Syrus II-3

**Chronicle of Michael the Syrian Book II** (1195), translated from French version and annotated by Ras Feqade, 2022

### Chapter 3

At the start of the life of Ragau, people began to build Babel and the Tower, in the country of Sennaar. "Let us build a fortress and a tower, they said, and let us make a name, before we are scattered and go each to his inheritance." The giant Nemrod, son of Kush, fed the builders from his hunting. The time of construction lasted 40 years. They trampled underfoot the law, disdained the commandment and did not observe the partition of the just Noah; they divided the land, and they intended to find a way of escaping the anger of God after having transgressed their precepts. "That's why, says the Scripture, God descended and divided their language." The single language was divided in 72 languages, and the land of Sennaar was called Babel, because He made the confusion there. Heber, this great elder, was never in agreement with them about the division; but he told them to observe the precept of Noah and not bring about a curse; he never consented to build the Tower with them. Because of that, the primitive and paternal language was conserved in him. He named this land Babel. In our Aramaic language, the name of Babel is conveniently explained as designating confusion. St Mar Ephrem, Basil the Great, and other ancient scholars give this sense. James called of Edessa and John of Litarba, who cite ancient chroniclers, say: "The Hebrew language is the primitive language, that was conserved by Heber, and it's from that that the Hebrews took their name", but others say "As Abraham passed the river Euphrates to enter the Promised Land, as he passed fighting among the armies, as he passed from the pagan customs of his fathers to faith in God, Creator of the Universe: because of all that, they say, he was called *ebraya* (passer)." For us, we say that all these things are true: the primitive language is the Aramaic language whence *ebraya* originates.

[The annals are evidently far older than Michael Syrus or Bar Hebraeus, since forms of most of them also exist in the Clementine tradition (KM, CT and Conflict), and some entries also reflect a knowledge, at some point, of accounts in *Jubilees* or *Biblical Antiquities*.

Taking Jub. as the best authority, Reu was born to Peleg in 1580 AA (= 2483 BC); this would be when his father Peleg was only 13, according to Jub. Reu's mother was Lomna, called daughter of Senaar, possibly meaning she was a generic Sumerian, perhaps from Nemrod's tribe; Peleg, his own mother a daughter of Nemrod named Azurad, was apparently 10 when he married Lomna. The tower (or *abzu*) was begun at Babel (ie Eridu) in 2467 BC and continued more precisely 43 years until it collapsed in 2424 BC. The commonplace tradition, that afterward there were at first 72 languages, had been established by the 1st century AD on the basis of counting all the proper names in the LXX of Gen. 10, however that claim is ultimately uncanonical and inauthentic.

In the original *Bib. Ant.* (1st century), it is rather Eber's son Joktan, who, in spite of being one of the tower foremen, smuggled several of his sons out of Shinar, because they had refused to build the tower - including Almodad, Jobab, Abimael, Saba and Ophir. Some of these Joktanites settled at first in Balkan Europe (2398 BC), would later migrate to Asia (c. 2323 BC) and later still to the African Horn (1701 BC), whither, according to Ethiopian tradition, they brought the original speech of Adam, Ge'ez or Ethiopic, which they had carefully preserved in their travels. Hebrew as we know it turns out to be nearly identical to Canaanite, which like Aramaic probably owes much to Akkadian, a form of Semitic speech used in Shinar, where the corruption from the original Ge'ez is still recognizable. The consonantal roots in the names Heber and Hebrew, on the basis of Ge'ez, would probably signify "union" or "united", ie all the descendants of Abraham via Jacob, and their retainers, converts etc. who were joined or united with them.

Bed.'s version includes a later note that the 3 chiefs over the tower were "Lamsour (Assur), Hayk and Nimrod", which is interesting, as they are usually said to be Joktan, Samothes and Nimrod, as in *Defloratio*.]

Phaleg, at the age of 130 years, begat Ragau (according to the Syriac, at the age of 30 years), and survived 343 years (according to the Syriac 239 years).

[Jub. as noted above makes Peleg only 13 when he begat Reu. As for his death, the Samaritan Genesis is the most reliable in giving his years after begetting Reu as 109, for this brings us to 2374 BC, two years after Jub. says wars began again on Earth, which fits the entry below noting one of the first wars began after the death of Peleg. ]

From the Deluge to the Division of languages, there were in all 660 years; from Adam to the Division, according to the LXX, 2906 years, according to the Peshitta 2757 years.

[These figures are not based on Jub. which correctly allows 331 years from the Deluge to the confusion of languages (2755-2424 BC). In *Defloratio* and other European records, this correct figure of 331 was corrupted and transmitted as 131 years.]

Ragau begat Serug at the age of 132 years, according to the Syriac at the age of 52 years; he survived 339 years, and according to the Syriac 239.

[Per Jub., Reu (Ragau) married Ora, daughter of Ur (Pabilsag) in 1681 AA = 2382 BC, and begat Serug in 1687 AA = 2376 BC (the same year Pabilsag founded Ur), thus Reu was 107. All versions of *Genesis* agree that Reu lived 207 years after Serug's birth; this would put Reu's death in 2169 BC.]

In the year 74 of Ragau finished the 3rd millennium, according to the LXX.

The Tower was built in the year 70 of Ragau; it was finished 40 years later; and people were scattered over the face of the Earth. They multiplied battles and conflicts: those who were victors raised the signs of victory, and then they worshipped statues: thus idol worship was spread. The Tower fell in the year 110 of Ragau.

[Jub. as noted above would make Reu 16 when the tower was begun at Babel (ie. Eridu) in 2467 BC, and 59 when it collapsed in 2424 BC, which was 1639 AA. (Note: The edition of Jub. published by RH Charles miscalculated an additional jubilee into the tower construction.)]

**Nemrod**, the first who reigned at Babylon, was made prince in the year 40 of Ragau. When God sent the wind that overturned and made the Tower collapse, Nemrod died in the Tower. The total years of Nemrod's reign is 69 years according to the Chronicle of Menandros the Mage. It says the same thing in the second book of Asaph, and also that the royal crown was woven.

[Nemrod's kingship starting when Reu was 40, as here and in BH, is plausible, as this would fall in 2443 BC, 24 years after the Tower building was begun at Eridu. The age of Reu when Nemrod reigned given as 163 in KM, or 130 in CT and *Conflict*, is not plausible. However CT in a misplaced entry says the 3 cities were built by Nemrod (see *infra*) in the 50th year of Reu, which is 2433 BC; KM reads 50th year of Peleg, or 2446 BC, which fits even better.

All these sources agree on 69 years for Nemrod's reign, which however seems to count from the start of the building (2467 BC), and continue until his reign ends in 2398 BC. In the tradition of *Defloratio*, Nemrod (ie Enmerkar of Uruk) is assigned 56 years as the "era of Saturn", which seems rather to begin in the year the tower *fell*, 2424 BC, and continue through 2368 BC, thus subsuming his successors in Uruk, Lugalbanda and Dumuzid, within the "era of Saturn", then being followed by the "era of Jupiter Belus", who corresponds mainly to Gilgamesh of Uruk. (The name 'Saturn' represents Cronos, apparently a surname shared by Nimrod, his brother Sebtah and grandfather Ham; while the title 'Jupiter' or Zeus would variously be applied to Gilgamesh 2368-2342 BC, to Dionysius of Tritonia (Libya, 2263 BC), and to Camboblascon of Tuscania (Italy) 1829-1796 BC.)

"Menandros the Mage" whom the figure of 69 years for Nemrod is credited to here, was apparently a disciple of Simon Magus who followed him as chief of the heretical Gnostic sect. However, in other versions of this annal, dividing the text differently, it is rather the tale of Nemrod's woven crown that is cited to Menander Magus. All the bits and pieces in the various sources about this crown and the weaver Sasen in connection with Nemrod and his visit to Barwain must have formed a single narrative at some point; Sasen is called a king in some, and one calls him king of Saba, but he seems rather to correspond with Susan son of Elam, mentioned in Jub. as founding Susa, and being father to Rasueya who married Arfaxad -- thus Jub. makes Elam, in addition to Nemrod and Madai, ancestors to all the subsequent patriarchs including Abraham, etc.

Bed.'s version includes a supplementary note from a later hand disputing the false presumption here that Nemrod died in the collapse, as he is aware of the correct, Armenian account that he would later (2398 BC) be slain by Hayk son of Togarmah.]

After the death of Phaleg, the children of Jectan, brother of Phaleg, seeing that they had not been given their inheritance, took the part of setting up three princes: Saba, Ophir, and Havila. These began to make weapons, and taught people tools of war; they began to eat blood, and became powerful because they served arms of war; as people never had experience of arms, they fled before them. They built castles to protect themselves; the people having been defeated in combat by the children of Ophir, they allowed them to occupy and take as a possession all places that pleased them, provided they abstained sometimes from making war. That's why all the country of perfumes became the inheritance of Saba, Ophir inherited the country of gold, and Havila the region of the river Danube where are precious stones.

[One of Joktan's sons had evidently settled in Arabia Felix first in 2406 BC, in the 18th year of 'Saturn Nemrod'; *Defloratio* says Saba and his son Gogus, but surely it was Havilah rather than Saba, who Aventinus has only 7 years later (2399-8 BC, 25th of Nemrod and likely the following year) settled on the Sava in the Balkans. It is curious that this version seemingly places Havilah on the Danube (aka Ister), for in Aventinus' *Bavarian Chronicle*, Havilah is one of the only sons of Joktan (aka Ister) *not* mentioned as settling there in 2398 BC. However Obal who is mentioned along with Saba and Ophir in the Balkans, is probably the third 'prince' rather than Havilah.

Moreover, Aventinus claims Joktan's son Hazarmaveth, who had settled Sarmatia in 2399 BC, "invented warriors, unknown at the time, to shield the country and people, wherefore he acquired great favor with the common man..." This matches the account here and in BH that Saba, Ophir and Havilah (read: Obal) invented weapons and waged wars upon the death of their uncle Peleg. However, only this version of Michael translated in French goes so far as to assert that they ate blood, which is surely an exaggeration, as this is basically on the heels of the 'Golden Age' when everyone was more polite and there were no wars.

Jub. indicates precisely that wars and slavery began again on Earth 48 years after the tower fell, in 2376 BC. We know from Sumerian literature that Enmerkar of Uruk (Nemrod) had had some conflicts with the state of Aratta (ie Ararat where many Japhethites still were), and went in with a large force to subdue it; the mediaeval Armenian historian Moyses Khorenatsi tells of Nemrod being slain by the arrow of Hayk son of Togarmah, in a skirmish in the Armenian mountains, but this seemingly did not qualify as a full fledged war between nations, as I calculate Nemrod's death took place c. 2398 BC, 69 years after he had helped found Eridu and the *abzu*. The Sumerian sources say he was succeeded by his general Lugalbanda, who evidently proclaimed victory and went home; he must have ruled Uruk and Sumer only about 6 years before Dumuzid came to the throne. Dumuzid according to the *Sumerian King List* (SKL) ruled until MU (year) 100, this notation in the original probably counted from the founding of the *abzu* in 2467 BC as MU 1, thus Dumuzid's reign can be assumed to end 2368 BC, followed by Gilgamesh. Dumuzid further corresponds to the king of Babylon called 'Arpazad' later here and in BH, who ruled 18 years, followed by 7 years of interregnum and revolt, and finally Belus. These seven years of revolt starting 2374 BC were included as part of Dumuzid's reign by the SKL and other Sumerian literature, so we are looking at Dumuzid starting in 2392 BC, allowing Lugalbanda about 6 years. Two early wars from this time that can be gleaned from the SKL are: Enmebaragesi of Kish vs. Elam, and Dumuzid of Uruk vs. Enmebaragesi of Kish. The first war (Kish defeats Elam) can thus be dated to 2376 BC, the year Jub. indicates wars began; and the second (Uruk defeats Kish) must therefore be dated to 2375 BC, as the following year 2374 BC marks the start of the revolt against Dumuzid, and the death of Peleg at a mere 122, precipitating the wars mentioned here of the Joktanites who had settled in Europe, probably including Saba, Ophir, Obal and Hazarmaveth. The ancient claims that these Joktanites invented warfare first is thus proven false if all these calculations are correct, as they would not have begun before 2374 BC, and were thus barely beaten out by the first two Mesopotamian conflicts involving Enmebaragesi (who appears below in Chapter 4 as Kambiros) in 2376 and 2375 BC, not counting Hayk's skirmish with Nemrod in 2398 BC.

More clues about the Joktanite conflict can be pieced together, including this annal in *Defloratio*: "*in the 45th year of Belus* (2323 BC)*, Janus led some colonies out into Arabia Felix*". Janus here refers to the fourth son of Noah, Janus II or Barweyn, known from many sources. Sheba, Ophir and Obal in Europe were aggrieved about their original inheritance in Arabia after the death of Peleg, and Barwain's resettlement of Sheba and Obal in Yemen, near Havilah, as well as Ophir on the Indus, must be what occurred at this time, ending their conflict. Aventinus' mention of Hazarmaveth is a big clue, because the Don was then their border with Scythia on the east. The Don had been intended to separate Japheth's portion on the west from Shem's on the east, but ironically after the second partition it ended up separating Shemites on the west (Hazarmaveth) from Japhethites on the east, for the Scythians of Aratta Saga included Madai and Togarmah. Putting together the whole situation at the time, we may speculate that Joktanites including Saba, Ophir, Obal and Hazarmaveth were fighting with the Scythians across the Don during the years 2374-2323 BC, the Joktanites perhaps disputing how much of Shem's territory Madai was allowed to occupy. This seems further confirmed by the account published by Petreieus Hafniensis, that would have Gomer II, another son of Togarmah, sojourn with his band on the Crimean peninsula between the years 2355 and 2333 BC, before moving on to Jutland and becoming the Jutes. If this is so, it fits right into this conflict and probably represents an action by a Scythian group against territory allotted to Hazarmaveth.]

#### "From Chaldaean teachings"

Polyhistor writes that after the Deluge Evekoios reigned over the Chaldeans during 60 *ners*, and had for a successor his son, Komasbelos during 4 *ners*. After the deluge until the era when the Medes captured Babylon, Polyhistor counts 86 kings, whose names he indicates.

[These two sentences appear nearly word for word in Eusebius, except he says Evekius ruled 6 *ner* and Comosbelos for 6 *ner* and 5 *sar*, a *ner* being 600 years and a *sar* 60. This would mean 36,000 years for Evekius, or 3,600; and 2,400 years for Comosbelos, or 3,900. This may be compared to the fabulous reigns in later copies of the SKL: 420 or 900 years for Enmerkar, 1200 for Lugalbanda. As shown above, it appears the kingship of Nemrod or Enmerkar should be taken as starting 2443 BC, thus lasting 45 years, while that of Lugalbanda has been inferred to have lasted about six years.]

Nemrod wore the royal crown, 10 years after the 2nd partition. He was the first king after the Deluge.

[Since Nimrod wearing the crown and claiming kingship was dated above to when Reu was 40, which I make to be 2443 BC, this places the 2nd partition, following Madai's journey to Europe, in 2453 BC.]

In the year 101 of Ragau, the first king of the Egyptians, ***Panouphis***, began to reign, during 68 years. This was the first dynasty of Mitsrin, which is also called by the name of Metsraim, their ancestor.

[Variants of this annal exist in the Clementine tradition. KM calls the king Firnifs; CT calls him Puntos; *Conflict* names him Yanuf; all agree that he reigned 68 years. The "Apocalypse attributed to Methodius" (Apoc.) has a distinct chronicle covering this same early era, that mentions the first post diluvian king in Egypt as "Pontipos, son of Ham".

*Defloratio* calls him *Oceanus* and specifies that he came to Egypt with his wife Tethys in the 15th year of Nemrod (after the tower fell), meaning 2409 BC, and thus when Reu was 74. He is considered the same as Misraim. The name Oceanus corresponds in meaning with Pontos, which could plausibly be the origin of the corrupted variants. He would correspond to the first pharaoh of the 9th dynasty, one of the Khetis, and probably Wahkare Kheti. The origin of the Greek name Okeanos is unknown but could feasibly be connected with Wahkare. Egypt had of course been unoccupied after the 8th dynasty ended in the Deluge in 2755 BC, and archaeologists have even remarked on the absence of graves in Egypt between the 8th and 9th dynasties.

A reign of 68 years in Egypt thus gives him until 2341 BC, which must be when his father Ham took over, having arrived from ruling Kush in the name of his son Kush until 2346 BC as deduced from the Ethiopian record. Ham's reign in Egypt is clearly described by *Defloratio*, which however mentions it immediately after Oceanus in the entry for the same year 2409 BC (Nimrod 15), clearly not in its proper place.]

Nimrod built three cities: Arak, Or and Kala, i.e.: Edessa, Nisibis and Seleucia.

[In KM, the 3 cities Nemrod built are Nisibis, Raha (Edessa), and Haran, in the 50th year of Peleg (2446 BC). In another place it lists Hadâniûn, Ellasar, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Rûhîn, Atrapatene, and Telalôn as towns built by Nemrod. CT says he built Nisibis, Edessa, and Haran which is Edessa, in the 50th year of Reu (2433 BC). Elsewhere it lists Babel, Niniveh, Ras Ain, Selik, Ctesiphon, and Adhorbhaigan. BH says he built Arakh, Akhar and Kalya, which are Edessa, Nisibis and Seleucia. In Bed.'s edition the 3 cities are Erech, Edessa and Nisibis.

Genesis 10 of course says Nimrod built Babel, Erech and Akkad in Shinar, and that Assur departed from there and built Nineveh, Calah and Resen.

The three cities founded by Nemrod (Enmerkar) in Senar can be identified as Eridu, Uruk and Akkad. Sumerian sources agree that Enmerkar began his kingdom in Uruk and Eridu, and ruled Akkad, aside from claiming the four quarters of the world. These cities are in Sumer and not Syria, although he seems to have also ruled Haran, which we have seen was already founded by Cainan.

Of the cities built by Assur, the identity of Hebrew Calah (K-L-H) is unclear, but I suspect it is corrupted from the name Kish, which the SKL tells us was started by a certain Ngushur, ie. Asshur. From there Ashur departed and founded settlements in Assyria proper or Shubur, in his inheritance east of the Tigris, including the city Asshur and Nineveh. The chronology of Antoine Couillard (1557) covering this period, mostly following the same dating scheme as *Defloratio*, has Assur disputing with Nemrod and founding Nineveh and the other cities 147 (ie 347) years after the deluge, which would place it in 2408 BC, however since his other dates for Nemrod's reign seem inexplicably to be shifted 8 years later, we should perhaps also emend this to 2416 BC for the dispute between Nemrod and Asshur and founding of Nineveh.]

When the peoples distanced from Babel, the Canaanites had a chief called Canaan, from the name of their ancestor Canaan. The children of Canaan having seen that the country of Palestine and Lebanon was very good, they stayed there and never wanted to go to their inheritance, west of the sea of Egypt. They incurred the curse anew. In this place the curse of the just Noah was fulfilled on them.

[The original for this account is Jubilees, which indicates it was soon after the collapse of 2424 BC, and that their chief Canaan was the son of Ham himself and not a namesake. The Sumerian epic *Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird* contains a highly relevant anecdote that in Enmerkar's 50th year he was obliged to construct a wall to keep the Mar-tu people out of Mesopotamia. The Mar-tu are the Amorites, easternmost of the Canaanite tribes, and Nemrod's 50th year by the Sumerian count from 2467 BC (start of the *abzu*) falls in c. 2417 BC, by which time the Amorites and probably the other Canaanite tribes had occupied their region.]

From the time of Serug, people made images that they worshipped, excited by the evil spirits and unclean demons.

At this time reigned in Egypt the second king, ***Eupipaphios***; this one first built and launched a navy on the sea. He reigned 46 years and died.

[BH has the same, but calling him Apiphanyos. As mentioned above, it seems likely that Ham or Chem left Kush in 2346 BC, came to Egypt, and took over from his son Misraim or Wahkare in 2341 BC, whence the name Kemet for Egypt, which dates to this time. He would also correspond with the pharaoh Kheti, in Greek Akhtoes. He may also have taken the name Neferkare Kheti as suggested by the Turin canon; the Egyptian *Nefer-* corresponds with the *Eu* in Eupipaphios.]

At the same time, an Egyptian named ***Sanos*** fought with the Kushites; he was surnamed Ethiopos, ie. Kushite; he was the third prince and reigned 60 years. This Ethiopos or Kushite and the Libyans fought a war with Saba and killed him; his daughter succeeded him; she is also called Saba by the name of her father. She reigned 40 years. Aristocholos writes of this one that she made many wars and was greatly illustrious: wherefore women reigned in this place, and marched together in combat...

[BH reads: "*And after him rose up the third governor in Egypt, Athanopyos, and it was because he made war on the Cushites and conquered them that he was called by this name, whereof the interpretation is 'Cushite'. And he slew Shebha. And after Shebha, his daughter reigned forty years, and henceforward women began to reign over the Cushites.*"

   This third pharaoh of the 9th dynasty is so obscure that even *Defloratio* does not mention him. However, it does place the arrival of Ham, now called Chemesenus ('Esenus' said to mean 'licentious'), in Italy in the 56th year of Belus, meaning 2312 BC. Thus Ham as Neferkare could not have ruled so long as 46 years. The name Sanos probably should belong to the 2nd pharaoh, ie Chem Esenus, since the 4th, Barsanos, or son of Sanos, corresponds with Apis, son of Ham. I suspect that this pharaoh intervening between Ham and his youngest son Apis was most likely the other son of Sanos, none other than Misraim a second time, although no source says this. He would then correspond with the throne name Meryibre, aka Meryibtawe Kheti for this reign, with the name *-tawe* being a translation of Misraim effected in the Ancient Egyptian language that, like Ethiopic, was spoken even before the flood -- and was now being revitalized by the Misraimites. If the anecdote is not misplaced, it would mean he also slew his nephew, Saba son of Kush, perhaps taking the name of Kush or Ethiopis as a cognomen. The assertion that Kush or Saba was ruled by queens until the time of Solomon appears in several accounts, but is not true according to Ethiopian records, which also specify that the queen of Sheba who visited Solomon was of the Semitic Sabaean line from Joktan that entered Ethiopia in 1701 BC, not this Hamitic Saba son of Kush.

Since there are only 29 years between the time we have Ham over Egypt, and the time he arrived in Italy from Crete, his reign has to be shortened from the 46 years assigned here to the second pharaoh. Misraim's putative second reign for 60 years as Meryibtawe must thus be dated from 2323 BC until 2263 BC, the 43rd year of the "Era of Ninus" when *Defloratio* indicates is approximately when Dionysus won the 'Titanomachy' and made Osiris Apis, youngest son of Ham, the next pharaoh. Ham thus departed Egypt for Crete in 2323 BC after ruling there only 18 years.]

### Chapter 4

Serug, at the age of 130 years, begat Nachor, according to the 3 chroniclers. The Hebrew text, whence our Peshitta derives, subtracts 100 years from each of the patriarchs after the deluge. Serug survived 330 years. In his time the art of making money and working gold was invented by Ophir.

[Jub. definitively places the birth of Nahor to Serug in 2319 BC, the same year Serug married his 1st cousin Melka daughter of Kaber, Reu's brother. Serug's age was thus 57. The Samaritan Genesis, which has so far been the most reliable on their lifespans after begetting, says he lived for another 100 years, suggesting Serug died c. 2219 BC, aged 157.

'Ophir' began using precious metals as currency (Bed.: "with the names of the kings stamped in them"); as we have seen, Ophir was resettled on the Indus a few years before Nahor's birth (2323 BC), until 1875 BC when Jerome indicates they joined their kindred in Yemen; the 'Indus Valley Civilization' should be understood.]

43 years after the empire of Nemrod had ended, a king called **Qambiros** reigned at Babylon, in the time of Serug; he built the great city of Susa. Then, in the year 56 of Serug, all the peoples began to make instruments of war, to make captives, to sell slaves and servants.

[As we know from Jub., wars and slavery in fact began the same year Serug was born, 2376 BC, and the war of Kambiros (spelled Qombaros on the list in Chap. 7) as described below is thus the very same action of Enmebaragesi against Elam immortalized on the SKL. Enmebaragesi's actual Sumerian name is known from archaeology to be Mebarasi, King of Kish, who also founded Nippur as a new holy city following the abandonment of Eridu, as gleaned from the *Tummal Chronicle*. This would likely mean Nippur (not Susa, which had probably already been built by Susan son of Elam in 2421 BC) was founded 43 years after the tower fell, in 2381 BC, and 17 years after Nimrod was slain, when Dumuzid ruled in Uruk.]

In this era Qambiros and the Chaldeans made war on Qalatu, as Damaris writes it. Zamardos says: "In the year 70 of Serug the Chaldean, there had been a war between Qalatu and the Chaldeans, for the possession of the Earth, although Qambiros reigned. The Chaldeans were victors; they made the Qalatu near them leave and confined them in the mountains that are in the middle of their territory." Serug taught Nahor the Chaldean religion, magic and astrology, as Asaph reports in his book where he reveals the genealogies. After Qambiros, who reigned 85 years, the 3rd king of Babylon was **Samiros**, during 72 years; he began to reign in the year 106 of Serug. He made war on the children of Javan and the Canaanites, and he conquered their territory. He built cities for the Parthians and Chaldeans. He first began use of measures and weights; in his time they began to make fabric to clothe the idols in the shameful ceremonies, according to what the mage Zamardos writes. Silk was also discovered in his time, and dyes of all kinds. Many fabulous stories are related about him; for example: that he had 3 eyes and horns, and that he was stronger than all the tribe of Nemrod.

[This war of Kambiros against Qalatu, is the very same first war of 2376 BC, described on the SKL with the words "Enmebaragesi (Mebarasi) made the land of Elam submit" (or "took the Elamites into captivity with weapons"). Just as the name Mebarasi may be recognized in Kambiros, the term Kalatu surely reflects the Elamites' native designation for themselves, Khalatamti. Mebarasi evidently ruled Kish from at least 2381 BC when he founded Nippur, until 2375 BC when he was captured by his rival, Dumuzid of Uruk; ie. for around 6 years, however a reign length for him of 85 years is out of the question.

    For an account compiled over 3000 years later, this is remarkably accurate, and matches well with the earliest archaeology of Sumer. However, at some point in the transmission the order of kings must have been jumbled, for the following name, Samiros, seems best to correspond to a figure known as Mesannepada of Ur, aka Mesilim 'king of Kish', who in 2338 BC defeated the Nemrodians, ie the line of Uruk, a little later on in the sequence, and has been placed too early here and in BH. This Samiros should instead appear immediately after the account of Arpazad (Dumuzid) followed by Belus (Gilgamesh). His immediate predecessor was actually Ur-Nungal of Uruk, son of Gilgamesh, who is noted on the SKL as ruling until MU (Year) 30, now apparently being counted from the start of his lately deified father in 2368 BC; this gives the likely year of accession for Mesannepada or Samiros, 2339 BC, when Serug was actually about 37. Samiros' reign length should be about 33 years, as *Defloratio* has his successor, Meskiag-Nuna of Ur aka Ninus, starting in 2306 BC. The names appended on SKL after Ur-Nungal for Uruk are unknown elsewhere and probably local mayors, as the earliest copy of *Tummal Chronicle*, which covers the same years, confirms Mesannepada followed Ur-Nungal in the capital, Nippur.

Bed.'s text is slightly fuller, saying Samiros or Samir made war on the Greeks, Franks and Canaanites, as well as Hamites and Galatians, and explicitly that he "expelled the line of Nimrod from Chaldea", meaning the triumph of Ur founded by Semites over the previous hegemony of Uruk founded by Hamites (also mentioned on SKL), and the dominance of Ur over neighbors whether Amorite (Mar-tu), Elamite (Kalato here misrendered as 'Galatians'), or Arattan (this text was compiled during the early crusade era when the newer term Frank was being used alongside the previous term Javan, already long used in the east to designate the Japhethite descendants regardless of nationality.)

Even the account that silk was introduced in the reign of Samiros / Mesannepada finds confirmation elsewhere, as the ancient annals of Chinese history say silk making was invented by Leizu, queen of Huangdi, first emperor of Huaxia, who had a long reign of nearly a century calculated to include these same years.

I have omitted the "Chaldaean Teachings" section for chapter 4, which, following on from the mention of women marching in combat at the end of the previous section, says essentially that these African Amazons then inspired the Amazons from Togarmah and Ashkenaz, who also fought with Samiros. This is chronologically confused. *Defloratio* has the Libyan or Paladuan Amazons arising subsequent to the "Titanomachy" (c. 2263 BC), whence they struggled with king Hyarbas of Libya early in the reign of Aralius (Amraphel aka Lugal-anne-mundu of Adab, c. 2144 BC). As Diodorus and Aventinus tell it, they then took over Libya with their Queen Myrina and proceeded to ravage and conquer around the Mediterranean, before finally being defeated on the Sava River by Mopsus, c. 2119 BC. The later Amazons of Europe were Germanic (from Ashkenaz), Cimmerian (from Togarmah), and Gothic (from Magog), but they were active between c. 1758 BC and 331 BC, mainly around the Black Sea. I doubt there were any Amazons yet in the time of Samiros or Mesannepada, 2339-2306 BC.]

* **Next: Chapter 5**

1. ↑ Ogden Goelet, *Kemet and Other Egyptian terms for their land* p. 28
2. ↑ "History of the Tummal" at ETCSL