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
beauty of the Original and the Gold glittering in the two first pages after the manner of other Books cuâ—iously written in the East had not engaged my longer consideration of them whereby I was satisfied that the Italian Inscription was not answerable to the Arabian Art and could not forbear crying out O soeculum infelixâ— as Erasmus did upon a like occasion having found as he saith Commentaries on Mimus Publianus Qui neque coelum neque â—erâ—â—m attingerent tamen accuratissime depictos ceu rem sacram This impertinent title had no doubt been given our Manuscript by a person who had casually cast his eye on some passages where it mentions the Enchanters of Egypt and the same injury might haply have be done by a like precipitation to the Sacred Books of Genesis and Exodus wherein there is also mention made of those Magicians and the wonderful effects of their Magick which they had the impudence to compare with the Divine miracles of Moses and Aaron These Enchanters then are part of the subject of this Book but not all as being one of the things which many ages since had raised admiration in those who considered Egypt but not the onely one nor the principal in a Country where the Earth the Waters and the Air out-vy one the other in affording extraordinary subjects of Meditation to Philosophers upon natural things and whose Inhabitants have signalized themselves by their prodigious structures and by the invention even of Philosophy it self The Land of Egypt is it self a stranger in the place of its situation if we credit the conjectures of it of Philosophers who have attentively viewed and considered it it came thither from a Countrey so remote that the industry of men could never settle any Commerce for the importation of fruits from those places whence nature conveys them the very soil whereby they are produced The air there is in a perpetual serenity never disturbed at any Season of the Year with Snow Hail Rain Lightning or Thunder The Waters there rise to a prodigious height during the greatest heats of Summer when they are elsewhere lowest or dryed up and in Winter when they are every where either frozen up or over-flown they there gâ—id gently below their ordinary course The surface of the Earth is spread with a pleasant verdure with so sweet a temperature of the Air that the fairest Springs of other Countries come not near it In the Moneth of March the Harvest ready to be cut down guilds the pregnant Fields which are devested thereof before the Moneth of April And in the Moneths of July and August the same Fields are changed into so many Seas and the Cities and Villages into so many Islands by a fortunate inundation which spares the Inhabitants the trouble of tilling and manuring them as must of necessity be done elsewhere for the Egyptians have no more to do but to Sow the Seeds therein when the Waters are fallen away and slightly to stir the slime which is spread thereon that they may be covered which they did heretofore as Herodotus relates by driving Herds of Swine after the Sowers Thus do they get the Fruits of the most fertile piece of earth in the Universe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to use the terms of the same Author most easily and without any trouble after they have gathered the productions of the Waters by a yet more easie fishing or rather as Aelian expresses it by an Harvest of Fish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which lie scattered on the slime in the midst of the Fields These natural prodigies have alwaies engaged the greatest wits in an enquiry into their causes which are reducible onely to two heads For the serenity of the Air proceeds no doubt from the nature of the adjacent and neighbouring Countries and Waters which are not apt to send thither any vapours which might be condensed into Rain Hail or Snow nor yet any mineral exhalations which might cause thunder and lightning and the other Miracles which are seen by the Raies of that delightful Sun are the effects of that admirable River which keeps the Inhabitants of that Countrey in such quiet after it hath brought them the soil which is to sustain and nourish them For the better understanding of this it is to be observed that Aegypt is only a Plain or rather a spacious Valley reaching in length from South to North from the Tropick of Cancer or a little beyond it to the Mediterranean Sea for the space of about two hundred and thirty Leagues and in breadth from East to West between two Mountains which are its limits one towards Arabia and the other towards Africk but not alwaies at an equal distance one from the other For at the Northern extremity along the Shore of the Mediterranean Sea that distance is about six score leagues above the places where Heliopolis heretofore stood and where now Cairo is about fifty leagues distant from the Sea it diminishes so for the space of about seventy leagues that the two Mountains are not above six or seven leagues distant one from the other Above that space they dilate again and the Countrey grows wider even to its Meridional extremitie which makes the upper Aegypt otherwise called Thebais Thus is Aegypt naturally divided into three parts which may be called Upper the Lower and the Middle In the Middle which is much narrower then the others and which our Author calls Gize as much as to say the passage was the City of Memphis near the Western Mountain on which not far thence there are several Pyramids and those of the most sumptuous In the upper Aegypt was heretofore the famous City Thebes which had a hundred Gates and was afterwards called Diospolis and Syene seated directly under the Tropick of Cancer so that the day of the Summer Solstice the Sun at noon shined to the bottoms of Wells and streight and perpendicular Pillars made not any shade and Elephantina beyond which presently began Ethiopia and Copta whence there was a way to the Red Sea the shortest and easiest of any along that Coast by which there were brought on Camels abundance of Indian Commodities which were afterwards embarqu'd on the Nile and the little Cataract where Strabo saies the Mariners fell down from the top to the bottom with their Boats in the presence of the Governour of Aegypt to make him sport and the Lake of Maeris with two Pyramids in the midst of it each six hundred foot in height three hundred under water and three hundred above and the Labyrinth yet more prodigious then the Pyramids In the Lower Aegypt are the mouths of the Nile whereof the two most distant one from the other make the Delta which is a Triangular Island the Basis whereof is the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the two sides the two arms of the Nile which come to those mouths Cairo is above the Delta towards Arabia near the place where heretofore Heliopolis stood The Arabians now call
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
affirm on their behalf that in their Divinations they were inclin'd to Astrology that they invented the occult Sciences and knew hidden Secrets that they made famous Talismans and noble Laws that they were the Authors of speaking Works and moving Figures that they raised high Structures and grav'd their Sciences on the hardest stones which were then soft like Earth water'd or Paste that they particularly excell'd in the Structure of Pyramids exactly built on which they made exquisite Talismans by means whereof they kept their Enemies from entering into their Cities and Provinces by that means giving a clear demonstration of the Prodigies of their Science and discovering the effects of their Wisdom Egypt was then they say divided into fourscore and five Provinces whereof there were forty five in the lower part and forty in the upper And in every Province there was a Governour taken from among the Princes of the Priests who are they of whom God speaks in the History of Pharaoh when he says Send Heralds through the cities to bring unto thee all the learned Magicians he means those Governours They say that the Cities of the Princes of the Magicians were built by Busiris The Priest who served the Stars was seven years in that Imployment and when he was come to that degree they called him Cater as much as to say Master of the Influences and then he sate in the same Seat with the King and the King led his Beasts to the Watering-place and brought them back that is did all his business according to his counsel When he saw him coming he rose up to receive him went to meet him and made him sit down Then the Priests approched and with them the Masters of the Arts who stood beneath the Cater Every Priest served one particular Star and was not permitted to serve any other and he was called the Servant of such a Star as the Arabians served every one his own God and were called Gabdosamse Gabdiagoth Gabdolgasi that is Servant of Samse or the Sun Servant of Jagoth Servant of Gasi The Cater said to the Priest Where is now the Star which thou servest The Priest replied It is in such a Sign such a Degree such a Minute Then he put the same question to another and when all had answered and that he knew the Position of all the Stars he addressed himself to the King and said thus to him It is requisite that you do such a thing to day that you send an Army to such a place that you clothe your self after such a manner that you speak at such a time and so of all he thought fit to be done in all the Kings Affairs and in all the Government of the Kingdom The King writ down all the Cater said and whatever he disapprov'd Then he turn'd to the Artists and said thus to them Grave thou such a Figure on such a Stone and Plant thou such a Tree and to another Make thou a Geometrical Draught of such a Work and so to all from the first to the last Immediately they all went every one to his Shop and beset themselves to do the works enjoyned them exactly following the design propos'd to them by the Cater They set down that day in a Register the Works performed therein and the Register was folded up and kept in the Kings Treasury Their Affairs were dispatch'd according to this order then the King when he had any Affair assembled the Priests without the City Memphis and the People met together in the Streets of the said City Then they made their entrance one after another in order the Drum beating before them to bring the people together and every one made some miraculous discovery of his Magick and Wisdom One had to their thinking who look'd on him his Face surrounded with a light like that of the Sun so that none could look earnestly upon him Another seem'd clad with a Robe beset with Precious stones of divers colours green red or yellow or wrought with gold Another came mounted on a Lion compass'd with Serpents like Girdles Another came in cover'd with a Canopy or Pavilion of light Another appear'd surrounded with Fire turning about him so as that no body durst come near him Another was seen with dreadful Birds perching about his Head and shaking their wings like black Eagles and Vultures Another made appear before him in the air dreadful and terrible persons and winged Serpents In fine every one did what was taught him by the Star he served yet all was but Apparition and Illusion without any reality insomuch that when they came up to the King they spake thus to him You imagin'd that it was so or so but the truth is that it was such or such a thing There was heretofore in ancient Masre which is Emsos a King-Priest named Gancam of the race of Gariac the Son of Aram of whom the ancient Egyptians tell several stories part whereof are beyond all likelihood He liv'd before the Deluge which he by his Science foresaw whereupon he commanded the Doemons who accompanied him to build him a Palace beyond the Equinoctial Line which the ruines of this Universe could not reach They built the Castle seated on the descent of the mountain of the Moon which is the Castle of Brass where are the Brazen Statues in number LXXXV out of the Throats whereof issues the Water of the Nile which falls into a Fen full of Gravel whence the water of the Nile flows into Egypt and other Climats distributed and proportionably compass'd for were it not for that it would spread over the greatest part of the Earth The Spirits having built him that Castle he had the curiosity to see it and make his abode therein To that end he sate in a Pavilion made purposely with much artifice and the Spirits carried him on their shoulders to the Castle where having consider'd the excellency of the Structure and beauty of its Walls with the Sculptures and the Paintings that were about it and the Figures of the Celestial Bodies and divers other wonderful things for in the greatest obscurity of the night people saw clearly without Torches There were Tables set and spread with all sorts of Meat yet none perceiv'd to set them there so all sorts of Drinks in vessels of Marble Gold and Silver which he made use of yet were they not increased or diminished In the middest of the Castle there was a Cistern of Water congeal'd into Ice whereof the motion might be perceived through that part which was frozen as one sees through a Glass what is contained in it Having considered all this he was astonished thereat and immediately returned into Egypt where he left for his Lieutenant and Successour his Son Gariac recommending his Subjects to him and the Government of the Kingdom and then he return'd to the Castle and continued there till he died He is thought to be Author of the Books of the Coptites out of
and Books and among others the Laughing Statue which was made of a green Precious Stone They had dispos'd all these things within that place for fear of the Inundation and spoil As to the Priests who were in Egypt after the Deluge there were a great number of them The first who then follow'd that Profession was the Son of Philemon who was imbarqu'd in the Ship with his Father and Sister whom Noah married to Bansar the Son of Cham which happened thus King Pharaan sent the Priest Philemon to the Prophet of God Noah to dispute with him about the Worship of the Idols but Philemon by the grace and conduct of God believed in Noah and confirm'd his Mission He afterwards imbarqued with him in the Ship he and his Children and seven of his Disciples and after that gave his Daughter in Marriage to Bansar the Son of Cham the Son of Noah After they were come out of the Ship Philemon carried Bansar his Son in Law into Egypt where his Daughter had by the said Bansar her Husband a Son whom he named Masar who was since King of Egypt and caused it to be call'd Masre from his own Name always worshipping one onely God according to the Religion of Noah The name of Priest was not then a reproach among them for the Priest was then look'd upon as a Judge who does not oppose the Laws prescribed unto him The first who made an absolute profession of Priesthood in Egypt who brought Religion into esteem and applyed himself to the Worship of the Stars was Bardesir the Son of Cophtarim the Son of Masar the Son of Bansar the Son of Cham for he was King after his Father and it is reported that he made the great Laws build the Pyramids and set up for Idols the Figures of the Stars The Coptites affirm that the Stars spoke to him and many Miracles are attrited to him Among other things it is said he kept himself out of the sight of Men for several years of his Raign appearing only from time to time that is to say once a year when the Sun entred into Aries Then People came in to him and he spoke to them but they saw him not afterwards he absented himself from them till the like time again and then he gave them Commands and Prohibitions yet so as that they saw him not with their Eyes After a long time thus passed he ordered to be built a Tower of Silver Gilt and to be embellished with several Ornanaments then he began to sit on it in a most Magnificent and Magestical form and to speak to them After that he went and sate before them in the Clouds in a Humane form then he absented himself from them save only when he discovered to them his Figure in the Temple of the Sun when the Sun entred in Aries and ordered them to take for their King Garim the Son of Cophtarim acquainting them that he would not return any more to them wherein they obeyed him As to the Priestess Bedoura she was a strong Woman and as they say the Sister of Bardesir and that he gave her his Art of Priesthood and Divination whereupon she made most of the Talismans in the Pyramids She also made the speaking Idols in Memphis The Priesthood continued in her Family and Posterity who received it successively one of another and enjoyed its advantages The Egyptians affirm that in her time the wild Beasts and the Birds hindered them from drinking the Water of the Nile so that most of them dyed of Thirst and that she sent against these Animals an Angel who made so great a cry amongst them that the Earth shook and the Mountains were cleft It is said that by her Magick she fled in the Air and that the Angels smote her with their Wings As for Savan the Asmounian who they say was the ancient Hermes he it was that built the House of the Statues by which the measures of the Nile are know and built to the Sun a Temple in the Province named Basta and also ordered the building of Asmounia and in the like manner that of the City of Basre in Egypt which was twelve miles in length above which he caused a Castle to be made He also built Danae where he established the Schools and the Recreations 'T is also said that he built the Pyramids of Behansa where the women were in favour of his Daughter and that he there erected Pillars on which he raised a Tower of fine Glass which might be seen from the City of Gainosamse He also built on the descent of the Eastern Mountain in Egypt a City which he named Outiratis that is in the Coptick Language The King's Favourite and put into it abundance of miraculous things Among others he ordered four Pyramids to be made on the four sides of each Gate and caused to be set on the Eastern Gate a Tower in the form of a Turret or Steeple on which there was the Figure of a Black Eagle and on the Western Gate another Tower like the former with the Figure of a Bull on the Maritime Gate the like Tower with the Figure of a Lyon and on the outer or Southern Gate another such Tower with the Figure of a Dog He sent into these Figures Spirits that spoke so that when any Stranger came into that City at what Gate soever he entred the Figure upon it made a noise and the Inhabitants knew thereby that a stranger was come into their City and immediately they seiz'd on him where-ever he were He planted there also a Tree which shaded the whole City and bore all sorts of Fruits He also raised in the midst of the City a high Watch-tower the heighth whereof was fourscore Cubits according to the measure of that time and on the top of it a little Turret which every day assum'd a different colour till the seventh day after which it re-assumed its first colour wherewith it filled the whole City About this Watch-tower he disposed a great quantity of Water wherein there was bred abundance of Fish All about the City he set Talismans which diverted all inconveniencies from the Inhabitants and he called it the City of the Jovians that is Enchanters There was in it for him a great Tower for the exercise of the Sciences of Magick wherein he caused Assemblies to be made It was seated on a mountain opposite to the City God smote the Inhabitants of it with the Pestilence so that they all died and so ruin'd it that there is not any track of it to be seen As to the time when the Pyramids were first built in Egypt Historians relate that there was a King named Saurid the Son of Sahaloc three hundred years before the Deluge who dreamt one night that he saw the Earth overturned with its Inhabitants the Men cast down on their faces the Stars falling out of the Heavens and striking one against the other and making
relapsing into the faults wherewith he was charged Noah Gods mercy to him expected till the day of one of their great Festivals on which they assembled themselves to serve their Idols He then came to them and said thus Say there is no other God then the true God and that I am his Servant and Apostle With those words the Idols fell down of all sides and the people fell upon Noah cruelly beating him making several wounds in his head and dragging him along the ground with his Face downwards Then the Heavens and the Earth the Mountains and the Seas cryed vengeance to God saying O Lord do you not see the cruel treatment made to your Prophet Noah The Almighty and All-good God made them sensible that that cruelty was exercised on himself that he would punish those Rebels and do right to Noah They afterwards carried Noah before the King who spoke thus to him Have not I already pardoned thee and opened my Fathers Prisons conditionally thou shouldst not return to thy faults I am replied Noah a Servant who does what he is commanded Who hath given thee that command said the King My God replyed Noah Who is that God said the King The Lord of the Heavens and the Earth said Noah the Lord of all Creatures And what hath he commanded thee said the King He hath commanded me replyed Noah to call you to his service and he commands you and your Subjects to forsake the Worship of Idols and to follow the ordinances of Prayer payment of the Sacred Tribute and the observance of Fasting And if we do it not said the King what will be the issue If he please replied Noah he will immediately destroy you and if he please he will give you time to reflect on your ways till a certain term Let thy God alone said the King and what he desires of us and do thou thy self give over importuning us How can I give over replied Noah when I am a Servant who does what is commanded him and cannot disobey his All-good and Almighty Master Then the King says the Author caused Noah to be imprisoned to make an oblation of him to the Idols as his Father had done before Presently after Saudib who was a powerful Lord and a Priest rebelled against the King and attempted to deprive him of his Crown The Wars which the King was engaged in against him diverted him from thinking on the business of the Prophet of God Noah and obliged him to put him out of Prison till he had the leisure to have him brought before him He afterwards agreed with Saudib by granting him a portion of the upper part of Egypt and return'd to his Royal Palace The Devil Gods curse on him soon began to sollicit him to put the Prophet of God Noah to death but Almighty God diverted him so that the affaires of Noah were in different postures The Son of Darmasel sent thereupon to all the Kings of the Earth desiring them to send him all the Priests and Doctors that they might dispute against Noah They came to him from all parts and disputed against the Prophet but he baffled them all Among others came to him the Egyptian Priest Philemon of whom we have already spoken God shew him mercy He disputed against him and Philemon acknowledged the Unity of God who directed him so that he became faithful and embarqued with Noah in the Ship After that God revealed his will to Noah in these terms Make the Ark and the rest of the Verse How shall I make it said Noah Then Gabriel came to him and shew'd him the Model of it ordering him to give him the Figure of a Gondola of glass He was ten years a building of it and he made it of the Indian Plane Tree a hundred Cubits in length according to the measure of his time and fifty Cubits in height and divided it into three Stories The people of his Countrey in the mean time pass'd by him and laughed and scoffed at what he did Some brought to him their little Children and charged them to beware of him And sometimes the Children seeing him endeavoured to hurt and disturb him When Noah had compleated the Ship he made the entrance on the side and it continued lying on the ground seven Moneths till they had offered up to their Idols three companies of those who had believed Noah Then was the Decree of their chastisement confirmed and God commanded Noah to put into the Ship two pairs of every species Whence shall I be able to get all that said Noah Immediately God commanded the four Winds to bring together about him all he had ordered to be put into the Ark which they did He took in at the first door the Wild and Tame Beasts the Reptiles and the Birds at the second which was that of the middle he took in Meat and Drink and the Body of Adam which was in a Shrine Then he entered himself at the highest door with his children and those who had believed in him Relations agree not about the number of the Faithful who entered into the Ark most affirm they were forty Men and forty Women When Noah and his Companions were got into the Ship the news of it came to the King who began to laugh at it saying Where is the water on which that Vessel is to Sail They knew well enough that the Deluge was to come but had no notice of the time of its coming that the will of God might be fulfilled upon them Upon that Mechavel the Son of Darmasel got on Horseback with a party of his People and went first to the Temple of his Idols where he stayed a while then went towards the place where the Ship was with an intention to fire it Being come near it he call'd Noah with a loud voice and Noah having answered him Where said he is the water which is to bear thee in this Ship It will be immediately with you replied Noah before you go out of this place Come down O Noah said the King and also those who are with thee O unhappy Man said Noah turn to God for behold his Chastisements are ready to fall upon you These words incensed the King so that he commanded fire to be cast into the Ship upon him and upon his Companions But immediately there comes a Messenger in great haste telling him for news that a Woman heating the Oven to bake her Bread water rush'd out of it as out of a great Torrent Unfortunate Man replied the King how could water come out of a hot Oven Unfortunate King replied Noah 't is one of the signs of my Lords wrath which is descending on you and yours according to what he hath revealed to me to threaten you withall Another sign of the same thing is that the Earth is going to shake and to stagger that the water is going to overflow it on all sides and that it is going to spring up under the Horse's
feet on which you are mounted even in the place where you now are Immediately the King was obliged to put back his Horse from the place where he was seeing the water springing up under his Feet by the permission of God As soon as he was got to another place behold his Messengers returning to him tell him that the water was very much risen and augmented which forc'd him to a sudden departure to return with all speed to his Castle that he might take his Servants and his Children and dispose them into the Fortresses which he had prepared on the tops of the Mountains and where he had put in provisions as much as he imagin'd would be necessary But presently the Earth began to open and the Feet of the Horses to enter into it so that they could not get them out which obliged them to get off and to leave them there In like manner the doors of Heaven were opened and let fall a great Rain as if water had been poured out of great Earthen Pots so that the waters overtook them ere they could recover the Mountains and hindered their getting up to them They justled and thrust one another and knew not which side to turn by reason of the violence of the Thunder and Lightning and the greatness of the evil which was come upon them The Women carried their Children at their backs then when the water was come up to their mouths they cast them under their feet and endeavoured to save themselves Had God been disposed to have compassion on the Unbelievers he would have been merciful to the Mother and the Child One of Noah's Sons was with the King the Son of Darmasel when he came to fire the Ship His Father cried out to him O my dear Son Embarque thy self with us I will retire said he into a Mountain which shall secure me from the water Noah answered him according to what God had taught him I 〈…〉 onely the mercy of God which c 〈…〉 this day preserve any body from 〈◊〉 chastisements He was destined misery and destruction and he w 〈…〉 one of those who were drowned T 〈…〉 water rose above the Earth 40 C 〈…〉 bits and above the Mountains 〈◊〉 Cubits All that was upon the 〈◊〉 face of the Earth perished the Math 〈…〉 and Signs therefore were defaced 〈◊〉 the permission of God there remain 〈…〉 only the Ark and those within 〈◊〉 Those who adore the Stars affi 〈…〉 nevertheless that there rema 〈…〉 ed some places upon the Ea 〈…〉 which the waters of the Delu 〈…〉 reached not but the Mussulmans de 〈…〉 it The Persians whom God curs 〈…〉 say the History of the Deluge is n 〈…〉 true and make no mention of th 〈…〉 Prophecy of Noah in regard they a 〈…〉 Magi by Religion and adore the Fir 〈…〉 The Indians affirm in like manner that there happened nothing of it i 〈…〉 their Countrey and so also the Inhabitants of the Maritime Countries and of most of the Indian Islands They say the Ark continued on the water six Moneths that it Sail'd by all the Countries of the Earth in the East and in the West and that one week it compass'd about the place of the square Temple They had with them a large Sea-Pearl put on a Thread by means whereof they in the Ship distinguished between Day and Night and the hours of Prayer They had also their Cock which Crew to call up the People to Divine Service It is written in the Law of Moses that God swore by himself that he would not punish any Nation by the Deluge after the Nation of Noah I found says the Author of this Book Murtadi the Son of Gaphiphus on whom God have mercy in a Book the greatest part whereof was torn out the History of Noah with considerable Additions and Augmentations which I will fully set down here to the end this Book may want no advantage which may raise its value with those who shall read it or hear it read with the direction and assistance of God These Augmentations then relate that the Patriarch the Father of Noah Gods peace be with him dreamt that he saw issuing out of his Mouth a fire which burnt the whole Terrestrial World He thereupon awaked much astonished Some days after he dreamt again that he was upon a Tree in the midst of a great Sea without Shores which also astonish'd him very much After that there being born to him a Son the Prophet of God Noah the good tidings of it spread over the whole Earth and the Priest Galoumas related it immediately to Mechavel the Son of Darmasel assuring him further that the Terrestrial world should perish in his time that is in the time of Noah whose life was to be very long The Priests knew also by their Sciences that there would happen a Deluge which should drown the Earth and its Inhabitants but they always hoped to secure themselves from what should happen with King Darmasel The King therefore commanded that there should be strong Castles built on the tops of the Mountains that they might retire thither and be safe as they imagined They built seven Castles of that kind according to the number of their Idols whereof they gave them the names and graved thereon their Sciences After that Noah being grown up God grant him peace and mercy God sent him to them for an Apostle and there happen'd to him what God himself relates in his Book Noah was of delicate complexion his Head was somewhat long his Arms very large as also his Leggs his Thighs very fleshy his Beard long and broad he was large and thick He was the first Prophet that came after Edrisus and he is numbered among the famous Envoys for their constancy and resolution He liv'd 1250 years The Philosophers will not have him live so long as differing among themselves about long lives His law prescribed the profession of the Unity of God and the Sacred Combat against those who opposed the establishment of his Religion commanding the good and forbidding the evil ordered the following of things permitted and the avoiding of things forbidden and the observance of purity and cleanliness Almighty God had commanded him to induce his Nation to the proefession of his Unity to mind them of the good things they had received of him and to raise in them a fear of his indignation The History relates that Noah was born in the Reign of Mechavel the Son of Darmasel and that being two hundred years of age Mechavel died and had for Successor his son Darmasel who was much addicted to the worship of the Idols exalting them as much as lay in his power and commanding the People to serve them well In the mean time Noah began to Preach the Religion of Almighty God going through the Market-places the Assemblies the Temples the Inns and calling the people to God They kept his Preaching secret and discovered nothing of it to King Darmasel till such
the profession of the Unity of the Almighty and he is my Husband He told me reply'd the King that you were his Sister He told you truth said Sara for I am his Sister in God and so all who make profession of our Religion are our Brethren in God Yours is a noble Religion reply'd the King He afterwards sent Sara to his Daughter Charoba That young Virgin was ingenious handsom and well-inclined as much as could be wished and therefore she made great account of Sara took her into her affection honoured her much and gave her a very kind reception nay she sent her precious Stones of great value and Money and rich Garments Sara brought all to Abraham but he told her she should restore them and that they needed them not Sara therefore returned all to Charoba who was much astonish'd at it and acquainted her Father with it who thereupon doubled the admiration which he had for the Beloved of God seeing him refuse things which any other would have eagerly sought having any means to obtain them He therefore esteemed and honoured him much and said to his daughter These are persons of good repute who come out of a House full of purity and sincerity and great prudence and are not covetous of perishable goods Charoba do whatever you can imagine best to honour them Charoba afterwards bestowed on Sara Agar who is the Mother of our Father Ismael Gods peace be with him As she gave â—er her she said to her Hacagare that is to say Behold thy recompence for which reason Sara call'd her Agar She was a Coptess by Nation and one of the handsomest young maids of her time Gods peace be with her After that the Beloved of God being resolved to return out of Egypt into Syria Charoba provided for them several Baskets of Conserves and other excellent things to eat saying This is onely for your better Provision by the way and not to enrich you Sara told Abraham of it who said that as to that he would accept of it and that there was no hurt in receiving it of the Princess Charoba caused it to be loaden on Mules and afterwards caused them to mount thereon sending along with them some of her people to conduct them and to wait on them till they were got out of the Land of Egypt Having travelled a good part of their Journey Abraham said to Sara Give us to eat somewhat of that which the Princess of Egypt gave to you Sara set the Baskets before him and he did eat thereof he and those of his Company but when they came to the last Basket they found it full of several sorts of Jewels and precious Stones and Garments Whereupon the Beloved of God said to Sara The Princess of Egypt hath deceived us and hath carried her business so as that we have brought away of her goods Great God give her subtilty against those who will do her hurt and strive with her for her Land bless her in her Countrey and in her River make that Countrey a place of safety and prosperity When the Beloved of God said the Author was come into Syria he spent those Presents in Pious works lodging Pilgrims and making the Well which he ordered to be common He also bought Flocks which he design'd for Travellers for the Poor and Necessitous for Passengers for the Lame God gave them his benediction and caused them to multiply Sara put up a little thereof for two Children which she had Totis King of Egypt lived after that till such time as Agar sent to him out of the Countrey of Meca to acquaint him that she was in a barren Land that she had a famous and renowned Son and that there were about her a great number of Arabians whom the barrenness of the Countrey had quite chang'd and that she intreated him to relieve her with some provisions To that end Totis caused a Chanel to be made in the Eastern part of Egypt at the foot of the Mountain and brought into it the water of the Nile so that it might carry Vessels into the salt Sea which is the Chanel of the Red Sea By that way he caused Wheat to be sent to Agar as also all sorts of Corn and Presents They went by water as far as Gedde and thence they were carried to Meca on the backs of Beasts By these means God long preserved alive the Inhabitants of Meca which obliged them to call that King The Just as having performed the promise he had made them and given great testimonies of the affection he had for them They say also that Agar after her delivery of Ismael Gods peace be with him sent to Charoba to acquaint her with the news of her Lying-in whereat she was very glad and sent her abundance of Jewels and Gold and Egyptian Linen to dress her Son withall Out of one part of these Presents she established a Porter in the square Temple Nay they say that all the Ornaments of the square Temple which were put into it at that time came from Egypt Presents from Totis and his daughter Charoba The History relates that Totis desired the Well-beloved of God to desire of God his benediction for his Countrey Abraham therefore prayed God for the Inhabitants of Egypt and gave his benediction to its Nile and assured Totis that his posterity should reign there and be Masters thereof to the last times age after age They relate that Totis was the first called Pharao in Egypt because he was cruel and bloudy and put many people to death even of his nearest Relations and those of his own House and that out of the envy he bore them fearing the Crown should be taken away from his daughter after his death for he had no other children She was of a milde and good disposition and a great Wit She always endeavoured to prevent the shedding of bloud but could not prevail wheresore she was at last afraid they would take away the Crown from him seeing him extremely hated by all people which made her resolve to dispatch him by poison after he had reigned 70 years Totis being dead the people could not agree upon whom they were to make King in his stead Some said they should take in some of the Progeny of Abribus because they had anciently reigned but one of the Visiers began to speak thus My Friends Charoba is a woman of understanding besides she has delivered you from this Tyrant out of the extraordinary kindness she had for you Moreover the good man that came from Syria and his wife also have given her their benedictions If you give the Crown to any other you will repent you of it The people inclined to this advice and thought that counsel good Most of the Grandees of Egypt followed it so that Charoba did her work and that Visier made her Queen After that she sate in the Royal Throne made great Liberalities and
promised much happiness to the people She honoured the Souldiery gave them great gifts and doubled their Pay She in like manner honoured the Priests and the Sages and the chiefest among the people made great account of the Magicians and heightned their rank and caused the Temples to be rebuilt and enlarged She was afterwards many years Queen of Egypt by the benediction of Abraham Gods peace be with him and not attaqued by any Enemy who was not presently overcome and subdued by her with the assistance of God Gebirus the Metapheguian came to give her a visit he encamped in the Land of Balca and had a Brother named Gebrim taking his name from him they were two Giants of the remnant of the Gadites When Gebirus sate down on the ground upon the sand those who were in the midst of the Sea saw him He had a Kive 30 Cubits about which being filled full of meat for him he eat up all then they filled it with wine and he drank it off He happened to have the plague in his body which put him to great pain increasing every day whereupon his Physicians advised him to send some of his people about the Countrey to find out for him a soil whereof the Air and Waters were agreeable to his Temperament These gave him an account of the Countrey of Egypt which obliged him to come thither after he had drawn up his Forces together and distributed Money and Arms among them He brought along with him 4000 Gadites every one of whom carried a stone of the breadth of the Nile of Egypt He travelled so long till he got near the Land of Egypt and approched it at that part where the Queen was willing he should for he did not contradict her in any thing his design being to get her to marry him and by that means make him King of Egypt or if she denied him to dam up with the stones the course of the Nile and turn it into another Countrey and so make the Egyptians die of hunger and thirst Charoba sent to him a Servant-maid she had one who managed her affairs a very subtile Wench a great Enchantress and a Cheat she saw with him huge Bo 〈…〉 s which there was no means to overcome by fighting wherefore she advised her Mistress not to engage into a war against him I shall endeavour rather said she to defeat him by some stratagem and to carry the business so as that he may neither hurt you nor your Subjects After that she took along with her what was most pleasant in Egypt Conserves 〈◊〉 Garments sweet Scents Arms Gold and Silver and with all this desired permission to visit Gebirus which was soon granted her She presented to him all these Rarities which he willingly received Then she told him that the Queen of Egypt was in Love with him and desirous to Marry him and far from refusing so advantageous a Match This news made him jocund and put him into a good humour He return'd her this answer Promise the Queen from me for a Marriage-gift what you please your self The Queen reply'd she needs not any thing of yours since your affairs will hence forth be common but she desires of you instead of a Marriage-present that you cause a City to be built in her Land on the side of the Roman Sea that it may be an honorable mark to her to the end of the World and that it may be a discovery of your power and that you employ in the Building of it these Stones and these Pillars which you have brought with you to dam up the Chanel of the Nile He granted her Request and entered into the Land of Egypt with his Forces and founded the City on the West-side at the place where now Alexandria is to that end encamping himself and his Army on the Roman Sea-side Charoba sent him several sorts of Presents and Refreshments Alexandria was then ruin'd ever since the Gadites went out of Egypt for it had been founded by Sedad the Son of Gad who had a design to bring thither whatever was most precious in all the quarters of the Earth for he was the Monarch of the World East and West But the Destroyer of Castles prevented him I mean Death which none can divert or avoid yet were there some tracks of it as some affim Gebirus caused to be brought thither the Stones and the Pillars and assembled the Artists and the Engineers Charoba sent him also a thousand Handy-craftsmen He spent a long time in Building so that his money was exhausted and his people could do no more For when they had built and made some advancement as soon as the evening was come while they took their rest in the night they were astonish'd in the morning that they could find no sign of what they had done For there came out of the Sea certain people who took away all into the salt waters Gebirus was extreamly troubled and afflicted thereat Charoba sent him a thousand Goats or Sheep which were milk'd for the Kings Kitchin They were kept by a Shepherd belonging to Gebirus of whom he had received that charge This Shepherd led them out to graze accompany'd by a great many other Shepherds upon the Sea side One day this Shepherd having put the Beasts into the custody of the other Shepherds who obeyed him being a beautiful person and of a good Aspect and Stature saw a fair young Lady issuing out of the Sea which came towards him and being come very near him saluted him he return'd the salutation and she began to speak to him with all imaginable courtesie and civility and said to him Young man would you wrestle with me for something which I should lay against you What would you lay reply'd the Shepherd If you give me a fall says the young Lady I will be yours and you shall dispose of me as you please and if I give you a fall I will have a beast out of your Flock Content said the Shepherd and thereupon he went towards her and she came towards him He began to wrestle with her but she immediately flung him and took a beast out of the Flock which she carried away with her into the Sea She came afterwards every evening and did the like so that the Shepherd was over head and ears in love with her The Flock diminish'd and the Shepherd himself pin'd away One day King Gebirus passing by the Shepherd found him sitting near his Flock very pensive which obliged him to come nearer him and to speak thus to him What misfortune hath befell thee Why do I find thee so fallen away Thy Flock is so too it diminishes and grows worse and worse every day and gives less Milk then ordinarily it used to do Thereupon the Shepherd told him the story of the young Lady He was astonished at it and said to him At what time does this Lady come thus to see thee In the evening reply'd the Shepherd
sides whereof the Kings of the Moores have their Habitarions and that by the Lake there is a great Mountain always covered with Snow Winter and Summer out of which there falls down Water besides many Springs that are in the Lake and which do also supply some and that it is thence the water of the Nile comes which is afterwards augmented by Rains which augmentation happens in regard the Rains fall in Summer in the Countrey of the Moors whence it comes that the Nile overflowes in Summer and not in Winter in Egypt that in all the former Climat and in part of the Second the rains fall in the Summer and in like manner in India and in Sinda and in the other Countries which are in the same latitude as well in the East as in the West Jezidus the son of Chebibus saith that Moses the son of Nasirus speaks thus O Egyptians you know not what I would say neither you nor any other Inhabitanr of Egypt I have heard that one day the Nile became very low in the time of Pharao which oblig'd the Inhabitants of his Kingdom to come to him and say Cause the Nile to flow according to its ordinary course for behold our Cattel die and such as are big bring forth before their time I am too much incens'd against you replied Pharao to be so easily appeas'd and to restore you so soon the course of the Nile They departed and after a moneth returned to him again and said The Cattel perish the Trees dry up all is spoiled and destroy'd cause the Nile to flow for us I am not yet reconciled with you said he If you make not the Nile flow as it is wont replied they we will make another God besides you This reply troubled him but it was not in his power to do what they desired His Visier Haman was he who knew his secrets who disposed of all his affairs who heard his complaints and eased him of his grief He had slights and subtile insinuations which neither Pharao nor any other man could imitate One day Pharao spoke to him onely they two together and acquainted him with the discourse had passed between him and the Egyptians confessing to him that he could not do what they desired and that that business of the Nile was beyond his strength I cannot said he take any course in this case nor find any means to satisfie them What do you advise me therein Is that all that troubles you says Haman And what would you have me do in it replied the King Great King replied Haman they have not bethought themselves of asking you a thing which would have been much more impossible then this and might have given them greater occasion to proclame your weakness in all places What is that replied the King If any one of them said Haman had bethought him of requiring you to raise up his father or brother after their death that would have been more difficult to you then the affair of the Nile Speak not of such things says Pharao for Walls have ears But what advice do you give me in the affair of the Nile Light off your Mule said Haman and restore to every one what belongs to him and the Nile will resume its course You know replied the King that hitherto I have not wronged any one nor deprived my Subjects of any thing belonged to them that I should restore it again and as for my white Mule I promise you never to get on her back any more He had a white Mule which in swiftness no other Beast in Egypt could go before or indeed come near The Mule I mean said Haman is not the animal so called but Arrogance and Pride Humble your self before the God of Moses and Aaron acknowledge in your self what you ought give him thanks for his favours and confess his Omnipotence and Unity for you know well that he is the Creator and Preserver and that you are one of his Servants who can neither do him harm nor service Pray him that he would cause the Nile to flow for his Servants for he is merciful and meek he is not hasty and fears not that he hath not done a thing soon enough I will do it with all my heart said the King You have at last found out a way to deliver me out of my trouble Make an end O Haman as you have begun I shall not fail said Haman The Egyptians came afterwards to him the third time and said the same thing they had said to him the two former times His answer was this Repent you that you have disobeyed me We do repent us of it replied they Go your ways said the King to the end of the Upper Egypt clad and dressed the best you can They did so and there remained in Egypt but such as were not able to go out of it Pharao went up to them on his Mule then he turned a little aside from them alighted off his Mule prostrated himself on the ground and made his prayers to God in these terms Great God you know that I acknowledge there is none but you alone who can re-establish this Nile in its course and that I am obliged to this people in a thing which is not within the compass of my power and that I cannot keep my promise with them Cause it therefore to flow for them as it was wont and make me not infamous among them for you are full of leâ—ity and goodness you are not hasty nor impatient and fear not that you have not done a thing soon enough Immediately the Nile saith he swelled and flowed after a more excellent manner then it had ever done before or hath done since Then Pharao came up to them and said Return to your homes for I have restored the Nile for you into its course They thereupon prostrated themselves all before him and adored him and then returned to their habitations speaking continually of their King and incessantly resounding his praises He returned himself to his Castle but Gabriel went to meet him by the way in the shape of a Shepherd laid hold on the Bridle of his Mule and said to him Great King do me justice against my Servant What has thy Servant done to thee said Pharao I have a Servant replied Gabriel to whom I have been liberal of my kindnesses and favours and yet he persecutes me and those whom I love and obliges those whom I hate he is rebellious and disobedient to my commands ungrateful and not acknowledging the good I have done him even so far as to say he knows not who I am A very wicked Servant said Pharao If you bring him to me I will have him drown'd in the Red Sea and shall not content my self for his punishment with the water of the Nile which is sweet and pleasant Great King replied Gabriel let me have a Decree written to this purpose that whereever I shall find him I may punish him according thereunto
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
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
Gods mercy on him One of the Grandees of Egypt God shew him mercy related to me that heretofore in the Lampe-street in Masre on the Festival day after the great Feast of the Moneth Ramadan they set Kettles full of Flesh and Baskets full of Bread and that they called with a loud voice such as had need thereof as they call people to Water on the High-ways and that it happened sometimes the greatest part remained there all Night upon the place so few would take of it The remainder was carried to the Prisoners and they answered we have enough to live upon thanks be to God The Land of Egypt was then the most plentiful of any in the world the most Populous and the best cultivated and where there was more convenience of Habitation and Subsistance The Masich relates in his Annals and others affirm also that the Egyptians when they saw the Nile at the highest gave Almes released Slaves cloath'd Orphans relieved Widows and such as were destitute of Succour out of their thankfulness to God for the kindness he did them in raising the course of the Nile to its height They relate that Pharaoh after he grew Proud and Insolent and Impious commanded a Castle to be built on the descent of Mount Mactam and that his Visier Haman according to this order got workmen together from all parts of Egypt so that there were a hundred and fifty thousand Architects with what Trades-men Handy-craftsmen and Labourers were requisite He caused Brick and Mortar to be made Timber to be felled and Nails to be made then they began their Building and raised it so high that never any had done the like before for the Masons were no longer able to stand on their Feet to work But the All-mighty and All-good God about Sun-set sent Gabriel Gods peace be with him who smote the Castle with his Wing and cleft it into three pieces one whereof fell on Pharaoh's Army where it kill'd a thousand Men another fell into the Sea and appeared there like a high Mountain and the third fell into the Western Land There was not so much as one of the Coptites who wrought within it saved they all peperish'd They relate that thereupon Pharaoh was so proud as to cast an Arrow at Heaven God willing to try him returned his Arrow to him all bloody Whereupon he cry'd out I have killed Moses's God God is infinitely above what impious men can do he does what he pleases with his Servants God therefore at that very time sent Gabriel who did to the Castle as we have related One of those who were impious and proud and arrogant in the Land of Egypt was Caron the Cup-bearer He was an Israelite Cousin-german to Moses Gods peace be with him for Caron was the son of Jashar the son of Caheb and Moses was the son of Gamran the son of Caheb Others say Moses was Caron's Sisters son he was called Caron the Bright by reason of the beauty of his Face He was the most diligent of the Children of Israel in the reading of Moses's Law but he became a Hypocrite as the Samerian was and said Since the Prophecy belonged to Moses and the Sacrifice and the Oblation and the knowledge of the Law to Aaron what remains there for me They relate that Moses having brought the Chil-of Israel through the Sea gave Caron a Commission to interpret the Law and to collect the Offerings and made him one of the Chiefs The Offerings belonged then to Moses but he bestowed them on his Brother whereat Caron was troubled and envy'd them both and spoke thus to them Behold now the command is come absolutly into your hands and I have nothing to do with the affairs of the Children of Israel How long shall I suffer this It is God reply'd Moses who thus disposes of things I will not believe it reply'd Caron if you do not confirm it to me by a Miracle Then Moses commanded the Children of Israel to come all to him every one with his Rod then he ty'd all those Rods together and cast them into the Tent where God ordinarily revealed his Will to him They kept a Guard about the Rods all night and the next morning they found Aaron's Rod shaking with the Wind covered all over with green Leaves That Rod was made of a Branch of Almond-trees This is no more miraculous said Caron then what the Magicians daily perform He became thence forward more impious then before more wicked more envious and more malicious against Moses and Aaron as God affirms in his Book when he saith Caron was of the People of Moses but he was unjust towards them Injustice here signifies a persecution without any cause and a malicious and irrational Dispute Others affirm that Pharao appointed Caron to govern the Children of Israel and that he treated them injuriously and tyrannically Tyranny they say proceeds from greatness that is from the eminence and advantage which any one hath over others The advantage he had over them was grounded on his great Wealth and the multitude of his children He made say they his Garments larger by a span then theirs His Keys say they that is the Keys of his Store-houses were carried by sixty Mules Evere Store-house had its Key and every Key was but a Finger long they were of Leather Some affirm expounding that passage of the Book of the All-mighty and All-good God where it is said of him I have not received it but according to the knowledge which is within me that he was the best skilled of his time in the Law of Moses On the contrary others affirm he was skilled in Chemistry Saguid the son of Musib says that Moses had the Science of Chemistry and that he taught a third purt of it to Josuah the son of Nun a third to Caleb the son of Jethnas and a third to Caron but that Caron served the other two so well that he learnt the whole Science from them both and that afterwards he took Lead and Copper and changed it into pure Gold Others affirm that Moses taught his Sister Chemistry inasmuch as his Devotion made him despise Gold and that his Sister taught it Caron who was her Husband They relate that Moses said it was a provision for the life of this World and that he had no need thereof because it was a perishable thing and far distant from the truth which is All-mighty God and that he quitted what was perishable which his Devotion permitted him not to desire and satisfy'd himself with what was neer All-mighty God They say that Caron went abroad one day on a white Mule he had covered with a Foot-cloth of Purple and a Golden Saddle accompany'd by four thousand young Men and three hundred beautiful young Maids clad in Silk and set out with Jewels and Ornaments of great value and divers colours so that he had marching on his right hand three hundred young men and on his left
From God comes strength and power and all things return to him Know Lord Commander of the Faithful that the Countrey of Egypt is nothing but a blackish Soil and green Plants between a dusty Mountain and a reddish Sand. Between its Mountain and its Sand there are high-raised Plains and levelled Eminences It is surrounded by an Ascent which supplies it with provisions and is in compass from Syene to the extremities of the Land and the side of the Sea a Moneths riding for a Man on Horse-back Through the midst of the Countrey there runs a River blest in the morning and favoured of Heaven at night which rises and falls according to the course of the Sun and Moon It hath its time wherein the Springs and Sources of the Earth are opened to it according to the command given them by its Creator who governs and dispenses its course to supply the Province with sustenance and it follows according to the order prescribed it till such time as its waters being risen and its Waves rolling with noise and its surges being come to their greatest elevation the Inhabitants of the Countrey cannot pass from one Village to another but in little Boats and a man sees the little Wherryes turning to and â—ro as white and black Camels in the imaginations of the people Then when it is come to this condition behold it begins to return back and to confine it self within its Chanels as it came out of it before and rose up by little and little And then the most forward and the most slothful prepare themselves for labour they are scattered up and down the Fields in multitudes the people of the Law whom God preserve and the people of Alliance whom men protect they are seen stirring to and fro like Ants some weak others strong and wearying themselves out at the task imposed upon them for that is not obaained of them by their good will but by force and constraint by ill-treating and oppressing them They are seen searching into the Earth and turning up so much of it as hath been overflown and casting into it all sorts of Grain which they hope with the assistance of God will multiply therein And it will not be long ere the Earth puts off the black hew of its manure and cloaths it self in green and casts forth a pleasant scent while it produces Stalks and Leaves and Ears making a delightful show and giving a good hope the dew of Heaven watering it from above and the moisture giving nourishment to its productions from beneath Sometime there come certain Clouds with a little Rain sometimes there fall onely certain drops of water and sometimes none at all After that Lord Commander of the Faithful the Earth displayes her Beauties and makes a Triumph of her Favours cheering up the Inhabitants and assuring them of a good Harvest of her Fruits for the sustenance of them and their Cattel and to be Transported elsewhere and to make their Beasts multiply She appears now Lord Commander of the Faithful like dusty ground then presently it is a blewish Sea and as it were a white Pearl then like black Dirt then as green Taffata then as a piece of Embrodery of divers colours then like a fount of molten Gold Then they Harvest their Corn which being Thrash'd out passes afterward diversly among Men some taking what belongs to them and others what does not belong to them This vicissitude returns every year every thing in its Season according to the order and providence of the All-mighty may that great God be ever praised blessed be he the best of Creatures As to what is necessary for the carrying on of these Works and what should make the Countrey populous and well cultivated maintain it in a good condition and make it advance from good to better according to what hath been told us by such as are acquainted therewith as having had the government of it in their hands we have made a particular observation of three things The first is not to credit the malicious discourses of the meaner sort of people against the chiefest of the Countrey because they are envious and unthankful for the good which is done them The second is to lay out one third of the Tribute raised therein towards the reparation of Bridges and Causeys And the third is not to raise the Tribute out of any Species till it be in its perfection This is the Description of Egypt Lord Commander of the Faithful whereby you may know it as if you had seen it your self God continue you in your good conduct and make you happily manage your Empire and assist you to undergo the charge he hath imposed on you and inspire you with an acknowledgment of the favours he hath done you Peace be with you May God be praised and assist with his favours and benedictions our Lord Mahumet and those of his House and those of his party The Commander of the Faithful Omar Gods mercy on him having read says the Author Gamrou's Letter spoke thus He hath made an exquisite Description of the Land of Egypt and its Appurtenances he hath design'd it so well that it cannot be mistaken by such as are capable of knowing things Praised be God O Assembly of Mussulmans for the favours he hath done you by bringing you into the possession of Egypt and other Countries He it is whose assistance we all ought to implore They relate that when the House of Gamrou the son of Gasus was demolish'd and made part of the great Mosquey of Masre there was found in a corner a stone on which these verses were written Slight not a favourable occasion wherein thou maist stretch forth thy hand to do some good We live but to die and death is deceitfull from one hour to another there is a change of affairs They relate also that while the same Gamrou was Governour of Egypt certain Coptites came and made evil reports to him against certain persons about affairs which he knew nothing of thinking by that means to insinuate themselves into his favour and be powerful about him but he reproved them of it saying O ye Coptites who are here assembled know that when any one comes to give us evil reports of his Brother we shall advance his Brother to higher Dignity and debase the Detractor for the Detractor envies the prosperity of his Neighbour and endeavours to ruine him the cauldrons of his malice boil in his breast so that it rises up into his Tongue and these wicked discourses are the smoke of that fire which sets them a boyling He said also Gods peace be with him he who makes ill reports to thee calumniates thy self he who speaks ill to thee of another speaks ill of thy self He said sometimes to his Captains and those whom he employed about his affairs Use me not as a Dagger to stab people withall Shew your selves kind and obliging to all for who would live in peace must practise it Be carefull to