The Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, preserves an unusual parallel timeline linking the rise of Rome with the suffering of Israel in Egypt. Two brothers—Remus and Romulus—arose as the first kings of Rome during the reign of Jotham, King of Judah. According to the chronicle, their mother died giving birth to them, and God appointed a she-wolf to nurse the twins until they were grown.
Romulus built the city of Roma, appointed one hundred elders as counselors, and erected its walls. After him came Numa Pompilius, who added two months to the Roman calendar—January and February—since the Romans originally counted only ten months in a year. Tullus Hostilius was the first king to clothe himself in purple robes. In all, seven kings ruled Rome for 240 years, after which Rome went without a monarch for 464 years until Julius Caesar.
The chronicle then pivots abruptly to Egypt, where a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. The Egyptians worshipped a flying ox called Sarapis that appeared daily at the fourth hour, rising from the river to sing hymns in the sky before vanishing again. Pharaoh imposed crushing slavery on Israel—the people were forced to dig channels, carry manure in pots on their shoulders, and build the fortified cities of Pithom and Piramses. The Egyptians decreed three punishments: hard labor, field slavery, and drowning every Hebrew male infant in the Nile. But God sent an angel to the fields where Hebrew women gave birth in secret, who washed their children and placed two miraculous stones in their hands—one giving milk, the other honey.
XLI. (1) I also find that during the first temple, in
the time of Jotham, King of Judah, two brothers, Eemus
and Eomilus, arose who were the first kings of Eome.
They reigned thirty-eight years. (2) I also find in 'Sober
Tob ' that their mother from the pains of travail died at
their birth, and that God appointed a she-wolf to suckle
them until they were grown up. Eomulus built the city
of Eoma. He, the first king, then appointed 100 elders as
102 [XLI. 3
counsellers. He also built a temple in Eome, and erected
the ^Yalls of Eome. (3) After him, Huma (Numa) Pompilios
(i;M5<^'"?^spiD so-in) reigned for forty-one years. This Huma
Pompilios added two months to the year, viz., Januarius
and Febrius (K^li<n3S), for the Romans had originally
but ten months to the year. After him Tullus Ostihus
(Dis^S^tOL-iwX) reigned for thirty-t^YO years. This Tullus, King
of Rome, was the first to clothe himself in purple robes.
(4) These are the seven kings that reigned in Rome:
1. Romulus; 2. Numa Pompilius; 3. Tullus Ostilius;
4. Ancus Marcus; 5. Tarquinius Priscus; 6. Servius
(c♦••lS^n-lL^'); 7. Tarquinus (C'-i^npii?). Their rule over Rome
lasted altogether 240 years. After them Rome remained
without a king for 464 years until the reign of Julius
Caesar.
[Here finishes the ' Book of Genealogies.' I now com-
mence the ' Chronicles of Moses, our Teacher.']
XLH. (1) From the time that Jacob and his sons came
to the land of Goshen, there reigned in it certain shepherds,
for the land of Egypt was divided into three kingdoms,
viz., the land of Ramses, where the Tibei {'^'T^) reigned.
This was situated at the extreme end of Egypt. The
Israelites built this town, which was afterwards called
Ramses on account of the evil (yi, Ra) and the tribute (d*o,
Mas) which were imposed upon the Israelites. The former
name of the city was Heroes (^'^^n^n). Another capital
was Mof, that is Menfis (^''by^), for Apis, King of Egypt,
built it, and was made a god because Jovis, the god of
Egypt, revealed himself to them in the form of a calf and
a ram, and therefore they called him Sarapis. On this
account shepherds were the abomination of Egypt in the
land of Menfis, Nof, Pathros, and Tahpanhes, for the
Egyptians did not eat sheep or rams because they
worshipped them as gods. But the land of Goshen was
the kingdom of the shepherds in honour of Joseph and
Jacob and his sons, all of whom were shepherds.
(2) Now, a new king arose in Egypt who did not know
Joseph and his good deeds. This ^Yas Pharaoh Amenofis
(:r^?trp5<). In his days there arose in the air the Kkeness
of an ox. On its right side it had a mark resembling
the moon, from which there issued sparks. When it arose
in the morning with the smi, it used to fly in the air of
the heaven. All the Egyptians worshipped it, and praised
it with every kind of song. When it moved they also
moved, and when it stood they also stood. The ox used
also to sing hymns. This it did once in each year. It
became a festival day in Egypt, and they called it the day
of Sarapis. On account of this, the Israelites afterwards
made the calf in the wilderness, as it is said, ' And he
passed through the sea of affliction.'
(3) Then he (Pharaoh) said to his people, ' Behold the
people of Israel are becoming mightier and stronger than
we; and the Egyptians envy and hate them on account of
the multitude of their families, the greatness of their riches,
and their mighty strength. Come, let us take counsel
lest they multiply, and let us appoint rulers over Israel,
and taskmasters over these rulers from among our own
people, for the purpose of subjecting them to rigorous
servitude, and let us further appoint tax-gatherers over
them that they may be reduced to poverty.' And they
built store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Piamses, great
cities which stood on the border of Pithom at the extremity
of the land of Egypt, and Piamses at the other extremity.
In these two cities were the stores of the king and his
implements of war. They were built in such a manner
that no one could possibly enter or go out of the land of
Egypt without the king's knowledge. And the Egyptians
enslaved the Israelites with rigour; they appointed task-
masters, who beat them to obtain the taxes. They
embittered their lives with hard bondage, in that they had
to dig all the channels in the land of Egypt, and to carry
the manure upon their shoulders in pots and in baskets to
manure the fields, as it is said, 'I shall remove the burden
of manure from his shoulder, and his hands shall be
removed from the pots.' They had to cleanse all the
104 [XLII. 4
channels of the land on account of the Nile, which filled
them once in forty years.
(4) The Egyptians decreed three kinds of punishment
against Israel. One was to embitter their lives; the
second to impose upon them the slavery in the field; and
the third to cast all their males into the river, for they
said to King Pharaoh Amenofis, ' We shall slay the males
that they may not increase, and allow the females to live
to be our servants and our wives, and the males that we
beget from them shall be our slaves.' On this account
their misery went up before the Lord. And it came to
pass when the time of the pregnancy of the women had
almost come to an end, they w^ent out in the field and
there gave birth to their children, and they left them in
the field. The Lord then sent an angel, who wvashed the
children and placed in their hand two stones, from one of
which they sucked milk, and from the other honey. When
the children were weaned they returned to their father's
house. When the Egyptians saw the children in the field,
they tried to take them away, but the earth opened its mouth
and swallow^ed them up. The Egyptians brought their
ploughshares and ploughed the field over them, but could
not harm them, for the Lord had saved them.
(5) The elders and all the people then gathered together,
wept and wailed, saying, ' It would have been better had
our wives been barren, for the fruit of the womb has now
been annihilated. Now let no man approach his wife
for some time; for it is preferable to die childless than to
see our children defiled by the Gentile, until we know what
the Lord will do.' Now Amram answered and said, 'Are
you willing to destroy by obstinacy or with premeditation
the world? But even when misery has reached the bottom of
the abyss the seed of Israel will not be destroyed; for the
Lord has sworn to Abraham to afiiict his seed for 400 years,
and behold from the time of the covenant between the pieces
which God made with Abraham, 350 years have already
passed, and 130 years of these we have been slaves in
Egypt. Now I shall not abide by your counsel, to fix a time
for God's intercession, and to restrain my wife from helping
to peoi3le the world, for the anger of the Lord will not last
for ever, nor will He forsake His people for ever, nor has
He made the covenant with our ancestors in vain, neither
has He increased the seed of Israel to no purpose.
(6) ' Now I shall therefore go to my wife according to the
commandment of God, and, if it is pleasing to you, do you
act likewise, and it shall come to pass when our wives shall
conceive, that they shall conceal the fruit of their concep-
tion for three months, just as Tamar, our mother, did.
She did not designedly go astray, for she said, "It is better
for me to die than to mix with the heathen." She there-
fore concealed the fruit of her womb for three months and
then confessed. Now let us do likewise, even we. And
when the time of bearing comes to an end, we shall not
withhold the fruit of our womb, for perchance the Lord
will be zealous, and save us from our affliction.'
(7) The advice of Amram seemed good in the eyes of
God, and He said to him, ' Thy words are pleasing in My
sight. Therefore there shall be born to thee a son who
shall be My servant for ever, who shall perform wonders
in the house of Jacob, and signs and miracles among the
people. And I shall show him My glory, and make My
ways known to him. In him I shall cause My Hght to
burn, and shall teach him My statutes and laws. I shall
lead him on the high places of My righteousness and My
judgments, and through him shall the light of the world
be kindled. Of him have I thought from the beginning when
I said, "My spirit shall not strive any longer with man, since
he is to be in the flesh. His days shall be 120 years." '
(8) Amram, of the tribe of Levi, went forth and took
Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, to wife. All the people
likewise took to them wives. And Amram begat a son and
daughter, Aaron and Miriam. And the spirit of the Lord
came upon Miriam so that she had a dream in the night.
She told her father, saying, ' In the night I saw a man
clothed in fine linen. " Tell thy father and mother," he
said, " that whatever is born to thee in the night will be
106 [XLII. 9
cast upon the waters, and by him the waters shall become
dry. And through him shall wonders and miracles be per-
formed, and he shall save My people Israel, and he shall
be their leader for ever." ' This dream Miriam told her
father and mother. But they did not believe it.
(9) Now, Jochebed had conceived for six months, and in
the seventh month she bore a son. They could no longer
conceal him, for the Egyptians had made houses by which
they knew of the birth of a child. They therefore made
a little ark, and placed the child among the bulrushes.
The elders then said to Am ram, ' Did we not say to thee
"It is better for us to die childless than to see the fruit of
our womb cast into the sea " ? ' Then said Amram to his
daughter Miriam, * Where is thy prophecy ?' So his sister
stood a little distance off to know what would become of
the child. And Pharaoh's daughter went down to wash.
And she took the child and adopted him as a son.
The Chronicles of Moses.
