top Pseudo-Eupolemus (fragments)

Fragment (on Abraham) Eusebius, Praep. Evang. 9.17.1-9

9.17.1 Εὐπόλεμος δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἰουδαίων τῇς Ἀσσυρίας φησὶ πόλιν Βαβυλῶνα πρῶτον μὲν κτισθῇναι ὑπὸ τῶν διασωθέντων ἐκ τοῦ ὡς · εἶναι δὲ αὐτοὺς γίγαντας , οἰκοδομεῖν δὲ τὸν ἱστορούμενον πύργον . Eupolemus in his book Concerning the Jews of Assyria says that the city Babylon was first founded by those who escaped from the Deluge; and that they were giants, and built the tower renowned in history.
9.17.2 πεσόντος δὲ τούτου ὑπὸ τῇς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνεργείας τοὺς γίγαντας διασπαρῇναι καθ' ὅλην τὴν γῇν . δεκάτῃ δὲ γενεᾷ , φησίν , ἐν Βηθήλῃ τῇς Βαβυλωνίας Καμαρίνῃ , ἥν τινας λέγειν πόλιν Οὐριήλ ( εἶναι δὲ μεθερμηνευομένην Χαλδαίων } ἐν τρισκαιδεκάτῃ γενέσθαι Ἁβραὰμ γενεᾷ , εὐγενείᾳ καὶ σοφίᾳ πάντας ὑπερβεβηκότα , ὃν δὴ καὶ τὴν ἀστρολογίαν καὶ Χαλδαϊκὴν εὑρεῖν ἐπί τε τὴν εὐσέβειαν ὁρμήσαντα εὐαρεστῇσαι τῷ θεῷ . But when this had been overthrown by the act of God, the giants were dispersed over the whole earth. And in the tenth generation, he says, in Camarina a city of Babylonia, which some call the city Uria (and which is by interpretation the city of the Chaldees ), + in the thirteenth generation + Abraham was born, who surpassed all men in nobility and wisdom, who was also the inventor of astronomy and the Chaldaic art, and pleased God well by his zeal towards religion.
9.17.3 τοῦτον δὲ διὰ τὰ προστάγματα τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς Φοινίκην ἐλθόντα κατοικῇσαι , καὶ τροπὰς ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα διδάξαντα τοὺς Φοίνικας εὐαρεστῇσαι τῷ βασιλεῖ αὐτῶν . ὕστερον δὲ Ἀρμενίους ἐπιστρατεῦσαι τοῖς Φοίνιξι · νικησάντων δὲ καὶ αἰχμαλωτισαμένων τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν αὐτοῦ‎ τὸν Ἁβραὰμ μετὰ οἰκετῶν βοηθήσαντα ἐγκρατῇ γενέσθαι τῶν αἰχμαλωτισαμένων καὶ τῶν πολεμίων αἰχμαλωτίσαι τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας . By reason of God's commands this man came and dwelt in Phoenicia, and pleased their king by teaching the Phoenicians the changes of the sun and moon and all things of that kind. And afterwards the Armenians invaded the Phoenicians; and when they had been victorious, and had taken his nephew prisoner, Abraham came to the rescue with his servants, and prevailed over the captors, and made prisoners of the wives and children of the enemy.
9.17.4 πρέσβεων δὲ παραγενομένων πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅπως χρήματα λαβὼν ἀπολυτρώσῃ ταῦτα , μὴ προελέσθαι τοῖς δυστυχοῦσιν ἐπεμβαίνειν , ἀλλὰ τὰς τροφὰς λαβόντα τῶν νεανίσκων ἀποδοῦναι τὰ αἰχμάλωτα ξενισθῇναί τε αὐτὸν ὑπὸ πόλεως ἱερὸν Ἀργαριζίν , ὃ εἶναι μεθερμηνευόμενον ὄρος ὑψίστου · And when there came to him ambassadors asking that he would ransom them for money, he did not choose to trample upon the unfortunate, but on receiving food for his young men restored the booty; he was also admitted as a guest into the temple of the city called Argarizin, which being interpreted is "Mount of the Most High,"
9.17.5 παρὰ δὲ τοῦ Μελχισεδὲκ ἱερέως ὄντος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ βασιλεύοντος λαβεῖν δῶρα . λιμοῦ δὲ γενομένου τὸν Ἁβραὰμ ἀπαλλαγῇναι εἰς Αἴγυπτον πανοικίᾳ κἀκεῖ κατοικεῖν τήν τε γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ‎ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων γῇμαι , φάντος αὐτοῦ‎ ἀδελφὴν εἶναι . and received gifts from Melchizedek, who was the king, and the priest of God. 'But when there came a famine Abraham removed into Egypt with all his household, and dwelt there, and the king of Egypt took his wife in marriage, Abraham having said that she was his sister.
9.17.6 περισσότερον δ' ἱστόρησεν ὅτι οὐκ ἠδύνατο αὐτῇ συγγενέσθαι καὶ ὅτι συνέβη φθείρεσθαι αὐτοῦ‎ τὸν λαὸν καὶ τὸν οἶκον , μάντεις δὲ αὐτοῦ‎ καλέσαντος τούτους φάναι μὴ εἶναι χήραν τὴν γυναῖκα · τὸν δὲ βασιλέα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οὕτως ἐπιγνῶναι ὅτι γυνὴ ἦν τοῦ Ἁβραὰμ καὶ ἀποδοῦναι αὐτὴν τῷ ἀνδρί . 'He also related fully that the king was unable to consort with her, and that it came to pass that his people and his household were perishing. And when he had called for the soothsayers, they said that the woman was not a widow; and thus the king of Egypt learned that she was Abraham's wife, and gave her back to her husband.
9.17.7 συζήσαντα δὲ τὸν Ἁβραὰμ ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει τοῖς Αἰγυπτίων ἱερεῦσι πολλὰ μεταδιδάξαι αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν ἀστρολογίαν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦτον αὐτοῖς εἰσηγήσασθαι , φάμενον Βαβυλωνίους ταῦτα καὶ αὑτὸν εὑρηκέναι , τὴν δὲ εὕρεσιν αὐτῶν εἰς Ἐνὼχ ἀναπέμπειν , καὶ τοῦτον εὑρηκέναι πρῶτον τὴν ἀστρολογίαν , οὐκ Αἰγυπτίους . And Abraham dwelt with the Egyptian priests in Heliopolis and taught them many things; and it was he who introduced astronomy and the other sciences to them, saying that the Babylonians and himself had found these things out, but tracing back the first discovery to Enoch, and saying that he, and not the Egyptians, had first invented astrology.
9.17.8 Βαβυλωνίους γὰρ λέγειν πρῶτον γενέσθαι Βῇλον , ὃν εἶναι Κρόνον · ἐκ τούτου δὲ γενέσθαι Βῇλον καὶ Χαναάν , τοῦτον δὲ τὸν Χαναὰν γεννῇσαι τὸν πατέρα τῶν Φοινίκων , τούτου δὲ Χοὺμ υἱὸν γενέσθαι , ὃν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λέγεσθαι Ἄσβολον , πατέρα δὲ Αἰθιόπων , ἀδελφὸν δὲ τοῦ Μεστραείμ , πατρὸς Αἰγυπτίων · Ἕλληνας δὲ λέγειν τὸν Ἄτλαντα εὑρηκέναι ἀστρολογίαν , εἶναι δὲ τὸν Ἄτλαντα τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ Ἐνώχ · τοῦ δὲ Ἐνὼχ γενέσθαι υἱὸν Μαθουσάλαν , ὃν πάντα δι' ἀγγέλων θεοῦ γνῶναι καὶ ἡμᾶς οὕτως ἐπιγνῶναι . For the Babylonians say that the first man was Belus, who is Kronos; and that of him was born a son Belus, and Chanaan; and that this Chanaan begat the father of the Phoenicians, and that his son was Churn, who is called by the Greeks Asbolus, and is father of the Aethiopians, and a brother of Mestraim the father of the Egyptians. But the Greeks say that Atlas invented astrology, and that Atlas is the same as Enoch: and that Enoch had a son Methuselah, who learned all things through angels of God, and thus we gained our knowledge.

Fragment: (on Abraham) Eusebius, Praep. Evang.

9.18.2 ἐν δὲ ἀδεσπότοις εὕρομεν τὸν Ἁβραὰμ ἀναφέροντα εἰς τοὺς γίγαντας , τούτους δὲ οἰκοῦντας ἐν τῇ Βαβυλωνίᾳ διὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν ἀναιρεθῇναι , ὧν ἕνα Βῇλον ἐκφεύγοντα τὸν θάνατον ἐν Βαβυλῶνι κατοικῇσαι πύργον τε κατασκευάσαντα ἐν αὐτῷ διαιτᾶσθαι , ὃν δὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ κατασκευάσαντος Βήλου Βῇλον ὀνομασθῇναι . τὸν δὲ Ἅβραμον τὴν ἀστρολογικὴν ἐπιστήμην παιδευθέντα πρῶτον μὲν ἐλθεῖν εἰς Φοινίκην καὶ τοὺς Φοίνικας ἀστρολογίαν διδάξαι , ὕστερον δὲ εἰς Αἴγυπτον παραγενέσθαι . In certain anonymous works, however, we found that Abraham traced Lack his origin to the giants, and that they dwelling in Babylonia were destroyed by the gods for their impiety; but that one of them, named Belus, escaped death and settled in Babylon, and lived in a tower which he had built, and which was called Belus from the Belus who built it: and that Abraham having been instructed in the science of astrology came first into Phoenicia, and taught astrology to the Phoenicians, and afterwards passed on into Egypt.