A modern day Syriac painting of Jacob of Edessa

Jacob of Edessa; Hexaemeron;

(the Creation finished in six days) (d708)

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Taken from: Jacob (of Edessa) ; Etudes sur l'Hexaméron de Jacques d'Edesse

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In Ethiopia - under Egypt
There are mountains that extend across the country going from North to South and pass beyond the Great Lakes from where the Nile leaves. They are called Cushites (1) Mountains, and have a length of nearly 2,300 Mile. To the east of this mountain range are the mountains called Garbaos and Elephas (2), located north of the equator; there are also the mountains Pyleens (3), just below the equator, near to those lakes, and 5 degrees down the equator, Mount Maste (4). In the outside Ethiopia, named Agisymba (5), six high mountains are known, including the Thauchisos which Is located just below the equator line, and the one which is called the Mountain of the Moon. Here are the boundaries of the unknown and uninhabitable land there remain the Hesperiennes (6) tribes, called the Ellodas the Nyctadas etc.

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... In the first place we have the two lakes which feed the Nilos with water, and also the Qolay (7) Lake which pours its waters into the Astafos River (8), which joins the Nile. Together with these, we place all the other lakes which the Nilos forms, and, outstandingly, the Mariyotis, which is the lake near Alexandria.

(1) supposedly mountains in Ethiopia.

(2) also found in Strabo; meaning mount of the Elephant. Is close to cape Guardafui.

(3) =Pylae montes; in general mountains with a narrow pass.

(4) also found in Ptolemy; where they are the source of the Astapus; the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.

(5) the general name given in classical times to the regions laying south of the equator.

(6) Hesperides: a legendary garden at the western extremity of the world producing golden apples.

(7) now lake Tana frpm which the Blue Nile in Ethiopia springs.

(8) the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.