Cave of Treasures

Historical source scan page 62

[The Fourth Thousand Years--From the Reign of Reu to the Twenty- Sixth Year Of The Life Of Ehud And in the days of Reu the Mesrayé, who are the Egyptians, appointed their first king; his name was Puntos, and he reigned over them sixty-eight years. And in the days of Reu a king reigned in Shebha (Saba), and in Ophir, and in Havilah. And there reigned in Saba sixty of the daughters of Saba. And for many years women reigned in Saba until the kingdom of Solomon, the son of David. And the children of Ophir, that is, Send (Scindia?), appointed to be their [Fol. 23a, col. 1] Lophoron (?), who built Ophir with stones of gold; now, all the stones that are in Ophir are of gold. And the children of Havilah appointed to be their king Havil, who built Havilah, that is, Hend (India?). [Note: According to the Book of Adam (iii. 23), the first king of Egypt was called Yanuf; he built Memphis, that is, Misr. Sasen reigned in Saba and built the city of Saba, the people of which are called "Sabeans." Bahlul, builder of Bahlu, reigned over Lebensa in India. The first king of Saba is said to have been Menyelek I, the son of Solomon king of Mael and Makeda, Queen of Sheba.] And Reu died, being two hundred and thirty-nine years old, and Serug his son, and Nâhôr and Tarah (Terah) buried him in Aor‘in, the city which he built after his own name. And Serug lived thirty years and begot Nâhôr, and all the days of his life were two hundred and thirty years. And in the days of Serug the worship of idols entered the world. And in his days the children of men began to make themselves graven images, and it was at this time that the introduction of idols into the world took place. For the children of men were scattered all over the earth, and they had neither teachers nor lawgivers, and no one to show them [Fol. 23a, col. 2] the way of truth wherein they should walk, and for this reason they became confused and fell into error. Some of them through their error adored the heavens, and some of them worshipped the sun, and moon and stars, and some of them the earth, and wild beasts, and birds, and creeping things, and trees, and stones, and the creatures of the sea, and the waters, and the winds. Now Satan had blinded their eyes so that they might walk in the darkness of error, because they had no hope ofa resurrection. For when one of them died they used to make an image of him, and set it up upon his grave, so that the remembrance [of his appearance] might not pass from before their eyes. And error having been sown broadcast in all the earth, the land became filled with idols in the form of men and women. And then Serug died, being two hundred and thirty years old, and Nâhôr, and Tarah [Fol. 23b, col. 1], and Abraham his sons, buried him in Sarghin, the city which he built after his own name. 62 of 130