THE CAVE OF TREASURES

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TRANSLATION

(Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 25875.)

[THE TITLE OF THE WORK: THE SCRIBE'S PRAYER.]

   [Fol. 3b, col. 1.] By the might of our Lord Jesus Christ we begin to write the "Book of the Succession of the Generations," that is to say, ME`ÂRATH GAZZÊ, which was composed by SAINT MÂR APHRÊM (i.e. Ephraim, commonly known as "Ephraim Syrus," or "Ephraim the Syrian," who died A.D. 373). O our Lord, help Thou me in Thy Mercy. Amen.

[THE FIRST THOUSAND YEARS: ADAM TO YARÊD (Jared).]

[The Creation. First Day.]

   In the beginning, on the First Day, which was the holy First Day of the Week, the chief and firstborn of all the days, God created the heavens, p. 44 and the earth, and the waters, and the air, and the fire, and the hosts which are invisible (that is to say, the Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Lords, Principalities, Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim), and all the ranks and companies of Spiritual beings, and the Light, and the Night, and the Day-time, and the gentle winds and the strong winds (i.e. storms). All these were created on the First Day. And on the First Day of the Week the Spirit of holiness, one of the Persons of the Trinity, hovered over the waters, and through the hovering thereof over the [Fol. 3b, col. 2] face of the waters, the waters were blessed so that they might become producers of offspring, and they became hot, and the whole nature of the waters glowed with heat, and the leaven of creation was united to them. As the mother-bird maketh warm her young by the embrace of her closely covering wings, and the young birds acquire form through the warmth of the heat which [they derive] from her, so through the operation of the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit, the Paraclete, the leaven of the breath of life was united to the waters when He hovered over them.

   [NOTES.--According to Solomon, a Nestorian bishop of Perâth Mayshân, or Al-Basrah, a city on the right bank of the Shatt al-`Arab, about p. 45 A.D. 1222, the creation of the heavens and the earth has been planned from everlasting in the immutable mind of God. He created SEVEN substances (or natures) in silence, without voice, viz. heaven, earth, water, air, fire, the angels, and darkness. The earth was plunged in the midst of the waters, above the waters was air, and above the air was fire. Water is cold and moist, air is hot and moist, fire is hot and dry, but it had no luminosity until the Fourth Day, when the luminaries were created. The angels are divided into nine classes and three orders. The upper order contains Cherubim, Seraphim, and Thrones, and these are bearers of God's throne. The middle order contains Lords, Powers, and Rulers. The lower order contains Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. (Compare the "thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers" of .) The Cherubim are an intellectual motion, the Seraphim are a fiery motion, the Thrones are a fixed motion, the Lords are a motion which governs the motions beneath it and controls the devils, the Powers are a motion which gives effect to God's will, the Rulers are a motion which rules spiritual measures and the sun, moon and stars, the Principalities are a motion which rules the elements, the Archangels are a swift operative motion which governs every living creature, p. 46 except man, and the Angels are a motion which has spiritual knowledge of everything which is in heaven or on the earth. The guardian angel of every man belongs to this last class. The number of each class of angels is equal to the number of all mankind from Adam to the Resurrection. The heaven in which the angels live is above the waters, which are above the firmament, and they minister to their God there, being invisible to bodily eyes. The angels are not self-existent beings--they were created; on the other hand, darkness is a self-existent nature (or substance). Solomon of Al-Basrah does not accept the view that the spirit which hovered over the waters was the Holy Spirit. (See Book of the Bee, ed. Budge, chapters i-vii.)]

[The Creation. Second Day.]

   And on the Second Day God made the Lower Heaven, and called it REKÎ`A [that is to say, "what is sold and fixed," or "firmament"]. This He did that He might make known that the Lower Heaven doth not possess the nature of the heaven which is above it, and that it is different in appearance from that heaven which is above it, for the heaven above it is of fire. And that second heaven is NÛHRÂ (i.e. Light), and this lower heaven is DARPÎTÎÔN [Fol. 4a, col. 1], and because it hath the dense nature of water p. 47 it hath been called "Rekî`a." And on the Second Day God made a separation between the waters and the waters, that is to say, between the waters which were above [Rekî`a] and the waters which were below. And the ascent of these waters which were above heaven took place on the Second Day, and they were like unto a dense black cloud of thick darkness. Thus were they raised up there, and they mounted up, and behold, they stand above the Rekî`a in the air; and they do not spread, and they make no motion to any side.

   [NOTES.--According to the "Book of the Bee," the creation of the firmament enabled God to allot a dwelling place to the angels, where also the souls of the righteous could be received after the General Resurrection. The great abyss of water which God created on the First Day was divided by Him into three parts; one part He left on the earth for the use of man and beast, and to form rivers and seas; of the second part He made the firmament, and the third part the place above the firmament. After the Resurrection all these parts will return to their original state. The word Darpîtîôn is a difficulty, and I cannot explain it. The variant forms Dûrîkôn and Dertêkôn appear in Ethiopic books, wherein it is said to be a name of the sixth heaven.]

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[The Creation. Third Day.]

   And on the Third Day God commanded the waters that were below the firmament (Rekî`a) to be gathered together in one place, and the dry land to appear. And when the covering of water had been rolled up from the face of the earth, the earth showed itself to be in an unsettled and unstable state, that is to say, it was of a damp (or moist) and yielding nature. And the waters were gathered together into seas that were under the earth and within it [Fol. 4a, col. 2], and upon it. And God made in the earth from below, corridors, and shafts, and channels for the passage of the waters; and the winds which come from within the earth ascend by means of these corridors and channels, and also the heat and the cold for the service of the earth. Now, as for the earth, the lower part of it is like unto a thick sponge, for it resteth on the waters. And on this Third Day God commanded the earth, and it brought forth herbs and vegetables, and it conceived in its interior trees, and seeds, and plants and roots.

   [NOTE.--On this day the waters gathered together in the depths of the earth, sand was set as a limit for the waters of the seas, and the mountains and hills appeared. The sages say that Paradise was created on this day, but the p. 49 Rabbis held the view that it existed before the world. Solomon of Basrah says that the earth produced herbs and trees by its own power, and that the luminaries had nothing to do with vegetable growth. Book of the Bee (chapter ix.)]

[The Creation. Fourth Day.]

   And on the Fourth Day God made the sun, and the moon, and the stars. And as soon as the heat of the sun was diffused over the surface of the earth, the earth became hard and rigid, and lost its flaccidity, because the humidity and the dampness [caused by] the waters were taken away from it. The Creator made the sphere of the sun of fire and filled it with light. And God gave unto the sphere of the moon and the stars bodies of water and air, and filled them with light. And when the dust of the earth became hot, it brought forth all the trees [Fol. 4b, col. 1], and plants, and seeds, and roots which had been conceived inside it on the Third Day.

   [NOTES.--The cases of the sun, moon, and stars were made of aerial material, after the manner of lamps, and God filled them with a mixture of fire, which had no light in it, and with light which had no heat in it. The path of the luminaries is beneath the firmament; they are not fixed, as the ignorant think, but are guided p. 50 in their courses by the angels. The Ethiopians have a tradition that when the sun was first made its light was twelve times as strong as it is to-day. The angels complained that the heat was too strong, and that it hampered them in the performance of their duties, whereupon God divided it into twelve parts, and took away six of these parts, and out of three of them He made the moon and stars, and the other three He distributed among the waters, the clouds, and the lightning.]

[The Creation. Fifth Day.]

   And on the Fifth Day God commanded the waters, and they brought forth all kind of fish of divers appearances, and creatures which move about, and twist themselves and wriggle in the waters, and serpents, and Leviathan, and beasts of terrible aspects, and feathered fowl of the air and of the waters. And on this same day God made from the earth all the cattle and wild beasts, and all the reptiles which creep about upon the earth.

   [NOTES.--According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xii), beasts and animals were created on Friday evening, and they can therefore see at night as well as in the daytime. In the Book of Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, "whales" and the Behemôth are mentioned with Leviathan.]

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[The Creation. Sixth Day.]

   And on the Sixth Day, which is the Eve of the Sabbath, God formed man out of the dust, and Eve from his rib.

   And on the Seventh Day God rested from His labours, and it is called "Sabbath."

[The Creation of Adam.]

   Now the formation of Adam took place in this wise: On the Sixth Day, which is the Eve of the Sabbath, at the first hour of the day, when quietness was reigning over [Fol. 4b, col. 2] all the Ranks [of the Angels], and the hosts [of heaven], God said, "Come ye, let Us make man in Our image, and according to Our likeness." Now by this word "Us" He maketh known concerning the Glorious Persons [of the Trinity]. And when the angels heard this utterance, they fell into a state of fear and trembling, and they said to one another, "A mighty miracle will be made manifest to us this day [that is to say], the likeness of God, our Maker." And they saw the right hand of God opened out flat, and stretched out over the whole world; and all creatures were collected in the palm of His right hand. And they saw that He took from the whole mass of the earth one grain of dust, and from the whole nature of water one drop of p. 52 water, and from all the air which is above one puff of wind, and from the whole nature of fire a little of its heat and warmth. And the angels saw that when these four feeble (or inert) materials were placed in the palm of His right hand [Fol. 5a, col. 1], that is to say, cold, and heat, and dryness, and moisture, God formed Adam. Now, for what reason did God make Adam out of these four materials unless it were [to show] that everything which is in the world should be in subordination to him through them? He took a grain from the earth in order that everything in nature which is formed of earth should be subject unto him; and a drop of water in order that everything which is in the seas and rivers should be his; and a puff of air so that all kinds [of creatures] which fly in the air might be given unto him; and the heat of fire so that all the beings that are fiery in nature, and the celestial hosts, might be his helpers.

   God formed Adam with His holy hands, in His own Image and Likeness, and when the angels saw Adam's glorious appearance they were greatly moved by the beauty thereof. For they saw [Fol. 5a, col. 2] the image of his face burning with glorious splendour like the orb of the sun, and the light of his eyes was like the light of the sun, and the image of his body was like unto the sparkling of crystal. And p. 53 when he rose at full length and stood upright in the centre of the earth, he planted his two feet on that spot whereon was set up the Cross of our Redeemer; for Adam was created in Jerusalem. There he was arrayed in the apparel of sovereignty, and there was the crown of glory set upon his head, there was he made king, and priest, and prophet, there did God make him to sit upon his honourable throne, and there did God give him dominion over all creatures and things. And all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and the feathered fowl were gathered together, and they passed before Adam and he assigned names to them; and they bowed their heads before him; and eveything in nature worshipped him [Fol. 5b, col. 1], and submitted themselves unto him. And the angels and the hosts of heaven heard the Voice of God saying unto him, "Adam, behold; I have made thee king, and priest, and prophet, and lord, and head, and governor of everything which hath been made and created; and they shall be in subjection unto thee, and they shall be thine, and I have given unto thee power over everything which I have created." And when the angels heard this speech they all bowed the knee and worshipped Him.

   [NOTES.--The Jews consider that the words, "Come, let Us make man," refer to God and the p. 54 angels, but the Fathers of the Syrian Church understand that God refers to the Three Persons of the Trinity. Some Fathers believe that Adam was formed on the morning of the Sixth Day, outside Paradise, but others think that the formation of Adam took place in the evening in Paradise. According to some, Paradise was created before the world, and, according to others, on the Third Day. Bar Hebraeus says that Adam was created on Friday of the first week of Nîsân (April), the first month of the first year of the world. The Egyptian and Ethiopian Churches have a tradition that the angels were not all created at the same time. The great archangel Michael, who is called the "Angel of the Face," and all his Rank of angels were created in the first hour of Friday, the Priests in the second, the Thrones in the third, the Dominions (or Sultâns) in the fourth, the Lords in the fifth, the Powers in the sixth, the Tens of Thousands in the seventh, the Governors in the eighth, the Masters in the ninth. After the Governors the Rank of angels governed by Satan were created, and then the Tenth Rank.

   According to a Coptic tradition preserved in the Discourse on Abbatôn, the Angel of Death, by Timothy, Archbishop of Rakoti (Alexandria), the clay of which Adam was made was brought by the angel Mûrîêl from the Land of the East. p. 55 When God had made his body He left it lying for forty days and forty nights without putting breath into it. At the request of our Lord, Who promised to become Adam's advocate and to go down into the world, God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life three times, saying, "Live! Live! Live! according to the type of My Divinity." Thereupon Adam rose up, and worshipped the Father, saying, "My Lord and my God." (Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, page 482.)]

[THE REVOLT OF SATAN, AND THE BATTLE IN HEAVEN.]

   And when the prince of the lower order of angels saw what great majesty had been given unto Adam, he was jealous of him from that day, and he did not wish to worship him. And he said unto his hosts, "Ye shall not worship him, and ye shall not praise him with the angels. It is meet that ye should worship me, because I am fire and spirit; and not that I should worship a thing of dust, which hath been fashioned of fine dust." And the Rebel meditating these things [Fol. 5b, col. 2] would not render obedience to God, and of his own free will he asserted his independence and separated himself from God. But he was swept away out of heaven and fell, and the fall of himself and of all his company from heaven took place on the p. 56 Sixth Day, at the second hour of the day. And the apparel of their glorious state was stripped off them. And his name was called "Sâtânâ" because he turned aside [from the right way], and "Shêdâ" because he was cast out, and "Daiwâ" because he lost the apparel of his glory. And behold, from that time until the present day, he and all his hosts have been stripped of their apparel, and they go naked and have horrible faces. And when Sâtânâ was cast out from heaven, Adam was raised up so that he might ascend to Paradise in a chariot of fire. And the angels went before him, singing praises, and the Seraphim ascribed holiness unto him, and the Cherubim ascribed blessing; and amid cries of joy and praises Adam went into [Fol. 6a, col. 1] Paradise. And as soon as Adam entered Paradise he was commanded not to eat of a [certain] tree; his entrance into heaven took place at the third hour of the Eve of the Sabbath (i.e. on Friday morning).

   [NOTES.--The Fathers of the Egyptian and Ethiopian Churches treat the story of the Fall of Satan in great detail. According to them, Satan, or Satnâêl, was greatly astonished at the beauty and splendour of the sun and moon, and on the Fourth Day of the week he declared to himself that he would set his throne above the stars, p. 57 and make himself equal to God. One week after the creation of Adam, Satan declared war on the hosts of Almighty God. These were commanded by Michael and consisted of 120,000 horsemen, 600,000 shield bearers, 700,000 mail-clad horsemen in chariots of fire, 700,000 torch bearers, 800,000 angels with daggers of fire, 1,000,000 slingers, 500,000 bearers of axes of fire, 300,000 bearers of fiery crosses, and 400,000 bearers of lamps. The angels uttered their battle cries and began to fight, but Satan charged them and dispersed them; they reformed, but again Satan charged them and put them to flight. Then God gave the angels the Cross of Light, which bore the legend, "In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." And when they attacked the hosts of darkness under this Cross, Satan became faint, and he and his forces withdrew, and Michael hurled them down into hell. The Abyssinian legend says that Satan was 1,700 cubits high, and his hand 70 cubits long, and his foot 7,000 cubits long; his mouth was 40 cubits in width, his face was as broad as the distance of a day's journey, and the length of his eyebrows was a distance of three days' journey. [From the Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth.] The prototype of the great fight in heaven between the powers of light and darkness is found in p. 58 ancient Egyptian religious texts, in more than one form. In the oldest form Set, , the Devil, rebels against Her-ur, , the god of heaven, whose chief symbols are the sun and moon, and is utterly defeated. In the next form Set attacks the Sun-god R¯a, , and is destroyed by him; the great ally of Set, called ¯Apep (Apôphis), , and all his fiends and devils (the Sebau), , are defeated and burnt up daily. In another form Set makes war on Horus, the son of Osiris, and on Osiris himself, and is defeated utterly. The Coptic version of the legend was borrowed from the old hieroglyphic texts, and then Christianized. Compare the following:--

   When Satan saw Adam seated on a great throne, with a crown of glory on his head and a sceptre in his hand, and all the angels worshipping him, he was filled with anger. And when God said to him, "Come thou also, for thou shalt worship My image and likeness," Satan refused to do so, and, assuming an arrogant and insolent manner, he said, "It is meet that he should worship me, for I existed before he came into being." When the Father saw his overbearing attitude, He knew that Satan's wickedness p. 59 and rebellion had reached their highest pitch. He ordered the celestial soldiers to take from him the written authority that was in his hand, to strip off his armour, and to hurl him down from heaven to earth. Satan was the greatest of the angels, and God had made him the Commander-in-Chief of the celestial hosts, and in the document which Satan held in his hand were written the names of all the angels under his command. Knowing their names, his authority over them was absolute. When God saw that the angels hesitated to take the document from him, He commanded them to bring a sharp reaping-knife, and to stab him on this side and that, right through his body to the backbone and shoulder blades; and Satan could no longer stand upright. And a Cherub smote him, and broke his wings and his ribs, and having rendered him helpless he cast Satan down from Heaven upon the earth. Then he became the Arch-Devil and the leader of those who were cast out of heaven with him, and who henceforth were devils. (From Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, page 484.)]

[THE MAKING OF EVE.]

   And God cast a sleep upon Adam and he slept. And God took a rib from the loins on the right side of Adam, and He made Khâwâ (i.e. Eve) from it; and when Adam woke up, and saw Eve, p. 60 he rejoiced in her greatly. And Adam and Eve were in Paradise, and clothed with glory and shining with praise for three hours. Now this Paradise was situated on a high range of hills, and it was thirty spans--according to the measurement of the spirit--higher than all the high mountains, and it surrounded the whole earth.

   [NOTES.--God did not make Eve of earth, that she might not be considered something alien to Adam in nature; and He did not take her from Adam's fore-parts, that she might not uplift herself against him; nor from his hind-parts, that she might not be accounted despicable; nor from his right side, that she might not have pre-eminence over him; nor from his head, that she might not seek authority over him; nor from his feet, that she might not be trodden down and scorned in the eyes of her husband; but [He took her] from his left side, for the side is the place which unites and joins both front and back (Book of the Bee, chapter xiv, and Bar Hebraeus, Ausar Râzê). Further, God did not form Eve from Adam's head, that she might not carry her head proudly; nor from his eye, that she might not be curious; nor from his ear, that she might not be an eavesdropper; nor from his mouth, that she might not be gossiping; p. 61 nor from his heart, that she might not be quarrelsome; nor from his hand, that she might not touch everything with her hand; nor from his feet, that she might not rove about (Berêshîth Rabbah on Gen. ii. 23).]

   Now Moses the prophet said that God planted Paradise in Eden and placed Adam there (Gen. ii. 8).

   [NOTES.--Paradise was situated on Mount Eden, beyond the Ocean, and it was filled with fruit-bearing trees. The great river which sprung up in it was parted into four heads, viz. PISHÔN, which flowed through Havilâ, where there were beryls, and gold, and stones of price; GÎHÔN, or the Nile of Egypt; DEKLATH (the Tigris), which flows through Assyria; and PERATH (the Euphrates). The keepers of Paradise were Enoch and Elijah, and in it dwelt the souls of the righteous. The souls of sinners dwelt in a deep place, outside Eden. The tree of good and evil that was in Paradise did not possess these properties naturally, but only through the deed which was wrought by its means. Adam and Eve did not become naked and die the death of sin because they desired and ate of the fruit of the fig-tree, but because they transgressed the law. The tree of which they ate may have been the fig-tree, or the date-palm, or the vine or the p. 62 ethrôg (citron). Mount Eden is probably the original of Jabal Kâf of the Arabs, a mountain range which surrounds the whole world.]

[THE SYMBOLISM OF EDEN.]

   Now Eden is the Holy Church, and the Church [Fol. 6a, col. 2] is the compassion of God, which He was about to extend to the children of men. For God, according to His foreknowledge, knew what Satan had devised against Adam, and therefore He set Adam beforehand in the bosom of His compassion, even as the blessed David singeth concerning Him in the Psalm (), saying, "Lord, Thou hast been an abiding place for us throughout all generations," that is to say, "Thou hast made us to have our abiding place in Thy compassion." And, when entreating God on behalf of the redemption of the children of men, David said, "Remember Thy Church, which Thou didst acquire in olden time " (), that is to say, "[Remember] Thy compassion, which Thou art about to spread over our feeble race." Eden is the Holy Church, and the Paradise which was in it is the land of rest, and the inheritance of life, which God hath prepared for all the holy children of men. And because [Fol. 6b, col. 1] Adam was priest, and king, and prophet, God brought him into Paradise that he might minister in Eden, the p. 63 Holy Church, even as the blessed man Moses testifieth concerning him, saying, "That he might serve God by means of priestly ministration with praise, and that he might keep that commandment which had been entrusted to him by the compassion of God" (Gen. ii. 15, 16 ?). And God made Adam and Eve to dwell in Paradise. True is this word, and it proclaimeth the truth: That Tree of Life which was in the midst of Paradise prefigured the Redeeming Cross, which is the veritable Tree of Life, and this it was that was fixed in the middle of the earth.

[SATAN'S ATTACK ON ADAM AND EVE.]

   And when Satan saw that Adam and Eve were happy and joyful in Paradise, that Rebel was smitten sorely with jealousy, and he became filled with wrath. And he went and took up his abode in the serpent, and he raised him up, and made him to fly through the air to the skirts of Mount [Eden] whereon was Paradise [Fol. 6b, col. 2]. Now, why did Satan enter the body of the serpent and hide himself therein? Because he knew that his appearance was foul, and that if Eve saw his form, she would betake herself to flight straightway before him. Now, the man who wished to teach the Greek language to a bird--now the bird that can learn the speech of men p. 64 is called "babbaghah" (i.e. parrot)--first bringeth a large mirror and placeth between himself and the bird. He then beginneth to talk to the bird, and immediately the parrot heareth the voice of the man, it turneth round, and when it seeth its own form [reflected] in the mirror, it becometh pleased straightway, because it imagineth that a fellow parrot is talking to it. Then it inclineth its ear with pleasure, and listeneth to the words of the man who is talking to it, and it becometh eager to learn, and to speak Greek. In this manner (i.e. with the object of making Eve believe that it was the serpent that spoke to her) did Satan enter in and dwell in the serpent, and he watched for the opportunity, and [when] he saw Eve by herself [Fol. 7a, col. 1], he called her by her name. And when she turned round towards him, she saw her own form [reflected] in him, and she talked to him; and Satan led her astray with his lying words, because the nature of woman is soft (or, yielding).

   And when Eve had heard from him concerning that tree, straightway she ran quickly to it, and she plucked the fruit of disobedience from the tree of transgression of the command, and she ate. Then immediately she found herself stripped naked, and she saw the hatefulness of her shame, and she ran away p. 65 naked, and hid herself in another tree, and covered her nakedness with the leaves thereof. And she cried out to Adam, and he came to her, and she handed to him some of the fruit of which she had eaten, and he also did eat thereof. And when he had eaten he also became naked, and he and Eve made girdles for their loins of the leaves of the fig-trees; and they were arrayed in these girdles of ignominy for three [Fol. 7a, col. 2] hours. At mid-day they received [their] sentence of doom. And God made for them tunics of skin which was stripped from the trees, that is to say, of the bark of the trees, because the trees that were in Paradise had soft barks, and they were softer than the byssus and silk wherefrom the garments worn by kings are made. And God dressed them in this soft skin, which was thus spread over a body of infirmities.

   [NOTES.--The Fathers of the Ethiopian Church emphasize the difficulty which Satan found in entering Paradise. He knew that he could not carry out his plan for ruining Adam if he entered Paradise in his own form, and he decided that he must assume the form of some bird or animal or reptile if he was to succeed. He applied to the white bird Arzel, and the green bird Besel, and a red bird, but each refused to take him to the place where Eve was. Then he applied to p. 66 the elephant, and the lion, and the leopard, and the hyena, and the wild boar; the first four refused point blank to do what Satan wished, and the wild boar attempted to gore him with his tusks. On this Satan took to flight. He then went to the animal Sereg, which was commonly known as the "digger of graves," but this animal refused to help him, and then Satan approached the animal called "Taman," "the front part of which was like a camel's foal." This creature agreed to help him, and, mounted on his back, Satan entered Paradise and stood before Eve. The serpent became spokesman for him, and Eve hearkened to him and ate of the fruit. According to the "Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth," the tree was called "Sezen," and each fruit cluster contained, 150,000 grains, or berries. It is described as a large and handsome tree, and it has been identified with the "Sendâlê," or sandal-wood tree. According to the same authorities, the Tree of Life was the prototype of the Cross on which our Lord was crucified.]

[Adam's stay in Paradise.]

   At the third hour of the day Adam and Eve ascended into Paradise, and for three hours they enjoyed the good things thereof; for three hours they were in shame and disgrace, and at the p. 67 ninth hour their expulsion from Paradise took place. And as they were going forth sorrowfully, God spake unto Adam, and heartened him, and said unto him, "Be not sorrowful, O Adam, for I will restore unto thee thine inheritance. Behold, see how greatly I have loved thee, for though I have cursed the earth for thy sake, yet have I withdrawn thee from the operation of the curse. As for the serpent [Fol. 7b, col. 1], I have fettered his legs in his belly, and I have given him the dust of the earth for food; and Eve have I bound under the yoke of servitude. Inasmuch as thou hast transgressed my commandments get thee forth, but be not sad. After the fulfilment of the times which I have allotted that you shall be in exile outside [Paradise], in the land which is under the curse, behold, I will send my Son. And He shall go down [from heaven] for thy redemption, and He shall sojourn in a Virgin, and shall put on a body [of flesh], and through Him redemption and a return shall be effected for thee. But command thy sons, and order them to embalm thy body after thy death with myrrh, cassia, and stakte. And they shall place thee in this cave, wherein I am making you to dwell this day, until the time when your expulsion shall take place from the regions of Paradise to that earth which is outside it. And whosoever shall be left in those days shall take p. 68 thy body with him, and [Fol. 7b, col. 2] shall deposit it on the spot which I shall show him, in the centre of the earth; for in that place shall redemption be effected for thee and for all thy children." And God revealed unto Adam everything which the Son would suffer on behalf of him.

[Adam's expulsion from Paradise.]

   And when Adam and Eve had gone forth from Paradise, the door of Paradise was shut, and a cherub bearing a two-edged sword stood by it. [According to the Book of the Bee, the cherub, or, as some think, a "terrible form endowed with a body," was armed with a spear and sword, each being made of fire.]

   And Adam and Eve went down in . . . . . . . of spirit over the mountains of Paradise, and they found a cave in the top of the mountain, and they entered and hid themselves therein.

   [NOTES.--When Adam and Eve left Paradise they no longer had fruit and wine and bread and flesh to live upon, and they subsisted on cooked grain and vegetables and the herbs of the earth, of which they ate sparingly. Moreover, the four-footed beasts and fowl and reptiles rebelled against them, and some of them became enemies and adversaries unto them. Book of the Bee (chapter xvii.)]

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   Now Adam and Eve were virgins, and Adam wished to know Eve his wife. And Adam took from the skirts of the mountain of Paradise, gold, and myrrh, and frankincense, and he placed them in the cave, and he blessed the cave, and consecrated it that it might be the house of prayer for himself and his sons. And he called the cave "ME`ÂRATH GAZZÊ" (i.e. "CAVE OF TREASURES") [Fol. 8a, col. 1].

   So Adam and Eve went down from that holy mountain [of Eden] to the slopes which were below it, and there Adam knew Eve his wife. [A marginal note in the manuscript says that Adam knew Eve thirty years after they went forth from Paradise.] And Eve conceived and brought forth Cain and Lebhûdhâ, his sister, with him; and Eve conceived again and she brought forth Hâbhîl (Abel) and Kelîmath, his sister, with him. [The Book of the Bee makes Kelîmath the twin sister of Cain, and Lebhûdhâ the twin sister of Abel.] And when the children grew up, Adam said unto Eve, "Let Cain take to wife Kelîmath, who was brought forth with Abel, and let Abel take to wife Lebhûdhâ, who was brought forth with Cain." And Cain said unto Eve his mother, "I will take to wife my twin sister Lebhûdhâ, and let Abel take to wife his twin sister Kelîmath"; now Lebhûdhâ was beautiful. When Adam heard these words, which were p. 70 exceedingly displeasing unto him, he said, "It will be a transgression of the commandment for thee to take [to wife] thy sister, who was born with thee. Nevertheless, take ye to yourselves fruits of trees, and the young of sheep, and get ye up to the top [Fol. 8a, col. 2] of this holy mountain. Then go ye into the Cave of Treasures, and offer ye up your offerings, and make your prayers, and then ye shall consort with your wives." And it came to pass that when Adam, the first priest, and Cain and Abel, his sons, were going up to the top of the mountain, Satan entered into Cain [and persuaded him] to kill Abel, his brother, because of Lebhûdhâ; and because his offering was rejected and was not accepted before God, whilst the offering of Abel was accepted, Cain's jealousy of his brother Abel was increased. And when they came down to the plain, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and he killed him with a blow from a stone of flint. Then straightway Cain received the doom of death, instead of curses, and he became a fugitive and a wanderer all the days of his life. And God drove him forth into exile in a certain part of the forest of Nôdh, and Cain took to wife his twin sister and made the place of his abode there.

   [NOTES.--Adam carried Abel to the Cave of Treasures and buried him therein, and he set by p. 71 the side of the body a lamp which burned day and night. Abel was fifteen and a half years old when Cain, who was seventeen and a half years old, murdered him. Adam and Eve mourned for Abel, in great grief, for one hundred and forty days. Book of Adam and Eve (II, 1.)]

[The Birth of Seth.]

   And Adam and Eve mourned for Abel [Fol. 8b, col. 1] one hundred years (sic). And then Adam knew his wife again, and she brought forth Seth, the Beautiful, a man mighty and perfect like unto Adam, and he became the father of the mighty men who lived before the Flood.

   [NOTES.--Seth was born in the 130th year of Adam's life (Gen. v. 3), but the Book of the Bee says it was the 230th year. Adam and Seth and his sons dwelt on the top of Mount Eden, while Cain and his children lived on the plain below.]

[The Posterity of Seth.]

   And to Seth was born Ânôsh (Enos), and Ânôsh begot Kainân (Cainan), and Kainân begot Mahlâlâîl (Mahalaleel); these [are] the Patriarchs who were born in the days of Adam.

[The Death of Adam.]

   And when Adam had lived nine hundred and thirty years, that is to say, until the one hundred p. 72 and thirty-fifth year of Mahlâlâîl, the day of his death drew nigh and came. And Seth, his son, and Ânôsh, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl gathered themselves together and came to him. And they were blessed by him, and he prayed over them. And he commanded his son Seth, and said unto him, "Observe, my son Seth, that which I command thee this day, and do thou on the day of thy death give my command to Ânôsh, and repeat it to him, and let him repeat it to Kainân, and Kainân shall repeat it to Mahlâlâîl [Fol. 8b, col. 2], and let this [my] command be handed on to all your generations. And when I die, embalm me with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte, and deposit my body in the Cave of Treasures. And whosoever shall be left of your generations in that day, when your going forth from this country, which is round about Paradise, shall take place, shall carry my body with him, and shall take it and deposit it in the centre of the earth, for in that place shall redemption be effected for me and for all my children. And be thou, O my son Seth, governor of the sons of thy people. And thou shalt rule them purely and holily in an the fear of God. And keep ye your offspring separate from the offspring of Cain, the murderer."

   And when the report "Adam is dying" was known generally, all his offspring gathered p. 73 together, and came to him, that is to say, Seth, his son, and Ânôsh, and Kainân and Mahlâlâîl, they and their wives [Fol. 9a, col. 1], and their sons, and their daughters; and Adam blessed them. And the departure of Adam from this world took place in the nine hundred and thirtieth year--according to the reckoning from the beginning--on the fourteenth day of the moon, on the sixth day of the month of Nîsân (April), at the ninth hour, on the day of the Eve of the Sabbath (i.e. Friday). At the same hour in which the Son of Man delivered up his soul to His Father on the Cross, did our father Adam deliver up his soul to Him that fashioned him; and he departed from this world.

[The Burial of Adam.]

   And when Adam was dead his son Seth embalmed him, according as Adam had commanded him, with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte; now Adam's dead body was the first [body buried] in the earth. And grief for him was exceedingly sore, and Seth [and his sons] mourned for his death one hundred and forty days; and they took Adam's body up to the top of the mountain, and buried it in the Cave of Treasures. And after the families and peoples of the childreh of Seth had buried Adam, they separated themselves from the children of Cain, p. 74 the murderer. And Seth took Ânôsh [Fol. 9a, col. 2], his firstborn, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl, and their wives and children, and led them up into the glorious mountain where Adam was buried; and Cain and all his descendants remained below on the plain where Cain slew Abel.

[The Rule of Seth.]

   And Seth became the governor of the children of his people, and he ruled them in purity and holiness. And because of their purity they received the name, which is the best of all names, and were called "the sons of God," they and their wives and their sons. Thus they lived in that mountain in all purity and holiness and in the fear of God. And they went up on the skirts of [the mountain] of Paradise, and they became praisers and glorifiers of God in the place of that host of devils who fell from heaven. There they dwelt in peace and happiness: there was nothing about which they needed to feel anxiety, they had nothing to weary or trouble them [Fol. 9b, col. 1], and they had nothing to do except to praise and glorify God, with the angels. For they heard continually the voices of the angels who were singing praises in Paradise, which was situated at no great height above them--in fact, only about thirty spans--according to the measure of the spirit. They suffered p. 75 neither toil nor fatigue, they had neither seed [time] nor harvest, but they fed themselves with the delectable fruits of glorious trees of all kinds, and they enjoyed the sweet scent and perfume of the breezes which were wafted forth to them from Paradise. [Thus lived] those holy men, who were indeed holy, and their wives were pure, and their sons were virtuous, and their daughters were chaste and undefiled. In them there was no rebellious thought, no envy, no anger, no enmity. In their wives and daughters there was no impure longing, and neither lasciviousness [Fol. 9b, col. 2], nor cursing, nor lying was heard among them. The only oath which they used in swearing was, "By the blood of Abel." And they, and their wives, and their children used to rise up early in the morning, and go up to the top of that holy mountain, and worship there before God. And they were blessed by the body of Adam their father, and they lifted up their eyes to Paradise, and praised God; and thus they did all the days of their life.

   [NOTES.--According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xviii), Adam lived 930 years, and Seth lived 913 or 905 years. Seth was 250 years old (105 years in Gen. v. 6) when he begot Enos. "In the days of Seth the knowledge of books went forth in the earth; but the Church does p. 76 not accept this." According to the Book of Adam (ii. 5), Seth knew good and evil when he was seven years of age, and he spent his days and nights in fasting and prayer, and he made an offering to God daily. Satan appeared to him, and tried to persuade him to leave the holy mountain, and to go and live with him, and to marry one of his women, but Seth resisted him; and mounting the altar of God, drove him away. When Seth was fifteen years old Adam married him to Aklia, the sister of Abel, and when he was twenty years old he begot Enos.]

   And when Seth had lived nine hundred and thirteen years he became sick unto death. And Ânôsh his son, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd (Jared), and Henôkh (Enoch), and their wives and their sons, gathered together and came unto him, and they were blessed by him. And he prayed over them, and commanded them, and made them to take an oath, and said unto them [Fol. 10a, col. 1], "I will make you to take an oath, and to swear by the holy blood of Abel, that none of you will go down from this holy mountain to the children of Cain, the murderer. For ye know well the enmity which hath existed between us and Cain from the day whereon he slew Abel." And Seth blessed Ânôsh, his son; and gave him commands p. 77 concerning the body of Adam, and he made him ruler over the children of his people. And Seth ruled them in purity and in holiness, and he ministered diligently before the body of Adam. And Seth died when he was nine hundred and twelve years old, on the seven-and-twentieth day of the blessed month of Âbh (August), on the second day of the week (Monday), at the third hour, in the twentieth year of the life of Enoch. And Ânôsh, Seth's first-born son, embalmed his body and buried him in the Cave of Treasures, with his father Adam; and they made a mourning for him forty [Fol. 10a, col. 2] days.

   [NOTES.--The Book of Adam (ii. 12) says that Seth was embalmed with sweet spices, and laid on the right side of Adam's body, but there is no evidence that the Hebrews were acquainted with the art of mummification before they had intercourse with Egypt.]

[The Rule of Ânôsh.]

   And Ânôsh rose up to minister before God in the Cave of Treasures. And he became the governor of the children of his people, and he kept all the commandments which his father Seth had commanded him, and he urged them to be constant in prayer.

p. 78

   [NOTES.--According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xviii), Ânôsh was two hundred and ninety (ninety years in Gen. v. 9) years old when he begot Kainân; and Ânôsh first called upon the name of the Lord. Some say that he first composed books upon the course of the stars and the signs of the Zodiac.]

   And in the days of Ânôsh, in his eight hundred and twentieth year, Lamech, the blind man, killed Cain, the murderer, in the Forest of Nôdh. Now this killing took place in the following manner. As Lamech was leaning on the youth, his son [Tubal-Cain], and the youth was setting straight his father's arm in the direction in which he saw the quarry, he heard the sound of Cain moving about, backwards and forwards, in the forest. Now Cain was unable to stand still in one place and to hold his peace. And Lamech, thinking that it was a wild beast that was making a movement in the forest, raised his arm, and, having made ready, drew his bow and shot an arrow [Fol. 10b, col. 1] towards that spot, and the arrow smote Cain between his eyes, and he fell down and died. And Lamech, thinking that he had shot game, spake to the youth, saying, "Make haste, and let us see what game we have shot." And when they went to the spot, and the boy on whom Lamech leaned p. 79 had looked, he said unto him, "O my lord, thou hast killed Cain." And Lamech moved his hands to smite them together, and as he did so he smote the youth and killed him also.

   [NOTES.--The Book of Adam (ii. 13) says that Lamech was armed with a bow and large arrows, and a sling and smooth stones. An arrow pierced one side of Cain, and a stone from Lamech's sling knocked out both his eyes. Lamech smote the youth who led him about accidentally, but afterwards he smashed his head in with a stone. There are many versions of the story in Arabic, Ethiopic, and Hebrew, but they all agree in essential details. According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xviii), the anvil and hammer and tongs were invented by Tubal-Cain and Jubal, who also constructed musical instruments, harps and pipes; devils lived in the pipes, and sang therein.]

   And when Ânôsh had lived nine hundred and five years, and was sick unto death, all the patriarchs gathered themselves together, and came unto him, viz. Kainân, his first-born son, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd, and Enoch, and Matûshlah (Methuselah), they, and their wives, and their sons. And they were blessed by him, and he prayed over them and commanded them, and spake unto them, saying, "I will make you p. 80 to swear by the holy blood of Abel that not one of you shall go down from this mountain to the plain, nor into the encampment of [Fol. 10b, col. 2] the children of Cain, the murderer; and ye shall not mingle yourselves among them. Take ye good heed unto this matter, for ye well know what enmity hath existed between us and them from the day whereon Cain slew Abel." And he blessed Kainân, his son, and commanded him concerning the body of Adam, that he should minister before it all the days of his life, and that he should rule over the children of his people in purity and holiness. And Ânôsh died at the age of nine hundred and five years, on the third day of the month of the First Teshrîn (October), on the day of the Sabbath, in the fifty-third year of the life of Methuselah. And Kainân, his first-born, embalmed him and buried him in the Cave of Treasures, with Adam and Seth, his father. And they made a mourning for him forty days.

   [NOTES.--The Book of Adam (ii. 14) says that Ânôsh was 985 years old when he died, and that he was laid on the left-hand side of Adam in the Cave of Treasures.]

[The Rule of Kainân.]

   And Kainân stood up before God to minister in the Cave of Treasures. He was an honourable p. 81 and pure man, and he governed the children of his people in the complete [Fol. 11a, col. 1] fear of God, and he fulfilled all the commandments of Ânôsh his father. And when Kainân had lived nine hundred and twenty years [in the Book of Adam and the Book of the Bee 910 years], and was sick unto death, all the Patriarchs gathered together and came unto him, viz. Mahlâlâîl his son, and Yârêd, and Enoch and Methuselah and Lamech, they and their wives and their children, and were blessed by him. And he prayed over them and commanded them, saying, "I will make you swear by the holy blood of Abel that not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain into the camp of the children of Cain, the murderer, for ye all know well what enmity hath existed between us and them since the day whereon he killed Abel." And he blessed his son Mahlâlâîl, and admonished him concerning the body of Adam, and said unto him, "Behold, O my son Mahlâlâîl, minister thou before God in purity and holiness [Fol. 11a, col. 2] in the Cave of Treasures, and depart not thou from the presence of the body of Adam all the days of thy life. And be thou the governor of the children of thy people, and rule thou them purely and holily." Kainân died, being nine hundred and twenty years old, on the thirteenth day of the month of Hezêrân (June), p. 82 on the fourth day of the week (Wednesday), at mid-day, in the five and sixtieth year of [the life of] Lamech, the father of Noah. And Mahlâlâîl, his son, embalmed him, and buried him in the Cave of Treasures; and they made mourning for him forty days.

   [NOTES.--According to Gen. v. 12, Kainân was 70 years old when he begot Mahlâlâîl, but the Book of the Bee gives 140 years. The Book of Adam says that the people made "offerings for him, after the custom of their fathers," a statement that seems to suggest that the Hebrews not only mummified their dead, but presented funerary offerings to them, after the manner of the Egyptians.]

[The Rule of Mahlâlâîl.]

   And Mahlâlâîl rose up and ministered before God in the place of Kainân his father. He was constant in prayer by day and by night, and he urged earnestly the children of his people to observe holiness and purity, and to pray without ceasing. And when Mahlâlâîl had lived eight hundred and ninety-five years [Fol. 11b, col. 1], and the day of his departure drew nigh, and he was sick unto death, all the Patriarchs gathered together and came unto him, viz. Yârêd, his p. 83 first-born, and Enoch and Methuselah, and Lamech, and Noah, they and their wives and their children, and were blessed by him. And he prayed over them, and commanded them, saying, "I will make you to swear by the holy blood of Abel, that not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain. And ye shall not permit any one of your descendants to go down to the plain, to the children of Cain, the murderer, for ye all well know what enmity hath existed between us and them from the day whereon he slew Abel." And he blessed Yârêd, his first-born, and he commanded him concerning the body of Adam, and revealed unto him the place whereto he should make ready to go. And he also commanded him, and made him to swear an oath, saying, "Thou shalt not depart from the body of our father Adam all the days of thy life, and thou shalt be [Fol. 11b, col. 2] the governor of the children of thy people, and shalt rule them in chastity and holiness." And Mahlâlâîl died, [being] eight hundred and ninety-five years old, on the second day of the month Nîsân (April), on the first day of the week (Sunday), at the third hour of the day, in the four and thirtieth year of the life of Noah. And Yârêd, his first-born, embalmed him, and buried him in the Cave of Treasures; and the people made a mourning for him forty days.

p. 84

   [NOTES.--According to Gen. v. 15, Mahlâlâîl was 65 years old when he begot Yârêd, but the Book of the Bee gives 165 years; the Book of Adam (ii. 16) says he fell sick when he was 870 years old. The latter work makes the Patriarch tell Yârêd that the people will go down from the mountain, and mingle with the children of Cain, and perish with them.]

[The Rule of Yârêd.]

   And Yârêd his son rose up and ministered before God [in the Cave of Treasures]. He was a perfect man, and was complete in all the virtues, and he was constant in prayer by day and by night. And because of the excellence of his life and conversation, his days were longer than those of all the children of his people. And in the days of Yârêd, in the five hundredth year of his life, the children of Seth broke the oaths which their fathers had made them to swear. And they began to go down from that holy mountain to the encampment of iniquity [Fol. 12a, col. 1] of the children of Cain, the murderer, and in this way the fall of the children of Seth took place.

   [NOTES.--The Book of Adam (ii. 17) says that Yârêd continued to govern the people successfully until the end of the 485th year of his life. p. 85 At this time Satan and thirty of his devils appeared to Yârêd in the form of handsome men, and called him from the Cave of Treasures. He came out to them, and thought they were strangers, and asked them who they were. In answer, Satan told him that he was Adam, and that among his companions were Abel, Seth, Enos, Cainan, and other kinsmen of Yârêd. He invited Yârêd to come with him, and live with him in the garden which God had given him, and at length Yârêd was persuaded to leave the Cave and go with him. When they arrived at the top of the mountain of the sons of Cain, Satan pretended that he had left a garment for Yârêd by the Cave, and sent one of his devils back to fetch it, telling him at the same time to extinguish the lamp which was burning in the Cave near Adam's body. Satan and Yârêd rested by a fountain, and food was brought out to them by the sons and daughters of Cain, but Yârêd refused to eat or drink. Satan entreated him to put aside his sadness, and to do as he was going to do. Thereupon Satan and five of his devils each seized a woman and committed fornication with her, and on seeing this exhibition of iniquity Yârêd burst into tears and began to pray to God to be delivered from that place. When he began to pray the devils took to flight, and God sent an angel, who brought him back p. 86 to his holy mountain. When he returned to the Cave his people told him that the lamp had been extinguished, and that the bodies of the Patriarchs had been scattered about, and that voices had come from them. On entering the Cave a voice came to him from Adam's body, and warned him to beware of Satan and his wiles, and told him to relight the lamp from the fire on the altar at which Adam had ministered. The lamp was relighted at the end of the 450th year of Yârêd's life. Eighty years later his people began to go down to the children of Cain, and to mingle with their women.]

   AND IN THE FORTIETH YEAR OF YÂRÊD THE FIRST THOUSAND YEARS, FROM ADAM TO YÂRÊD, CAME TO AN END.

   And in these years the handicraftsmen of sin, and the disciples of Satan, appeared, for he was their teacher, and he entered in and dwelt in them, and he poured into them the spirit of the operation of error, through which the fall of the children of Seth was to take place.