To Autolycus 2.31

After the flood there was again a beginning of cities and kings, in this way. The first city was Babylon, and Orech and Archath and Chalane, in the land of Sennaar; and their king was named Nebroth. From these went out one named Assour, after whom the Assyrians are named. And Nebroth built the cities of Nineveh and Roboom and Calak, and Dasen between Nineveh and Calak; and Nineveh was at first a great city. Another son of Sem, the son of Noah, named Mesraein, fathered the Loudoueim and those called Enemigeim, and the Labieim, the Nephthaleim, the Patrosonieim, and the Chaslonieim, from whom came the Phylistieim. We have given the list of the three sons of Noah, their descendants and their genealogy, in summary in the book we mentioned. Now we will recall what was left out, about the cities and kings and the things that happened when there was one lip and one language. The cities described above came into being before the languages were divided. When the people were about to be divided, they took counsel by their own judgment, not through God, to build a city and a tower whose top would reach up to heaven, so as to make a glorious name for themselves. Since, then, against the will of God they dared to undertake an arrogant work, God overthrew their city and laid the tower flat. From that time he changed the languages of human beings, giving each a different language. So the Sibyl has indicated, announcing that wrath was about to come upon the world. She spoke thus: “But when the threats of the great God are fulfilled, with which he once threatened mortals, when they built a tower in the land of Assyria (they were all of one speech, and they wished to climb up to the starry heaven), at once the Immortal laid a mighty constraint on the winds; and then the winds threw down the great tower from on high and stirred up strife among mortals against one another. But when the tower had fallen, and the tongues of human beings were divided into the many languages of mortals, the earth was filled with mortals divided among kings,” and so on. These things took place in the land of the Chaldeans. In the land of Canaan there was a city named Charran. At that time the first king of Egypt was Pharaoh, who was called Nechaoth by the Egyptians; and so the kings after him followed in succession. In the land of Senaar, among those called Chaldeans, the first king was Arioch; after him another, Ellasar; after him Chodollagomor, king of Elam; and after him Thargal, king of the nations called Assyrians. Five other cities arose in the portion of Ham, the son of Noah: first the one called Sodom, then Gomorrah, Adama, Seboein, and Balak, also called Segor. The names of their kings are these: Ballas, king of Sodom; Barsas, king of Gomorrah; Sennaar, king of Adama; Hymoor, king of Seboein; and Balach, king of Segor, also called Balak. These served Chodollagomor, king of the Assyrians, for twelve years; in the thirteenth year they revolted from Chodollagomor. And so it came about that the four kings of the Assyrians made war on the five kings. This was the first beginning of wars on the earth. And they cut down the giants of Karanaein, and strong nations with them, and the Ommaeans in their city, and the Chorraeans in the mountains called Seir, as far as the place called the Terebinth of Pharan, which is in the desert. At the same time there was a righteous king named Melchizedek in the city of Salem, now called Jerusalem. He was the first priest of all the priests of God Most High. From him the city was named Hierousalem, the Jerusalem mentioned above; and from him priests came to be found over all the earth. After him Abimelech reigned in Gerar; after him another Abimelech; then Ephron reigned, also called the Hittite. Such are the names of these earlier kings. Of the Assyrian kings over many intervening years, the rest have been passed over in silence and not recorded. Last of all, in times close to our own, the kings of the Assyrians are recorded as Theglaphasar, after him Selamanasar, then Sennacherim; his commander was Adramelech the Ethiopian, who also reigned over Egypt. Yet these, compared with our Scriptures, are quite recent.