Abydenus the Historian On Assyrian and Median History in Greek
The work known as On Assyrian and Median History is a historical compilation attributed to the Hellenistic historian Abydenus. The original work is lost and survives only in fragments quoted by later authors, primarily the Christian chronographer Eusebius of Caesarea and the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry. Based on the surviving quotations, the work covered a range of topics central to Mesopotamian tradition, including the reigns and deeds of early Babylonian and Assyrian kings, such as Belus, Ninus, and the legendary queen Semiramis. It also contained foundational myths, including accounts of the construction of the Tower of Babel and a version of the Great Flood narrative, alongside descriptions of the city of Babylon and its monuments, and the historical transfer of imperial power from the Assyrians to the Medes. The work survives exclusively through fragmentary quotations preserved in the writings of later authors, most notably in Eusebius's Chronicle and Porphyry's Against the Christians, transmitted indirectly through their manuscript traditions. Abydenus's compilation represents the Hellenistic genre of "Barbarian history," which sought to present Near Eastern traditions to a Greek readership. His primary historical significance lies in his role as a conduit for Mesopotamian lore, particularly material derived from the Babylonian historian Berossus, into the Greek historiographical tradition. Eusebius used his excerpts to construct a synchronized universal chronology, which subsequently influenced medieval Christian historiography, while Porphyry cited Abydenus to argue for the great antiquity of Babylonian culture in philosophical debate. For modern scholars, the fragments are a valuable source for understanding the reception and interpretation of Mesopotamian history in the Hellenistic world.
| t1-12 | ΑΣΣΥΡΙΑΚΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΗΔΙΚΑ. Syncellus: Ἐκ τῶν Ἀβυδηνοῦ Περὶ τῆς τῶν Χαλδαίων βασιλείας . |
| 1 | Χαλδαίων μὲν τῆς σοφίης πέρι τοσαῦτα. Βασιλεῦσαι δὲ τῆς χώρας πρῶτον λέγεται Ἄλωρον, τὸν δὲ ὑπὲρ ἑωυτοῦ λόγον διαδοῦναι ὅτι μιν τοῦ λεῶ ποιμένα ὁ θεὸς ἀποδείξαι. Βασιλεῦσαι δὲ σάρους δέκα. Σάρος δέ ἐστιν ἑξακόσια καὶ τρισχίλια ἔτεα, νῆρος δὲ ἑξακόσια, σῶσσος δὲ ἑξήκοντα. Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Ἀλάπαρον ἄρξαι σάρους τρεῖς, μεθ’ ὃν Ἀμίλλαρος ἐκ πόλεως Παντιβίβλιος ἐβασίλευσε σάρους ιγʹ. Ἐφ’ οὗ δεύτερον Ἀννήδωτον τὴν θάλασσαν ἀναδῦναι παραπλήσιον Ὠάννῃ τὴν ἰδέαν ἡμιδαίμονα. Μεθ’ ὃν Ἀμμένων ἐκ Παντιβίβλων ἦρξε σάρους ιβʹ. Μεθ’ ὃν Μεγάλαρος ἐκ Παντιβίβλων ἦρξε σάρους ὀκτωκαίδεκα· εἶτα Δαὼς ποιμὴν ἐκ Παντιβίβλων ἐβασίλευσε σάρους δέκα, ἐφ’ οὗ δʹ διφυεῖς γῆν ἐκ θαλάσσης ἀνέδυσαν, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα, Εὐέδωκος, Ἐνεύγαμος, Ἐνεύβουλος, Ἀνήμεντος. Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα Εὐεδωρέσχου Ἀνώδαφος. Μεθ’ ὃν ἄλλοι τε ἦρξαν καὶ Σίσουθρος ἐπὶ τούτοις, ὡς τοὺς πάντας εἶναι βασιλεῖς δέκα, ὧν ὁ χρόνος τῆς βασιλείας συνῆξε σάρους ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι. Καὶ περὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ παρόμοια μὲν, οὐκ ἀπαράλλακτα λέγει οὕτως· «Μετὰ Εὐεδώρεσχον ἄλλοι τινὲς ἦρξαν καὶ Σίσιθρος, ᾧ δὴ Κρόνος προσημαίνει μὲν ἔσεσθαι πλῆθος ὄμβρων Δαισίου ιεʹ· κελεύει δὲ πᾶν ὅ τι γραμμάτων ἦν ἐχόμενον ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει τῇ ἐν Σισπόροισιν ἀποκρύψαι. Σίσιθρος δὲ ταῦτα ἐπιτελέα ποιήσας, εὐθέως ἐπ’ Ἀρμενίης ἀνέπλωε· καὶ παραυτίκα μὲν κατελάμβανε τὰ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ· τρίτῃ δὲ ἡμερέῃ ἐπεὶ ὕων ἐκόπασε, μετίει τῶν ὀρνίθων, πείρην ποιεύμενος εἴ κου γῆν ἴδοιεν τοῦ ὕδατος ἐκδῦσαν. Αἱ δὲ ἐκδεκομένου σφέας πελάγεος ἀμφιχανέος, ἀπορέουσαι ὅκη καθορμίσονται, παρὰ τὸν Σίσιθρον ὀπίσω κομίζονται· καὶ ἐπ’ αὐτῇσιν ἕτεραι. Ὡς δὲ τῇσι τρίτῃσιν εὐτύχεεν (ἀπίκατο γὰρ δὴ πηλοῦ κατάπλεοι τοὺς ταρσούς), θεοί μιν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀφανίζουσι, τὸ δὲ πλοῖον ἐν Ἀρμενίῃ περίαπτα ξύλων ἀλεξιφάρμακα (καὶ) τοῖσιν ἐπιχωρίοις παρείχετο. |
| 5 | Ἐντὶ δ’ οἳ λέγουσι τοὺς πρώτους ἀνασχόντας ῥώμῃ τε καὶ μεγέθει χαυνωθέντας καὶ δὴ θεῶν καταφρονήσαντας ἀμείνονας εἶναι τύρσιν ἠλίβατον ἀείρειν, ἣ νῦν Βαβυλών ἐστιν· ἤδη τε ἆσσον εἶναι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τοὺς ἀνέμους θεοῖσι βωθέοντας ἀνατρέψαι περὶ αὐτοῖσι τὸ μηχάνημα· τοῦ δὴ τὰ ἐρείπια λέγεσθαι Βαβυλῶνα. Τέως δὲ ὄντας ὁμογλώσσους ἐκ θεῶν πολύθροον φωνὴν ἐνέγκασθαι· μετὰ δὲ Κρόνῳ καὶ Τιτῆνι συστῆναι πόλεμον. |
| 9 | And I also found in Abydin's On the Assyrians, a writing about Nebuchadnezzar, this: Heraclius, the most powerful of the great kings, commanded the armies of Libya and Iberia; but when he had conquered them, he sent them to dwell on the right side of Pontus." Then, it is said to the Chaldeans, as he ascended to the kingdoms seized by God, then behold, he, having risen up, said, This I, Nebuchadnezzar, O Babylonians, foretell you the coming calamity, which neither Belus our ancestor nor the kingdoms of Belus will turn away, nor will Fate persuade the weak. The Persians will be half-hearted, to whom you owe your alliance, and will be enslaved. Where the Medes will be a partner, the Assyrians will be a disgrace. If I were to be able to give the cities, some Charybdis or a sea that is welcome to feel the roots or other paths, to be carried through the desert, so that neither the bones nor the feet of men, but the forests have a law and birds are created, if they either stone or carve only a burnt one; me too, before these things were put into law, would remain perfect and reign. The one you established me has disappeared too soon; but the boy Amilmarudoco reigned. The fourth, the funeral procession of Iglisaris (iq Niriglisaris), is missing a boy named Lavassoarascon. But since he died violently, Nabanidochus is declared king, and no one is suitable. But Cyrus, having come to Babylon, is given the hegemony of Carmani. " And about Nebuchadnezzar building Babylon, he himself writes this: "It is said that everything was from the beginning with water, called the sea. And the sphere * stopped, giving each country a place, and Babylon was surrounded by walls; but in time it was destroyed by the fire. "And Nebuchadnezzar, having built the wall, built a bronze gate until the beginning of the Macedonians." And with another he selects; Nebuchadnezzar, having succeeded in building it, walled Babylon with a triple enclosure in fifteen days, he diverted the Armakale river, which is a branch of the Euphrates, and the Akrakan. And against the city of Sipparene, having dug a ditch, a perimeter of forty parasangs, a depth of twenty bronze ekim, he built gates, the opening of which overlooks the field; they call them echetognomons. He also achieved the coast of the Red Sea and built the city of Teredona against the Arab invasions; he also made kingdoms of trees, hanging paradises of the name. |
| 9 | Καὶ ταῦτα δέ μοι ἀπὸ τῆς δηλωθείσης κείσθω γραφῆς. |
| 10a | After this his son, called Ewelad-Merodach, reigned two years after his father's death, as the Chaldean chroniclers Alexander and Abydin testify, as Josephus and all who follow him agree, in agreement with the divine scripture. |