Medieval Armenian Sibylline Traditions comprising the “Defloratio Berosi” of Giovanni Nanni

(Johannes Annius) (§§884-891)

884. Go to §885, below, >>, for a translation of the Defloratio Berosi, and to §891, below, >>, for the original Latin. The Defloratio Berosi Chaldaica, to give it its full title, was divided into five books. These, according to Nanni’s preface to the Defloratio (fol. CIVb), were addressed in their original form to the Athenians, and were intended to correct perceived errors in their accounts of ancient history. Berossus is known to have been well received by philosophers in Athens towards the end of his life, after he had moved his residence from Babylon to the Aegean island of Cos. (Pliny, Nat Hist. VII. xxxvii [123].) The Defloratio differed in the above respects from the “Babyloniaka” of Berossus, several excerpts of which have been preserved by ancient authors: the “Babyloniaka” was divided into three books, not five, and was dedicated to Antiochus II Theos, the king of Seleucid Babylon when Berossus was still present in that city, before he moved to Cos and was honored at Athens. This is one of the principal reasons why the Defloratio was rejected in the Renaissance: it was presumed it was claiming to be the “Babyloniaka” of Berossus, and it was known from the surviving fragments of the latter that the presumption was mistaken. However, the Hebrew Sibyl known as the “daughter Berossus” may well have drawn on the writings of her priestly “father,” including the sources of the “Babyloniaka,” to compose “Summary Extracts (Defloratio) from Berosus (Berosi),” — as the title of the work should perhaps be translated, — of relevance to the historical inquiries of the Athenians. It was alleged the Hebrew Sibyl was born in Syria of Manasseh (a Hebrew name) by Papilia, a female related to Alexander of Macedon, and that she migrated subsequently to Cumae in Italy. (Vaticinium Sibyllae, MGH SS 22, p. 376.) The Sibylline hypothesis is reasonable: it harmonizes with what we know otherwise of her work. The chief reasons for classing the Defloratio Berosi as a medieval Sibylline fragment are, therefore, as follows:

884.1. 1) The Sibyl Sambethe, the alleged authoress of the earliest section of the Sibylline Oracles, was the daughter of the same Babylonian priest Berossus (or, Berosus) to whom the Defloratio is ascribed, and fragments of her work were translated into Armenian and survived in Armenia into the medieval period, as is alleged similarly of the Defloratio. Nanni admitted the Defloratio may have been transmitted through the medium of one who “translated” or “conveyed the sense” of Berosus (Latin “traductor Berosi”), and did not represent necessarily the ipsissima verba, ed. 1512, fol. CXLIa. Not only that, Nanni himself “restored” (reduximus) the text “in the Etruscan Chronography” (Chronographia Etrusca) by “making good” omissions in Latin affairs, as he explains in the Preface to the supplement “of Manetho” to the Defloratio, fol. CXLVIa. (“Manethon … in pluribus deficit in annis et gestis latinis quae ad latinam correctionem reduximus in Chronographia Etrusca.” “Manetho … is deficient in many points relating to the history of events which transpired amongst the Latins, and to make good the Latin element we restored what was missing in the Etruscan Chronography.”) As the Manethonian supplement is a continuation of the Defloratio, employing the same style and the identical chronographical structure, we can conclude the text of the Defloratio too, as published, formed originally part of Nanni’s Etruscan Chronography. It included passages taken directly from the Armenian text, which Nanni refers to in his Commentary as “Berosus” suo nomine, but was reworked to emphasize Italian, specifically Etruscan, history. Nanni was particularly interested in Etruscan history and composed sixty-seven books on the subject (“sexagintaseptem libris quos de Etrusca historia confecimus” fol. La) before he published the Defloratio and the other sixteen books of Antiquities. (The Defloratio Berosi Chaldaica forms Book XV of his XVII Volumina Antiquitatum, “Volumes of Antiquities.”) Nanni provided a digest of his Etruscan Chronography amongst the latter (Book XIII of the Antiquities, fol. XCIa-XCIIIb), and the chronographical schema found there is the same as in the Defloratio, in the Manethonian supplement, and, indeed, throughout the XVII Books of Antiquities. He refers to the “Etruscan Chronography” (or “Etruscan History”) elsewhere in the Antiquities (fol. XXVb, La, LVIIa, Cb, CIb, CVa, CXLVIIIa, CLIIIa, CLXIXab). It is possible, if not probable, that an editor extracted these “Antiquities” wholesale from Nanni’s Etruscan Chronography, and added select portions of Nanni’s commentary to the relevant portions, in acknowledgement of the rarity and obscurity of Nanni’s sources, and in attempt to publish these at least (rather than the unwieldy Chronography as a whole) to a wider audience.

884.2. 2) The content of the Defloratio is typical of the Sibyl Sambethe’s work: Noah is identified with Ouranos (Heaven) and his sons and descendants with Classical pagan figures. The nations of the world are traced from these figures, with the aim of elucidating their origin in terms of Biblical and Classical Greek and Roman traditions.

884.3. 3) The Sibylline fragments cited in the Armenian historians are closely related to the traditions recorded in a “Chaldaean” book, alleged to have been translated into Greek in the days of Alexander the Great (the era when Berossus and his daughter the Sibyl Sambethe were active translating Chaldaean writings into Greek), and transmitted later, through the medium of the Syrian scholar Mar Abas Catina in the late second century BC, to Armenian historians. Part of this book, relating to the history of Armenia, was preserved in an Armenian translation. This translation, reproduced in the Armenian History of Moses of Khorene, contains the typical Sibylline features referred to supra, as well as a list of ancient kings of Armenia synchronized with Assyrian kings abstracted from the account of Ctesias. (See §909ff., below, >>.) The Ctesian king-list features likewise in the Defloratio, and other king-lists are synchronized with it in that work too. See §888.4, below, >>: “I {the author of the Defloratio} shall therefore begin my history with an account of that {the Babylonian} empire, and mention, as I proceed, the years in which its several princes successively reigned {according to the king-list of Ctesias}; thus we shall be able to establish a parallel between the history of this and the history of the other empires, their annals and the names of their rulers.” Here the author of the Defloratio admits to having adopted a scheme in which the Ctesian king-list was (artificially) combined with the chronicles of other nations, in order to “establish a parallel” between the histories. The Ctesian list also features in the Berossian history of Abydenus, alongside the native Babylonian king-list of Berossus. This confirms the Ctesian king-list was employed by Hellenistic chronographers familiar with what are widely accepted to be the authentic writings of Berossus, if not also by Berossus himself, and his daughter Sambethe. Specific details, relating to one of Ctesias’ Assyrian kings (Arbelos) and the eponymus of the River Araxes, prove the accounts in Mar Abas Catina and the Defloratio go back to a common source earlier than c. AD 300 (§354.10.1, above, >>). The longer (Ctesian) chronology is followed in the Defloratio, whereby the Exodus is dated to the 8th year of Ascatades. This is 9 reigns later than Belochus, whose 32nd year, the 402nd year of the Assyrian empire beginning with Ninus I, witnessed the Exodus according to Clement of Alexandria (§97, above, >>). The difference is 245 years, and the reign of Ninus I is pushed back, by implication, the same number of years in the Defloratio, that is from c. 1800-1750 BC to c. 2050-2000 BC. The longer chronology followed in the Defloratio reflects the native Babylonian tradition, as attested in an inscription of the neo-Babylonian king Nabu-naid, which likewise dates Hammurabi (the historical founder of Babylon, corresponding to the legendary founder of Babylon, Semiramis, consort of Ninus I) around 2050 BC (see §294, above, >>). Berossus and his priestly circle may be expected to have followed the native Babylonian chronology, particularly as the Greeks were already familiar with it through the work of Ctesias. Abydenus and Cephalion, according to quotations of those two authors preserved by Moses of Khorene (§912, below, >>), also had access to the traditions of “lesser” peoples (like the Armenians) in addition to the king-lists of the greater nations, which implies the fuller Berossian writings relating to other nations still circulated in their days.

884.4. 4) There are manifest similarities between the Defloratio and the apocalyptic literature of the Middle Ages, especially parts of the Revelation of Methodius and writings related thereto, which represent a medieval continuation of Hellenistic, Roman Imperial, and Byzantine, Judaeo-Christian Sibylline apocalyptic. These similarities include:

884.4.1. a) The incorporation of “Fourth Son of Noah” traditions (see §101.13, above, >>), in which Janus (Ioniton etc.) and Chemesenuus figure prominently as migrants to Italy, and post-diluvian colonies named after Janus/Javan/Ioniton play a significant part in the narrative.

884.4.2. b) The prominence of Armenia/Scythia/Pontus, and the interaction between those zones and Assyria, and the further West.

884.4.3. c) The military campaigns of an Oriental figure, named “Sampsisahib” in the Revelation ascribed to Methodius (other texts read the name Sampshashnakar, Sampsisekar, Samsisabar, Samisab, etc., with multiple variations). This is a Syriac version of the Arabic legend of Abd Shams, titled Saba, the invader of Babel and other territories in the Near East from Armenia to Egypt: his exploits in North Africa and those of the Sabaeans (Yemenites) in his retinue are echoed in the Defloratio (see infra). He is dated to the era of “Hormizd” (= Ahura Mazda, the Iranian Zeus), one of the successors of Nimrod, in the Revelation of Methodius, which corresponds to the era between Iuppiter Belus (viz. Zeus), the successor of Nimrod and father of Ninus, on the one hand, and Zames or Ninuas (also identified with Bel = Jupiter), the successor of Ninus, on the other, in the Defloratio. We will find this is the era of the First Dynasty of Egypt both in the Revelation of Methodius and in the Defloratio. The text of the Revelation of Methodius is corrupt, and the personal names contained in it not certainly established, and therefore hard to identify. The relevant section at the beginning, mentioning Ioniton, Nimrod, Hormizd etc. has, however, manifest similarities not only to the account in the Defloratio, but also to the following passage from Sefer ha-Zikhronot:

884.4.3.1. Sefer ha-Zikhronot of Elazar ben Levi (Chronicles of Jerahmeel, ed. trans. Gaster) “XXXII. (1) I, Jerahmeel, have found in the book of Strabon of Caphtor {= Strabo the Geographer, 1st century AD} that Nimrod was the son of Shem; and when Noah was one hundred years old a son was born to him in his form and in his image, and he called his name Jonithes. His father, Noah, gave him gifts, and sent him to the land of Itan {Ethan, Eytan}, of which he took possession as far as the sea of Eliochora {this means “Place of the Sun” in Greek}. And Nimrod the wicked went to Jonithes to learn of his wisdom, for the spirit of the Lord was with him. But Jonithes foresaw by means of astrology that the wicked Nimrod would come to him to take counsel with him how he could obtain sovereignty; he gave him the explanation of the four kings whom Daniel saw. And Jonithes said to Nimrod that the descendants of Ashur would reign first, i.e., the children of Shem, as it is said: ‘And the sons of Shem were Elam and Ashur.’ (2) The beginning of Nimrod’s reign was in Babylon, and there Nimrod begat Bel. At the time of the dispersion Nimrod departed thence, and allied himself with the children of Ham; therefore it is said, ‘And Cush begat Nimrod.’ (3) After Nimrod, Bel, his son, succeeded to the kingdom in Babylon, in the days of Serug. And Bel went to the land of Ashur, but did not capture it. When Bel died, Ninus, his son, succeeded him, and, capturing the land of Assur {Ashur, Assyria}, reigned over it, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth; and the length of the city was a distance of thirty days’ walk; it became the royal residence of Assur. From this land Assur, that is, Ninus, the son of Bel, the son of Nimrod, went forth. (4) Ninus vanquished Zoroastres the Wise, who discovered the art of Nigromancia, i.e., Nagira. He reigned in Bractia (Bactria), and had written down the seven sciences (or arts) on fourteen pillars, seven of brass and seven of brick, so that they should be proof against the water — of the flood — and against the fire — of the day of judgment. But Ninus vanquished him, and burnt the books of wisdom. (5) And Ninus wrote (?) another book of wisdom. When Bel, his father, died, he (Ninus) made an image in the likeness and form of his father, and called it Bel, after the name of his father; and he was always grieving at the loss of his father. He called all the gods Bel, after his name, as it is said, ‘Nebo bowed Bel bent down.’ Whosoever Ninus hated was pardoned when he came in the name of Bel and supplicated him for mercy. Thus, all the world honoured and worshipped the god Bel, and made obeisance to him. Some gods were called Baal, and there is a Baal Peor and a Baal Zebub. (6) In the forty-third year of the reign of Ninus Abraham was born, and on that very day the first King Pharaoh began to reign in Egypt, who was called Tibei; and after him all the kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh until the reign of Ptolemy, the son of Lagos, in Egypt, after whom all the kings of Egypt were called Ptolemy. All the kings of Assyria were called Antiochus; and all the kings of Rome were called Caesar, after the name of Julius Caesar, until this very day. (7) When Abraham was ten years of age, Ninus, the son of Bel, died, and his wife, Semeramit, reigned after him in Assyria forty-two years. After her there reigned Shim’i, the son of Ninus, who built the city of Babylon. At that time all the kings were under the king of Assyria, i.e., under Shim’i, the son of Ninus, and whoever had greater power than his fellow-man forced the other to serve him (Shim’i).”

884.4.3.2. The Revelation of Methodius likewise refers to Ioniton (Jonithes), the fourth son of Noah, in Eliochora and Itan. The mysterious Ioniton seems to be the eponymus of the “Ianili” of the Defloratio, who are, in the Defloratio, the other sons born to Noah (Noah = Janus = Ianus, whence “Ianili”) after the flood, along with a select group of descendants of his first three sons. (Defloratio Berosi, §888.12, below, >>, §889.7, below, >>.) These accompany Noah in his migrations, mainly southwards and westwards, in the early post-diluvian world. Similarly both the Revelation of Methodius and Sefer ha-Zikhronot refer to Nimrod’s descent from Shem, to the visit of Nimrod to Ioniton, and to Nimrod’s conquest of, and his son’s intermarriage with, the sons of Ham, whose first king is named (Pontibus, Pupinos etc. in the Revelation of Methodius = Panouphis/Manouphis in Syriac chronicles = Menes, §626.19, above, >>). This first king of Egypt is mentioned also in Sefer ha-Zikhronot, but is called the “Theban,” “Tibei,” presumably because Dynasty I (the dynasty of Menes) was counted as a Theban dynasty in Eratosthenes’ Egyptian king-list (apud Syncellus, ed. Mosshammer p. 103 = ed. Dindorf p. 171), and Menes himself there titled “Thebaios” or “the Theban.” In the Revelation of Methodius (1) Nimrod is succeeded by the following kings (names of the kings as in the Syriac, from Cod. Vat. Syr. 58): (2) Hormizd, (3) Azri (who marries his mother), and another (4) Hormizd (II), who campaigns against the sons of Ham and conquers many lands in the West, of the Aphri, Jebusites etc. The form Hormizd in (2) alternates in some texts with the form Kozmazdi. As the latter element -mazdi in the name Hormizd is the Iranian mazda “wise,” the first element Koz- is presumably equivalent to the first element Hor-, viz. Ahura, Jupiter, and Qos or Kaus (the Archer) is a name for Bel (Jupiter) in late antiquity in Syria and Arabia. Substituting Jupiter Belus, then, for the Iranian Hormizd (Jupiter), we have: (1) Nimrod followed by (2) Jupiter Belus, followed by (3) Azri, followed by (4) Jupiter Belus (II). Comparing this list with Sefer ha-Zikhronot, (1) Nimrod is followed by (2) Jupiter Belus, then (3) Assur or Ninus, then (4) Shim’i (Zames). (3) Azri corresponds to (3) Assur or Ninus (both Azri and Ninus are said to have married their mother, §101.19, above, >>, Azri being, presumably, a representation of the name Assur = Ashur, “Assyrian”), and (4) Zames or Ninus son of Semiramis is identified with Thouros Baal in Peri Theon, otherwise with Bel of Babylon = (4) Jupiter Belus (II), Hormizd (II). This is the same order of the (male) successors of Nimrod as in the Defloratio, viz. (1) Nimrod, (2) Iuppiter Belus, (3) Ninus or Ashur (= Assur), and (4) Ninuas or Zames. In the Revelation of Methodius, there next appears a king Kodros, son of Hormizd (II), who, strangely, is attacked by his own people, the Babylonians, but he defeats them in an early engagement with the help of a Persian army. Thereafter “Sampsisahib” (etc.) “of the seed of Ioniton” invades many territories in the Near East, including Azerbaijan, and ends up in the lands of Sabaa, viz. of the Cushite and Arabian Sheba. This causes the sons of Ishmael in those lands to move westwards into Palestine, making trouble for the Israelites in the days of the Judges. The sequence of events following Kodros matches the sequence in the Defloratio, if only Kodros of the Revelation of Methodius stands for Zoroaster in the Defloratio (who is similarly mentioned in Sefer ha-Zikhronot). In Mar Abas Catina’s Chaldaean book, as we have seen, §285, above, >>, Zoroaster is identified with Ara, and Ara with Gartos, and there is an intermingling in that account of the people of Zoroaster and the line of Ninus and Semiramis, and internecine conflict between the parties. Kodros could represent the name Gartos (= Ara-Zoroaster), with transposition of the medial d (t) and r. Zoroaster was engendered by Ninus, according to Peri Theon, §101.19, above, >>, and Kodros is the son of Hormizd (II) in the Revelation of Methodius, that is of Zames-Ninuas. As Ninus and Ninuas both consorted with Semiramis, Zoroaster might be treated as the offspring of either. The next episode in the Revelation of Methodius is the campaign of Sampsisahib. To background this, reference should be made to the story of Cush Fildendan (§676ff., above, >>): there Feridun (Noah-Janus in the Defloratio) fights against the giant Adites of the same line of Aram as the Joktanite Sabaeans (Yemenites) and sends Cush/Kushan as his delegate to deal with an invasion of Egypt and North Africa from Ethiopia (Saba). The invasion of Egypt which Cush was sent to deal with must be that of the Joktanite (Yemenite, Sabaean) Amer Saba Abd Shams (so named in Arab chronicles), who is said to have campaigned widely in the Near East from Babel to Egypt and the Maghreb. (§626.24, above, >>.) Abd Shams attacks Egypt, founds Cairo, and establishes his kingdom there. Abd Shams is the “Sampsisahib” (etc., corr: Shams Saba), of the Revelation of Methodius. The historical era of Abd Shams is the First Dynasty of Egypt. (See §626.17.6, above, >>, where the name appears as early as Manetho in the form Semempses, corresponding to the ancient Egyptian Semsu.) In the Defloratio similarly there is a conflict between the Yemenite Sabaeans and the Hamites of Egypt and the Maghreb, which results in a union between elements on both sides and the founding of the First Dynasty of Egypt (viz. the dynasty of the Defloratio’s Osiris-Mizraim = Menes, Men, §626.24f., above, >>, especially §626.25, above, >>, with cross-references.) Sampsisahib of the Revelation of Methodius, otherwise the Yemenite Abd Shams Saba, is said to have been “of the seed of Ioniton,” and similarly in the Defloratio Janus-Noah is said to have planted colonies in Arabia Felix (Yemen) bearing his name, which implies Yemen was so called after y-m-n = y-w-n = y-y-n = Janus, and Yemenites were of the seed of Janus (Ioniton). (Cf. §101.13.1, above, >>, for Noah’s name, Janus, Ion etc. = Akkadian imnu = Heb. yamin, support, relief, lit. “right hand,” and also “south,” which latter is generally considered to be the meaning of the name Yemen.) The two works relate in different ways to the same series of events transpiring in the early post-diluvian period. In the Revelation of Methodius the era of Sampsisahib gives way to the Ishmaelite incursions into Palestine in the time of the Judges. Similarly in Arabic legend the era of Abd Shams and the Joktanites of Yemen, that of the “Original Arabs,” gives way to the era of the Ishmaelites of the line of Hagar, and to the ancestors of Muhammad. The parallels between these accounts suggest they go back to a common source. Strabo is an early witness to the tradition, absent the Abd Shams Saba episode, but the relevant passage is only extant in Sefer ha-Zikhronot. There is no reason to doubt the ascription to Strabo — much of that author’s work is now lost. Strabo was from Amaseia in Pontus or Cappadocia (Armenia), that is, from the same geographical zone where the Chaldaean book of Mar Abas Catina survived in an Armenian translation, and where the Defloratio’s summary of “Berosus” was translated from Armenian into Latin some time in the medieval period.

884.4.4. d) “Cush Fil Dendan,” the eponymus of Cush/Kushan (§676ff., above, >>), features in the Revelations ascribed to Methodius as the Cushite king “Pil,” whose daughter marries Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and on account of whom the Byzantine successors of Alexander are counted as descendants of Cush. This further implies a connection between the Iranian tradition that Cush Fil Dendan made himself a god, and the Armenian tradition, recounted by Moses of Khorene in the same contextual framework as the history from the Chaldaean book translated by Mar Abas Catina and the Sibylline fragments, that Cush was deified as the Egyptian sun-god (Amun-Ra). The treatment of such Biblical eponymi as gods is typical likewise of the Defloratio. In the story of Cush Fil Dendan Noah (Feridun) allies with Cush (= Cush/Kushan, the tribal eponymus) at first against invaders of Egypt. Similarly in the Defloratio Sabtah son of Cush (= Cush/Kushan, the tribal eponymus passing down through the line), there called Sabatius Saga and Semo Sancus, and counted amongst the “Ianili” (cf. “Sampsisahib,” Abd Shams Saba, of the “seed of Ioniton” in the Revelations of Methodius), is the faithful ally of Noah-Janus, and co-ruler, with Janus, of “Saba” (Sheba). In the Iranian story Cush Fil Dendan lapses latterly and sets himself up as a god. In that respect he differs from the Defloratio’s Sabatius, who remains faithful to the religion of Noah-Janus till the end of his mortal life; but Sabatius, too, over time, became an object of worship to his Sabine (Sheban) descendants, viz. as the Sabine oath-god Semo Sancus, a form of Jupiter (the solar Ammon of Egypt) and Hercules (the solar Arueris of Egypt, Horus the Elder).

884.4.5.1 e) (i) In the Defloratio all the tribal lines are traced back to Janus, in a context reminiscent of the “Fourth Son” tradition.

884.4.5.2. (ii) The prince of the Japhethites at the Shinar Tower is Phenech (Pheneth, and Phenag/Phinehas in Jerahmeel, Fenius in Irish tradition) in the Antiquities of Philo, and Phenech is the Samothes son of Japheth of the Defloratio. (§889.2.1, below, >>.) In the Antiquities of Philo and related literature the line of Phenech is traced back via Baath and Iobath (variously spelled) to Javan (= “Janus” in the “Fourth Son” tradition); in the Antiquities of Philo Baath and Iobath are the sons of Javan via Dodanim.

884.4.5.3. (iii) Similarly in the Defloratio the three sons of Mannus of Tacitus’ Germania, the ancestors of the Japhethite Germanic races, viz. Iscaevon, Inguo and Herminon (variously spelled), are represented as sons of Mannus, and Mannus as the son of Tuisco, the son of Janus, which is an addition not found in Tacitus. In Tacitus Mannus is said simply to have “sprung from Earth.” The implication in the Defloratio is that Tacitus’ Tuisco was son of “Earth,” in the sense that he was son of the deified wife of Janus-Noah, called “Earth.”

884.4.5.4. (iv) In another medieval tradition (the Historia Brittonum c. AD 800, ed. MGH, p. 160), the three sons of Mannus are traced back over 11 or 16 generations, via Baath and Iobath (viz. in a genealogy analogous to that of Phenech in Philo) to Javan (= “Janus”).

884.4.5.5. (v) These various tribal genealogies go back to one in which Janus = Noah, and Janus II = Javan/Ion/Hellen, the son of Deukalion-Noah (§101.13, above, >>), and in which Janus (I and/or II) is seen as the ultimate ancestor of the Noachide family-lines.

884.4.5.6. (vi) In Syriac writings the fourth son is Ioniton. In the Defloratio Tuisco, the ancestor of the Germanic tribes, and all Tuisco’s descendants, including Mannus and his three sons, are adopted in a special relationship as “sons” to Janus-Noah, viz. Janus I, alongside Shem, Ham and Japheth (commentary, Antiquitates, ed. 1512, fol. CXb-CXIa). In the Defloratio the “Ianili” are the offspring of Janus who accompany him and are identified with him in a special way, as a fourth “tribal grouping” separate from his three pre-diluvian sons. (Defloratio Berosi, §888.12, below, >>, §889.7, below, >>.) Mannus means “Man, Human,” and is equivalent to the Sanskrit Manu. As Mannus in Tacitus is the son of Tuisco or Tuisto, Manu in Hindu tradition is the son of Tvashtr, the “Artificer” (a name of the Hindu sun-god). These names are suspiciously similar in form, and doubtless draw on the same Indo-European traditional sources. The three Germanic ancestors can be traced back variously (§906.0.2, below, >>) to Mannus (“Man”), the son of Tuisco, the latter being in the Defloratio a post-diluvian giant son of Noah-Janus, or to Javan-Janus, or to Gomer (son of Japheth), who was titled “Adam” (or “Man”), and corresponds to Prometheus (son of Iapetos) in Greek mythology. (§670, above, >>.) Hellen (= Javan), according to an alternative genealogy, was the son of Prometheus, rather than of Deukalion. Noah (Deukalion) was the post-diluvian Adam (Prometheus), hence Javan-Hellen, the fourth son of Noah, might equally be described as a son of Prometheus. These later Noachides were believed to have inherited something of the Adamic role of their ancestor Janus-Noah: they formed a fourth tribal grouping beside those of Shem, Ham and Japheth, which, by its special affiliation to Noah, might be viewed also as superior to the latter. This is implied by the identification in the Revelation of Methodius of the fourth son of Noah (Ioniton) with the fourth and final kingdom of Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, the first three representing the kingdoms of the first three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Underlying this idea is the presence of four males on Noah’s container, the fourth being Noah himself. Noah is Janus in the Defloratio, the ancestor of the fourth tribal grouping, the “Ianili.” This was a mixed group, drawn from various tribes, similar to the fourth unidentified “beast” (kingdom) in Daniel, and the corresponding beast in Revelation 13, which is a mixture of the first three beasts of Daniel’s vision, lion, bear and leopard.

884.4.5.7. (vii) An alternative genealogy of the three Germanic ancestors, Iscaevon and his brothers, is given in the Historia Brittonum (ed. MGH p. 151) tracing them from Dardanus “the son of Jupiter of the race of Ham the cursed son who looked at and mocked his father Noah.” This theme features prominently in the Defloratio, and there likewise Dardanus is traced back from Jupiter (identified with an ancient Etrurian king Camboblascon) to Ham (Chemesenuus), who is represented (wrongly) as having mocked Noah. In the Irish translation of the Historia Brittonum (“Nennius” ibid. col. b) the line of Dardanus is listed in a fuller form, and Dardanus is traced back to Ham in precisely the same number of genealogical steps as in the Defloratio. The only difference is that, apart from Camboblascon, who is equated in the Defloratio with Jupiter, the Defloratio gives personal names, not divine names, to the predecessors of Dardanus, whereas the Irish text gives Classical divine names. The line is as follows in the two sources: Defloratio — Dardanus, son of Camboblascon (identified with Jupiter), son of Blascon, son of Alteus, son of Tuscus (or “Tuscus generated from Atys”), son of the Libyan Hercules (identified as the Biblical Lehabim), son of Mizraim, son of Chemesenuus-Ham, viz. 8 genealogical steps via Mizraim, the latest being the son of Jupiter and the earliest Ham, who “mocked his father Noah;” Irish translation (“Nennius”) — Dardanus, son of Jupiter, son of Saturnus, son of Caelus, son of “Polloir,” son of Zoroaster, son of Mizraim, son of Ham, viz. 8 genealogical steps via Mizraim, the latest being the son of Jupiter and the earliest Ham, who “mocked his father Noah.” In Nanni’s collection of Antiquities appears a summary of a work De Aequivocis, ascribed to Xenophon, and this explains that the founders of kingdoms were given the divine title Saturnus, their fathers were called Caelus and their sons Jupiter. So there were multiple Caeluses, Saturnuses and Jupiters in the ancient traditions, each representing some ancient king. Sic, according to Nanni’s Xenophon. The Historia Brittonum as transmitted in Ireland appears to represent a tradition which followed that principle, and even extended it somewhat. If the two genealogies are based on a single source (as seems probable), then the ancestors of Dardanus were equated in that source with divine and other figures as follows:

Camboblascon = Jupiter

Blascon = Saturnus

Alteus = Caelus

Tuscus: replaced by “Polloir”

(“Polloir” is probably the Irish Balor = Baal [Peor] = “Balphegor” = Bel, Belus, see note infra)

The Libyan Hercules: replaced by Zoroaster

(= Nimrod, see note infra)

Mizraim = Mizraim

Ham = Ham

884.4.5.8. Note: A nearly identical genealogy of Dardanus is found in the 12th century Pantheon of Gotefridus Viterbiensis (ed. Waitz, MGH SS 22, Hanover 1872, p. 300f.): viz. Dardanus son of Jupiter, son of Saturnus, son of Caelus, son of Cres, the first of eight sons of Nimrod. In the Pantheon Nimrod’s genealogy is then traced back from Shem as follows: Nimrod son of “Irari” son of Eber son of Salem (Shelah) son of Arfaxa (Arphaxad) son of Sem (Shem) son of Noe (Noah). Considering the Revelation of Methodius lies behind this section of the Pantheon, as demonstrated inter alia by its mention of Nimrod’s consulting Ionitus immediately after the statement Nimrod was of the “offspring of Irari of the line of Shem” (Pantheon, Basil, 1559, col. 103), we should see in Gotefridus’ “Irari” the “Hiroum” of Methodius (ed. Sackur, p. 64, Gk. heroon), the son of Shem who begot Nimrod in the latter account; and considering further that the Arabic legend of Shams Saba lies behind this section of Methodius (supra), we should see in Methodius’ “Hiroum” (and therefore the Pantheon’s “Irari”) the Iram or Aram or Amer of Arabic tradition, the grandfather of Nimrod (Nimrod son of Mash son of Aram, §894.2, below, >>), whose genealogy features in the legend of Shams Saba (§626.24, above, >>) and is stated variously in different sources as explained at §626.17.2, above, >>. The following genealogical chart (with key) illustrates how Aram (Hiroum, Irari) could be considered to have been descended from Eber along with Peleg, as in the account in the Pantheon.

 

				Shem
Arphaxad
Shelah
← (Arabic genealogy)		Aram (Iram, Amer) = “Hiroum/Irari”*								+ Lud (line #1)
Eber (Hud)		Mash		+ Uz		+ Ad
Peleg§		Nimrod*		Lud (line #2)				[+ Aram (Iram, Amer) = “Hiroum/Irari”]§

 

KEY TO CHART

* ‘Irari’ (Aram) begets Nimrod, the latter being Aram’s grandson by his son Mash

← = insertion of named figure from genealogical position on right to genealogical position on left

+ = brother of named figure to the immediate left

• Eber begets “Peleg and ‘Irari’ (Aram),” Peleg being Eber’s son, ‘Irari’ his nephew by his brother Uz

Names in [ bold face ] show the Biblical genealogical positions

Names in [ standard face ] show Arabic genealogical positions

Nimrod elsewhere (Mar Abas Catina) is called son of Mizraim, son of Ham. The Irish version of Nennius substitutes Polloir (Balor = Baal, Bel, Belus) for Cres, and Zoroaster for Nimrod, and represents Zoroaster as a son of Mizraim (as in the pseudo-Clementines, cf. Nimrod son of Mizraim in Mar Abas Catina). The Pantheon’s “eight” sons of

Defloratio	Pantheon	Irish Nennius	Norse, including Prologue to the Prose Edda
	Nimrod descended from Shem via Aram (“Irari”), Aram being a son of Shem or alternatively a descendant [nephew] of Eber the descendant of Shem
Nimrod-Nymbrotus son of Cush-Cur, son of Ham, Cur being the eponymous ancestor of the Curetes	Nimrod father of the Curetes	Zoroaster [= Nimrod] begets:	Zoroaster (= Baal, Bel) founder of Babel
Curetes descended from Cush-Cur: (1) Belus son of Nymbrotus (2) Saba son of Cush-Cur: (3) Triton his son (4) Ammon his son [who marries Crete the eponymus of Crete] (5) Dionysius his son followed by the line of Egyptian kings founded by (6) Mizraim-Osiris the adopted son of Dionysius: (7) Hercules Libycus his son (alternative name Ato) (8) Tuscus his son	8 Curetes of Crete	“Polloir” [= Baal, Belus], grandson of Ham via Mizraim	Chretis/Cretus [eponymus of Cretans = Curetes] (son of Cyprus son of Kittim).
(a) Alteus (b) Blascon (c) Camboblascon (= Jupiter)	(a) Caelus (b) Saturnus (c) Jupiter	(a) Caelus (b) Saturnus (c) Jupiter	(a) Caelus (b) Saturnus (= Njord) flees from Crete to Italy (c) Jupiter (= Thor)
Dardanus son of Camboblascon-Jupiter, founder of the line of Troy	Dardanus son of Jupiter founder of the line of Troy	Dardanus son of Jupiter founder of the line of Troy	Dardanus son of Jupiter founder of the line of Troy

 

Nimrod, Cres being the first of them, are the eight Curetes, Corybantes or Kabeiroi. In the Syriac chronicle of Michael of Syria (ed. trans. Chabot t. I. p. 35 [left margin]) Cres or Cretos, the eponymus of the Curetes who protected Zeus from his cannibalistic father Kronos, is represented as the son of Aphra son of Nimrod, viz. of the Aphros son of Nimrod of Peri Theon (§101.14, above, >>), the eponymus of the Africans. The eponymus Aphros appears in another genealogy as Afer son of the Libyan Hercules (Solinus 24. 2). The descent of the Curetes might be traced equally, therefore, from Nimrod or from Hercules. “Irari” son of Eber in the Pantheon stands in the same place in the genealogy of Shem as Hercules (Heraklim) “son of Eber,” the father of Melchizedek, and the latter tradition is closely associated with the origin of the Curetes (Kabeiroi). (See §211, above, >>, §349.0.3, above, >>.) It is probable, therefore, that Heraklim “son of Eber,” stands in this genealogical position in the Melchizedek tradition because of Herakles’ genealogical/mythological relationship to Nimrod (Kronos) “son of Irari” son of Eber, as the progenitor of Afer = Aphros = Aphra, father of the Curetes, and as the husband of Aphrodite (= Ashtaroth/Asteria) the daughter of Aphros. Note that as a rival for the hand of Aphrodite with the Adonis of Peri Theon (§101.14, above, >>), Herakles versus Adonis would be equivalent to Ares (= Herakles) versus Tammuz (= Adonis) in the Syriac Balthi tradition (§321, above, >>). Both the Irish Nennius and the Pantheon trace Dardanus back through the line of Jupiter (= Camboblascon) found in the Defloratio: in the latter work this runs through the Libyan Hercules to his predecessor Mizraim, and from Mizraim through the Curetes of the line of Dionysius and Ammon to the Curete Saba Turifer and his Curete brother (sic) Nymbrotus (Nimrod), father of Belus. The Irish tradition goes from Caelus back immediately to Polloir (viz. Belus son of Nymbrotus in the Defloratio, Balor = Baal, Bel, Belus) and his father Zoroaster (viz. Nymbrotus-Nimrod himself), omitting the intervening names, but describing Nimrod-Zoroaster as son of Mizraim (as in the pseudo-Clementines and Mar Abas Catina): it thus preserves the same number of generations as the Defloratio descending from Mizraim. In Norse genealogies of Thor (§906.0.1, below, >>) the descent of Dardanus is traced similarly from Jupiter, Saturnus and Caelus, and then through “Chretis” (that is Cres, otherwise “Cretus” is attached as an adjective to Caelus, making him a “Cretan” or “son of Cres”) to Cyprus son of Kittim. Cyprus is the Classical term for the Biblical Kittim, which denotes Cypriots and/or other inhabitants of the neighboring Mediterranean islands and coastlands. The phraseology employed in the genealogy indicates, correctly, that the population of Crete forms part of the Biblical Kittim (“Cyprus”). The Kittim themselves are offspring of Javan, son of Japheth.

884.4.5.9. The genealogy of the European tribes found in its earliest form in Historia Brittonum (Nennius), §906.0.1, below, >>, features somewhat later in a Polish chronicle, Chronicon Meursiae, where it is used to trace the descent of the Vandal kings of Poland from Javan son of Japheth. Variations in the Polish lists include a reference to Elishah son of Javan at the beginning, as in the Historia Brittonum itself, but, unlike the British text, they include also a reference to “Philyra.” Elishah is equated with the Greek Aiolos (in Josephus), the eponymous ancestor of the Aeolians, and we find in the traditional genealogies of Aiolos a close connection between them and Philyra: viz. Melanippe, the consort of Aiolos I, and the mother of Aiolos II (the great-grandson of Aiolos I through the male line), is the granddaughter of Cheiron the centaur, the son of Philyra and Kronos-Nimrod. This genealogy of Philyra and Kronos, which features in Peri Theon, is the very one we have deduced formed an integral part of the genealogical line of Nimrod and the Curetes. The latter is found at the beginning of the medieval

Polish Tradition (Procosius)	Greek Traditions
			Misplaced series
Noah =	Deukalion
Javan =	Hellen	Kronos
Elishah I =	Aiolos I	Cheiron
Sarmata	Mimas	Hippe (Thetis)
	Hippotes m.	Melanippe <m.>				<Aiolos I>
Elishah II =	Aiolos II					<Mimas>
Lech/Lek				<Melanippe><m.>		<Hippotes>	<and Aiolos I>
Filar =	Philyra m.		<Kronos>				<Mimas>
	Aphros and		<Cheiron>	<Melanippe><m.>		<Aiolos I>	<and Hippotes>
			<Hippe (Thetis)>			<Mimas>
Nya =	Aphrodite a.k.a. Balthi a.k.a. Isis a.k.a. Ceres m.	Libyan Herakles	<Melanippe><m.>			<Hippotes>
She begets by Hercules Libyus ↓ a series of Slavic god-kings each of whom is a form of the Hercules-like or Thor-like Mars/Jupiter, viz.: Jessa (Jupiter) Ladon (Mars) Marszyn (Mars) Lel and Polel a.k.a. Polach or Polak, the eponymus of the Poles (the Gemini twins, two forms of Mars)			Key: = and “m.”: denote an equation with (=) or marriage to (m.) the figure(s) next named in a box immediately to the right. Note: Because of the unusual situation wherein Melanippe became the consort both of Aiolos I and of his grandson Hippotes, the generation(s) contemporary with Melanippe could be shifted to a lower position in the genealogical line, resulting in the placement of Philyra (Filar) in the Polish genealogy after Elishah-Aiolos II. Shifted generations and relationships are marked with angled brackets < > in the tables supra.

tribal genealogies already referenced, including those of the Franks (in Gottofrid’s Pantheon) and the Norse kings (in Snorri etc.). The Libyan Herakles is the consort of Aphrodite the daughter of Cheiron’s brother Aphros, and this explains why he also features here in some versions of the genealogy. In the Polish tradition of Procosius (original 10th century AD), the female Nya, the descendant of Elishah-Aiolos, is said to have been betrothed to “Hercules Libyus,” the father of Scytha, both the latter names derived undoubtedly from the Defloratio in some form or other. Nya is a divinized queen, equated in Renaissance sources with the Roman goddess Ceres (= Isis, Balthi, Venus), like the Greek Aphrodite in Peri Theon. For similar marriages of Hercules Lib(yc)us with royal females of Celtic and Germanic origin, see §906.0.2, below, >>., at least one of these women, Galatea, being identified with Aphrodite daughter of Aphros (§897.6, below, >>). Nya became by Hercules Libyus, according to Procosius, the ancestress of a series of Slavic god-kings of the “Original Poles,” two of whom (Ladon and Marszyn) are elsewhere identified with Mars, one with Jupiter (Jessa), and the last two (Lel and Polel) with the Gemini twins (Lelewel, Polska wieków średnich, Tom. I., 1855, p. 386f.), who are otherwise Hercules and Apollo, that is, two forms of Mars in the Interpretatio Graeca. This is reminiscent of the Norse tradition, which traces a series of god-kings from Elisha via Thor (= Jupiter, Hercules, Mars) in the second millennium BC. The aforesaid god-kings in the Norse tradition are so many forms of Thor, their names being simply titles of the god. Likewise in the Polish tradition of Procosius the names of the god-kings descended from Hercules and Nya are divine titles of the same Mars-like god. All this indicates that the Elishah genealogy shared by the Historia Brittonum, the Norse and the Polish traditions, as well as the Trojan genealogy going back to Mizraim via the god-kings Jupiter, Saturn and Caelus, depends on the Berossian (Sibylline) tradition found in its most complete form in the Defloratio. In Procosius Elishah I begets Sarmata, the eponymus of the Sarmatians, that is the Vandals and Poles, who were termed Sarmatians, and Elisha II begets Lech the eponymus of the Lechitae, viz. the Vandals and Poles of the line of Lech. To summarize: the Vandals, including the royal lines of Mecklenburg and of the Poles, traced their descent via the kings of Troy from Hercules Libycus (= Mars, Thor, Jupiter, etc.) by means of a genealogy drawn by the Sibyl “Sif” (Sambethe) from the books of her “father” Berossus, and preserved in an epitome in the Defloratio Berosi of Giovanni Nanni. The Sibyl had a special relationship with the Vandals and hence, presumably, her interest in these genealogies. She was the wife of the Vandal king Anthyrius, who served in the army of Alexander of Macedon. (See further on this relationship §906.1ff., below, >>.)

884.5. Conclusion: In medieval texts these traditions are fragmented and isolated. In Nanni’s Defloratio alone they form a unitive whole, are expressly ascribed to Berossus (in their original, unedited, form), and have the same style and subject-matter as the Erythraean Sibyl’s writings represented in Book III of the Sibylline Oracles and the Armenian fragments in Moses of Khorene. There is no discernible medieval admixture in the text of the Defloratio, apart from what may be ascribed to the Armenian editor(s) and the Latin translator(s) of the Armenian edition. In that light we may accept the Berossian, or rather Sibylline, milieu of the original work summarized in the Defloratio. It would be natural for Sambethe to have extracted and reworked a portion of the Chaldaean book (translated into Greek, as it most probably was, by her father Berossus, or a member of his priestly circle), which was passed on subsequently, through the hands of Mar Abas Catina, to the Armenian historians. The book is said to have traced the history of the different nations of the world and their genealogical descent from the sons of Xisuthros-Noah. This is precisely the concern of the Defloratio. Sambethe would have been most interested in those parts of it which related to Rome and the West, as she is said to have migrated to Cumae in Italy in the third century BC, leaving her father Berossus in the Aegean island of Cos, and there to have forged for herself a new identity as the Sibyl par excellence of the rising power of Rome. It is these areas of the world which feature most prominently in the Defloratio.

884.5.1. Aside from the necessity of disconnecting the longer chronology of the Ctesian king-list from the main body of the historical context in the Defloratio, allowance must be made also, generally speaking, for the antiquity of the traditions preserved fossilized therein, and for the liberties taken by the translator or translators, and the misconceptions under which they labored. For instance Kittim in the Defloratio is regularly understood to refer to Italy, but in the original tradition it undoubtedly meant the Mediterranean coastlands, and principally Cyprus. The expeditions of Chemesenuus (Ham), Osiris (Mizraim) and Hercules Libycus (Lehabim, that is, Heth as ancestor of the Lehabim, here described, like his Biblical brother Sidon or Sidos in other traditions, as a son of Mizraim-Aiguptos) to Kittim or “Italy” in the Defloratio, should be understood as relating to expeditions to Cyprus and/or the neighboring Mediterranean coastlands. (It is revealing, incidentally, to note that the Defloratio makes no mention of Heth the Biblical son of Canaan, under that name, in its tribal genealogy in Book II, though it does so list his brother Sidon. The reason is that Heth appears in the Defloratio under another name: that is, as Hercules Libycus the son of Mizraim-Osiris.) In the early post-diluvian period the Biblical patriarchal tribes had only migrated a short distance, comparatively speaking, from Armenia. Thus the tribes of Tarshish and Tubal were still located in Asia Minor and northern Syria, and had not yet reached Spain. When the Defloratio describes Hercules (Lehabim/Heth) as having made an expedition to “Spain” we should understand the reference to be to Tubal in Asia Minor. That certainly is understandable, as a description of the arrival of Heth, ancestor of the Hatti, or primitive Canaanite Hittites, in the area later associated with the name. (Even in the earliest post-diluvian period, occasional, isolated, colonies may have been dispatched to the lands which came to be, at a subsequent period, their principal habitations.) As the tribes spread further west, they took the traditions of these heroic expeditions with them, and thus, for instance, the burial of Heth (“Hercules Libycus”) in the territory of Tubal or Tarshish in Asia Minor was reinterpreted as if it had been in Spain, which was the later location of those tribes. Substituting the ancient for the modern geographical terms in the Defloratio results in a very interesting picture of the migrations of the immediate family of Noah and the military enterprises of the ancient patriarchs of the House of Ham in the eastern Mediterranean.

884.5.2. The Chronology of the Assyrian kings immediately after the Flood in the Defloratio Berosi

The Defloratio Berosi employs the longer Ctesian chronology for the reasons given supra. The same chronology was commonly adapted in Hellenistic-Jewish, and then in Christian, chronography to the chronology of the Septuagint. Since the work of the Sibyl Sambethe, the daughter of Berosus, has most in common with the account in the Defloratio, and she operated in an Hellenistic-Jewish environment, we might expect the chronology of the post-diluvian era in the Defloratio, centered on Egypt, as it is, and disconnected, for the reasons given, from the Ctesian king-list, to be similar to that of the (Alexandrian, Egyptian) Septuagint. The immediate post-diluvian chronology in the Defloratio is as follows:

128 years between Flood and reign of Nymbrotus

1. Nymbrotus 56 [129-185 years post-Flood]
2. Jupiter Belus 62 [185-247 years post-Flood]
3. Ninus 52 [247-299 years post-Flood]
4. Semiramis 42 [299-341 years post-Flood]
5. Ninias-Zames 38 [10th yr = 222nd yr of Assyrian Empire = final 350th yr Janus][341-379 years post-Flood]
6. Arius 30 [379-409 years post-Flood]
7. Aralius 40 [409-449 years post-Flood]
8. Baleus-Xerses 30 [449-479 years post-Flood]
9. Armamitris 38 [479-517 years post-Flood]
10. Belochus 35 [517-552 years post-Flood]
11. Baleus 52 [552-604 years post-Flood]
12. Altades 32 [604-636 years post-Flood, but reference made in 889.82 to a 39th year {sic}]

etc.

Disregarding the synchronisms with the Assyrian kings of the Ctesian king-list, and interpreting the post-diluvian years according to the chronology of the Septuagint, we obtain a picture of four “circuits” of four principal figures in the Kingship in Heaven theme, viz. Caelus (Ouranos, Heaven), Saturn (Kronos), Jupiter (Zeus) and Mars (Ares, Herakles, Hercules), representing the dome of heaven and the three outer planets, identified with ancient patriarchs and kings, viz. Noah, Ham, Mizraim and Lehabim respectively. The “circuits” occur over a period of approximately 650 years subsequent to the Flood. The Flood in the chronology of the Septuagint is dated approximately 3100 BC. This means these events transpired between around 3100 BC and 2450 BC according to that chronology, or between the Flood and the birth of Abraham. This is the era of the Shinar Tower, of the Dispersal from Babel, of the kingdom of Nimrod-Enmekar, and the earliest post-diluvian kingdoms. The Biblical and uncalibrated radiocarbon chronology dates this period c. 2435 BC to c. 2150 BC. The patriarchs and kings here identified with astral deities are all close relatives of Nimrod-Enmekar (Nymbrotus, the Babylonian Saturn in the Defloratio), contemporary with, or predecessors of, Nimrod-Enmekar himself. Janus-Noah is his great grandfather, Chemesenuus-Ham his grandfather, Osiris-Mizraim his uncle and Hercules-Lehabim his nephew. It was precisely in the period c. 2435-2150 BC (Biblical and uncalibrated radiocarbon chronology) that these figures flourished. The “circuits” are in the case of the first three from east to west across the southern region of the Near East and the eastern Mediterranean (clockwise), as the sky and planets revolve in the visible sky, but in the case of the fourth, the reverse, from west to east across the southern region of that zone (anticlockwise), as planets travel beneath the earth. The fourth figure, Hercules (Mars), accordingly, is the god of the underworld in ancient mythology.

884.5.3. Circuit of Janus [Caelus]

[(After the 131st year post-Flood and before the 38th year of Nymbrotus’ reign) After year 131 and before year 166 post-Flood] Janus-Noa goes to rule over Kittim (“which is now called Italy”). (§887.6.)

[(After the 131st year post-Flood and before the 38th year of Nymbrotus’ reign) After year 131 and before year 166 post-Flood] Last of the colonizers, Janus leaves Armenia to plant colonies all over the world. (§888.14.)

[(38th year Nymbrotus = year 166 post-Flood] Janus leads the Janean colonists into Hyrcania, and the Janili into Mesopotamia, towards the sea below Babylon. (§889.7.)

[(4th year Belus = year 188 post-Flood] Janus leads colonies into Arabia Felix, called Noa and Janinese after his own name and surname. (§889.15.)

[(After 56th year Belus =) After year 240 post-Flood] Janus plants colonies on the banks of the river in Arabia Felix, the colonies called Janineae, after himself, then passes on to Africa to the kingdom of Triton in Libya [the land of the Lehabim]. (§889.18.)

[(10th year Ninus =) year 256 post-Flood] Janus comes from Africa [Triton’s kingdom in the land of the Lehabim] to Spain [Tubal], founds Noela and Noegla, named after the surnames of the wives of Japetus and Chemesenuus. (§889.30)

[(22nd year Ninus =) year 268 post-Flood] Janus founds Janiculum in Thusia and places colonies called Aryn-Janae. He also regulates the affairs of Vetulonia. (§889.34.)

[(29th year Ninus =) year 275 post-Flood] Janus arrives in Italy [Kittim]. (§889.31.)

[(Within the next 3 yrs =) yrs 276-278 post-Flood] Janus tolerates Chemesenuus’ presence, but thereafter commands him to leave with a few colonists placed under his command. Janus settles affairs in Italy [Kittim]. (§889.32.)

[(About the 43rd year Ninus =) year 289 post-Flood] Janus teaches the Janigenes in Italy [Kittim]. (§889.36.)

[(1st year Semiramis =) year 299 post-Flood] Janus receives Sabatius Saga in Italy [Kittim], and some years later appoints him Coritus over the Aborigines. (§889.41.)

[(6th year Semiramis =) year 304 post-Flood] Janus’ wife Vesta commits the care of the ever-burning fire to the Vestal virgins. (§889.42.)

[(12th year Semiramis =) year 310 post-Flood] Janus shares throne with Sabatius Saga. (§889.43.)

[(2nd year Ninias =) year 342 post-Flood] Janus appoints his son Cranus Coritus and [(10th year Ninias =) year 350 post-Flood] dies at the age of 350 years. He is deified by the Janigenes. (§889.48.)

884.5.4. Circuit of Chemesenuus [Egyptian Saturn]

[(See 889: Early part of reign of Nymbrotus, with building of Tower beginning 131st year after the Flood, before year 10 =) Between yrs 129-138 post-Flood] Janus sends Chemesenuus, the Egyptian Saturn, with colonies into Egypt. (§889.6.)

[(Between 15th and 18th year Nymbrotus =) Between yrs 143-146 post-Flood] Chemesenuus instructs the Telchines [of Rhodes] (§889.4.)

[(56th year Belus =) year 240 post-Flood] Chemesenuus arrives in Italy [Kittim], and takes control of the colonies there. (§889.17.)

[(Between 4th and 10th year Ninus =) Year 250-256 post-Flood] Chemesenuus demoralizes the Comeri in Italy [Kittim] assisted by the Aborigines. (§889.28.)

[(After 31st year Ninus, before 43rd =) After year 277 before year 289 post-Flood] Chemesenuus leaves Italy [Kittim] and arrives in Libya [the land of the Lehabim]. Chemesenuus marries his sister Rhea who is wife of Triton’s son Hammon, is joined by the Titans, and expels Hammon into Crete. Chemesenuus reigns in Libya [the land of the Lehabim], begetting by Rhea Osiris [Mizraim], surnamed Jupiter. (§889.33.)

[(About the 43rd year Ninus =) About year 289 post-Flood] Dionysius son of Hammon by Amaltheia, drives Chemesenuus and Rhea out of his father’s kingdom of Libya [the land of the Lehabim], but keeps Chemesenuus’ son Osiris [Mizraim] and adopts him, giving Egypt to him. (§889.35.)

[(Shortly before last 38th year of Ninias =) Shortly before year 379 post-Flood] Chemesenuus, driven out from nearly every part of the world, arrives in the country of the Bactrians, and wins power over them. He invades Assyria with a Bactrian army. Ninus {sic} fights against him and decapitates him. (§889.51.)

884.5.5. The Circuit of Osiris [the Egyptian Jupiter]

[(1st year Semiramis =) year 299 post-Flood] the Egyptian Juno is born of Rhea and Chemesenuus, becoming the wife of Osiris [Mizraim]. (§889.40.)

[(2nd year Ninias =) year 342 post-Flood] Osiris and Juno discover wheat and agriculture, and Osiris introduces it into Palestine [the land of the Philistim]. He returns to Egypt, invents the plough, then travels over the whole world to teach his inventions, and becomes ruler, except over the domains under Babylon’s sway. (§889.49.)

[(Some time between 20th and 32nd year Armatritis =) Some time between year 498 and year 510 post-Flood] Osiris kills Lycurgus in Thrace [the land of Tiras = Tyrians, see §889.14]. (§889.68.)

[(Some time between 1st and 29th year of 10th Assyrian king Belochus =) Some time between year 517 and year 545 post-Flood] Macedon son of Osiris begins to reign over the Emathii [Hamathites], whilst Osiris subdues the giants around that kingdom, as they were beginning to act tyrannically. (§889.71.)

[(30th year Belochus =) year 546 post-Flood] The Italians [Kittim], being oppressed by the giants in the three Palensana, summon Osiris to their aid, since he has arrived with colonies at the springs in the vicinity of Ister [Joktan]. Osiris takes all of Italy [Kittim] under his control, and holds it for 10 years, giving it his own name as a mark of triumph. He subdues the giants and leaves Lestrigon, the son of his own son, Neptunus [Naphtuhim], as king of the Janigenes. (§889.72.)

[(Some time in the reign of the 11th Assyrian king Baleus, before his 41st year =) Some time between year 552 and year 592 post-Flood] Osiris returns to Egypt and inscribes his achievements on a column. (§889.75.)

[(Some time in the reign of Baleus, before his 41st year =) Some time between year 552 and year 592 post-Flood] Egyptian Typhon, in alliance with the giants, slays his brother Osiris. (§889.77.)

884.5.6. The Circuit of Libyan Hercules [the Egyptian Mars]

[(Some time in the reign of Baleus, before his 41st year =) Some time between year 552 and year 592 post-Flood] Hercules the son of Osiris, whose personal name is Libyus, along with Isis, in Egypt defeats Typhon, in Phoenicia [Canaan] Busiris, in Phrygia [land of Brygus son of Mash son of Aram] another Typhon, Milinus in Crete [land of the Curetes = Cushites of Hammon son of Triton son of Sheba son of Cush], Anteus in Libya [land of the Lehabim], the Lomnini in Celtiberia [Tubal], where Hispalus is installed by him as king, then proceeds to Italy [Kittim], begetting Galathes by Galathea as he passes through the Celtic people [descended from Samothes son of Japheth, located between Tubal and Kittim]. (§889.78.)

[(Some time in the reign of Baleus, before his 41st year =) Some time between year 552 and year 592 post-Flood] Hercules makes war in Italy [Kittim] for 10 years, driving out the Lestrigones, then reigns there for 20 years, founding towns bearing his name, and making flooded land habitable. [(41st year Baleus =) year 592 post-Flood] Hercules makes war against the giants in Italy [Kittim] till the second year before his death [(in his 52nd year =) year 603 post-Flood] when he destroys them. (§889.79.)

[(Some time in the reign of the 12th Assyrian king Altades, before his 39th year =) Some time between year 604 and year 642 post-Flood] Hercules summons his son by Araxa called Thuscus from the Tanais and makes him Coritus and king over the Janigenes in Italy [Kittim]. [(39th year Altades {sic} =) year 642 post-Flood] Hercules returns to the Celtiberians [people of Tubal] and reigns and dies there. He is given a sepulcher and divine honors by the Celtiberians [people of Tubal] in Gades (Cadiz). (§889.82.)

http://www.christianhospitality.org/resources/6-days-creation-online/

SEE PART TWO HERE