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CHAPTER LII.

THE NAMES OF THE KINGS WHO HAVE REIGNED IN THE WORLD FROM THE FLOOD UNTIL NOW.

THE MEDIAN KINGS WHO REIGNED IN BABYLON.

   Darius the son of Vashtasp (Hystaspes) reigned 24 years.

   Ahshîresh (Xerxes) his son, 20 years.

   Artahshisht the long-hand (Artaxerxes Longimanus), 41 years.

   Daryâwash (Darius) the son of the concubine, 20 years.

   Artahshisht (Artaxerxes) the ruler, 30 years.

   Arses the son of Ochus, 4 years.

   Daryâwash (Darius) the son of Ârsham (Arsanes), 6 years.

THE YEARS OF THE EGYPTIAN KINGS1.

   Alexander the son of Philip, 12 years. Ptolemy the son of Lagôs, 40 years. Ptolemy Philadelphus, 38 years2. In his third year3 the fifth millennium ended. This (king) asked the captive Jews who were in Egypt, and seventy old men translated the Scriptures for him, from Hebrew into Greek, in the island of Pharos. In return for this he set them free, and gave back to them also the vessels of their temple. Their names are these. Josephus, Hezekiah, Zechariah, John, Ezekiel, Elisha; these were of the tribe of Reuben. Judah, Simon, Samuel, Addai, Mattathias, Shalmî; these were of the tribe of Simeon. Nehemiah, Joseph, Theodosius, Bâsâ, Adonijah, Dâkî5; these were of the tribe p. 121 of Levi. Jothan1, Abdî, Elisha, Ananias, Zechariah, Hilkiah; these were of the tribe of Judah. Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, Sambât (Sabbateus), Simon, Levi; these were of the tribe of Issachar. Judah, Joseph, Simon, Zechariah, Samuel, Shamlî2; these were of the tribe of Zebulon. Sambât (Sabbateus), Zedekiah, Jacob, Isaac, Jesse, Matthias; these were of the tribe of Gad. Theodosius, Jason, Joshua, John, Theodotus, Jothan3; these were of the tribe of Asher. Abraham, Theophilus, Arsam, Jason, Jeremiah, Daniel; these were of the tribe of Dan. Jeremiah, Eliezer, Zechariah, Benaiah, Elisha, Dathî; these were of the tribe of Naphtali. Samuel, Josephus, Judah, Jonathan, Dositheus, Caleb; these were of the tribe of Joseph. Isalus, John, Theodosius, Arsam, Abijah4, Ezekiel; these were of the tribe of Benjamin.

   After Ptolemy Philadelphus arose Ptolemy Euergetes; (he reigned) 26 years5.

   Ptolemy Philopator, 17 years.

   Ptolemy Epiphanes, 24 years.

   Ptolemy Philometor, 35 years. The time of the Maccabees extended to this (reign), and in it the old Covenant came to an end.

   Ptolemy Soter, 17 years6.

   Ptolemy Alexander, 18 years7.

   Ptolemy Dionysius, 30 years8.

THE YEARS OF THE ROMAN EMPERORS.

   Gaius Julius, 4 years.

   Augustus, 57 years. In the forty-third year of his reign our Lord Christ was born9.

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   Tiberius, 23 years. In the fifteenth year of his reign our Lord was baptised; and in the seventeenth year He suffered, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven1.

   Gaius (Caligula), 4 years.

   Claudius, 14 years.

   Nero, 14 years.

   Vespasian, 10 years. Immediately after he came to the throne, he sent his son Titus against Jerusalem, and he besieged it for two years, until he uprooted it and destroyed it.

   Titus, 2 years.

   Domitian, 15 years.

   Trajan, 20 years2. John, the son of Zebedee, lived until the seventh year of his reign.

   Hadrian, 20 years.

   Antoninus, 20 years3.

   Verus, 20 years4.

   Commodus, 14 years5.

   Severus, 20 years6.

   The house of Antoninus.

   Alexander the son of Mammaea, 13 years.

   Maximinius and Gordianus, 9 years.

   Philip and Gallus, 10 years.

   Valerianus and Gallius (Gallienus), 15 years7.

   Claudius and Tacitus, 16 years8.

   Diocletian and those that were with him, 20 years.

   Constantine, 33 years9.

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THE KINGS OF THE PERSIANS FROM SHÂBÔR (SAPOR) THE SON OF HORMIZD1.

   In the fourth year of Constantine Caesar the Victorious, Shâbôr reigned in Persia 70 years.

   Ardashîr his brother, 20 years.

   Vahrân (Bahrâm) and Shâbôr, the sons of Ardashîr, 20 years.

   Yazdagerd, the son of Shâbôr, 20 years.

   Vahrân (Bahrâm), the son of Yazdagerd, 20 years.

   Pêrôz, the son of Yazdagerd, 27 years.

   Balâsh, the son of Pêrôz, 4 years.

   Kawâd, the son of Pêrôz, 41 years.

   Chosrau, the son of Kawâd, 47 years.

   Hormizd, the son of Chosrau, 12 years.

   From Shâbôr to this fifteenth year of Chosrau the son of Hormizd, in which he destroyed Dârâ2, is three hundred and six years. The sum of all the years from Adam to this fifteenth year of Chosrau the conqueror, which is the nine hundred and sixteenth year of the Greeks3, is 5861 years. From Adam to the Crucifixion is 5280 years. The whole of the Jewish economy therefore, from the time they went out of Egypt until Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, was 1601 years. From Abraham to this year is 2031 years.

OF THE YEARS THAT HAVE PASSED AWAY FROM THE WORLD.

   From Adam to the Flood was 2262 years. From the Flood to Abraham was 1015 years. From Abraham to the Exodus of the people from Egypt was 430 years. From the Exodus of the people by the hand of Moses to Solomon and the building of the Temple was 400 years. From Solomon to the first Captivity, which Nebuchadnezzar led away captive, was 495 years. From the first Captivity to the prophesying of Daniel was 180 years. From the prophesying of Daniel to the Birth p. 124 of our Lord was 483 years. All these years make 5345 years1. From Alexander to our Lord was 303 years. From our Lord to Constantine was 341 years. In the year 438 of Alexander the Macedonian, the kingdom of the Persians had its beginning2. Know, O my brother readers, that from the beginning of the creation of Adam to Alexander was 5180 years.


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Footnotes

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1 See Lepsius, Königsbuch, Synoptische Tafeln, p. 9.

2 The MSS. have 'the son of Philadelphus,' both here and below.

3 According to Bar-Hebraeus it was in his sixth year; Chron. Syr., ed. Bruns, p. 41. A list of the 72 translators is given in Brit. Mus. Add. 14,601, fol. 162 a. See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 792, 15 a.

5 Vatican MS. Datis.

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1 Brit. Mus. Add. 14,601, fol. 162 a, col. 2, and Vatican MS. Jonathan.

2 Brit. Mus. Add. 14,601, fol. 162 a, col. 2, and Vatican MS. Shalmî.

3 Brit. Mus. Add. 14,601 wrongly, ###. The Vatican MS. has also Jonathan.

4 Or, as pointed in the text, Abbâyâ.

5 Lepsius, 25 years.

6 I.e. Ptolemy Soter II. Lepsius, 36 years.

7 See the notes in Lepsius, p. 9 of the Tables.

8 Lepsius, 29 years.

9 For the authorities and their opinions on tbis subject, see Clinton, Fasti Hellenici, vol. iii, p. 260.

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1 For the various opinions on this subject, see Clinton, Fasti Romani, vol. i, p. 12.

2 He reigned 19 years (A.D. 99-117). Solomon probably includes the reign of Nerva, 1 year.

3 He reigned 23 years (A.D. 139-161).

4 See Clinton, Fasti Romani, vol. i, p. 846.

5 He reigned 12 years (A.D. 181-192).

6 He reigned 18 years (A.D. 194-211).

7 Philip reigned A.D. 245-249, i.e. 5 years. Decius came next and reigned 2 years. Gallus reigned 1 year, A.D. 252.

8 Claudius reigned 2 years, A.D. 269-270; and Tacitus died A.D. 276.

9 He reigned 31 years, A.D. 307-337.

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1 For a list of the Sasanian kings see Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser und Araber sur Zeit der Sasaniden, p. 436 a; and Marsden, Numismata Orzentalia, pt. i, p. 437.

2 Schoenfelder, p. 86, quo hoc genus expirat! See Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser und Araber, pp. 239, 290 sqq.; Assemânî, Bibl. Orient., t. ii, p. 62.

3 I.e. A.D. 604. Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser und Araber, p. 436 a.

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1 I can only make 5265 years.

2 It should be 'in the year 538,' as the Sasanian dynasty was founded by Ardashîr I in A.D. 226.