. Jason and the Argonauts, Aetes of Colchis, Theseus of Athens (1497-1467 BC), and Hippolyte would all be shortly before the gap, while Hercules (lived 1248-1196 BC), who captured the Amazon Menalippe, Laomedon of Troy (1266-1233 BC), Sigl, Pinzgar and Orithya are after the gap.

While Sigl and Pinzgar (described more fully by Magnus) must have succeeded Prichs over the Cimmerians, Menalyppe and Orithya could have been contemporaries of the above-mentioned three Amazon queens who had each carved out a state on the northern coast of Anatolia, Themiscyra, Mirlea and Amastrin.]

At this time also the mighty city, that the court of the Turkish emperor held and is now called Constantinople from emperor Constantine I, was built by the king **Byzantus**, who gave it the name of Bysantion at first.

And the above-mentioned Hercules became unreasonable, he had lived fifty-two years, he burned himself alive. The ancient Romans and Greeks considered him to be a great god and helper, and gave him the toe; believed whoever gave his toes would be rich and wealthy here.

None of his companions died properly either. Jason strangled himself, Orpheus was torn to pieces by the unreasonable drunk women, king Theseus was chased from the country and people, died in miseries.

At that time also began to reign in Troy the last king **Priam**, he was in great honors and was forty years, after which he was pitilessly strangled by his enemies; he had fifty sons.

[Priam, aka Piyama-radu, began to reign in Troy in 1233 BC, until the Trojan War and fall of Troy, 1193-1183 BC.]

At that time also the great mighty city of Carthage, which with Rome for a hundred and fifteen years had fought the mastery of the whole world, is said to have been built, as Eusebius and St Jerome put in their chronicles, five and a half centuries before the city of Rome. It was also prophesied by the fragmentary sibyl, called Erythrea, how the mighty city of Troy would be disintegrated in a short time; but no one believed it until it happened. There is more on her above.