Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

2l8 THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
"all the earth, and no man hath ever known
"[what is] the boundary of the heavens. But we
"have heard that the heavens are stablished like
"a tabernacle, and that at the ends thereof is an
"opening" from which come forth the waters which
"descend upon the sea that surrounds the earth.
"Now although the waters mix together, and the
"waters which are above descend to the torrent
"of water which is beneath, yet the waters which
"are beneath do not ascend to the waters which
"are above them, because those which are above
The eleven "pour dowu on them. And beyond these waters
"are eleven seas upon which men sail, but they
"swallow up whatever [goeth] on them. And
"beyond these seas again there are eleven lands
"in the midst of the seas, besides a land which
"is eleven stadia in length.^ And beyond these
"is the great sea which ships are unable to sail'
"over by reason of the multitude of the waves
The Dead "thereof for the winds go forth from their treasure-
odgin. "houses and blow upon it, and the waves thereof
"mount up to heaven and go down into Sheol.
"No bird is able to fly over that sea,"* for the
' Read aDfiYiah- :
^ Compare "there are eleven bright seas, on which the
ships of men sail, and beyond these are about ten miles of
dry land, and beyond these ten miles there is the foetid sea
(the Ocean) which surrounds all creation." Syriac version,
P- 145'
i Read ^th-i-
"• Compare the description of the Asphaltites Lacus by