After Cyrus died in another battle on the (?) plain of the Dahae, Cambyses became king, for 8 years
Then Dareius, for 36 years
After Dareius came Xerxes and the other Persian kings
Just as Berossus gives a brief account of each of the Chaldaean kings, so Polyhistor describes them in the same manner. From what he says, it is clear that Nebuchadnezzar led an army against the Jews and conquered them. From Nebuchadnezzar until Cyrus the king of the Persians, there is period of 70 years. [p31] The Hebrew histories agree with this, and state that the Jews were in captivity for 70 years, calculating from the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar up until Cyrus the king of the Persians.
Abydenus, whose account is similar to Polyhistor (?) in most respects, writes as follows in his History of the Chaldaeans.
[From the writings] of Abydenus, about the first kings of the Chaldaeans
So much about the wisdom of the Chaldaeans.
The first king of the region, so they say, was Alorus.
- He spread a report about himself that he had been chosen by god to be the shepherd of the people, and he reigned [over them] for ten sars (a sar is 3,600 years; a ner is 600 years; and a soss is 60 years).
Next, Alaparus
Amillarus, from the city of Pautibiblon
- In his reign, a second Annedotus, a kind of demi-god, similar in appearance to Oannes, rose out of the sea.
Ammenon
Magalanus
The shepherd Daōs
- In his reign, bi-formed creatures came out of the sea onto the land, and their names were: Euedocus, Eneugamus, Eneubulus and Anementus.
Euedoreschus
- In his reign, Anodaphus [came out of the sea].
After him, there were other rulers, and finally Sisuthrus
After agreeing with Polyhistor in such matters, this historian then writes about the flood in the same way.
[From the writings] of Abydenus, about the flood
After him, there were other kings, including Sisuthrus, to whom Cronus foretold that there would be a great torrent of rain on the fifteenth day of the month of Daesius. Cronus ordered him to conceal all the books which were kept in Heliopolis, the city of the Sippareni. Sisuthrus did as instructed, and then he sailed away to Armenia. Immediately it began to happen as the god had foretold. [p33] On the third day, when the rain eased, Sisuthrus sent out some birds, to test if they could see any land rising up out of the sea. But they found nothing except a gaping wide sea, and, having nowhere to rest, they flew back to Sisuthrus. The same thing happened when [he sent] some other birds. But he achieved success with the third set of birds, who came back with mud splattered on the bottom of their feet, and then the gods removed him from the sight of men. The inhabitants of Armenia made wooden amulets out of his ship, as a protection against poisons.
I think that it will be obvious to everyone that what Abydenus says about the flood is similar to the story of the Hebrews, and uses the same form of words. That these historians, whether they are Greeks or Chaldaeans, give Noah a different name, and call him Sisuthrus, is hardly surprising. Nor is it surprising that, as is their custom, they refer to gods rather than God, and talk about birds in general without mentioning a dove.
That then is what Abydenus says about the flood in this History of the Chaldaeans. He also writes about the building of the tower, in a way which is similar to the account of Moses, as follows.
[From the writings] of Abydenus, about the building of the tower