Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

THE WONDERS OF BABYLON. 287
unto Him as they went. And it came to pass
that when he had come to Babylon [p. 165] he
sought out the wonders which Solomon, the son
of David, had made, and he went on until he had
seen the city and its idols (?).
The first wonder. Now this was a building c ijw.omon soion s
o
wonders.
in which was a shrine (.'*), one half of which was
white, and the other half black. [And Solomon
had made it] that he might be able by its
means to find out those that were righteous/ and
those that were sinners, and those that were The first
thieves, and those that were murderers, and those
who were guilty of iniquities; and it acted as the
judge of them. And he used to take the trans-
gressors, both men and women, and bring them
into the shrine, and the form of the man who had
transgressed used to appear in the dark half of
the shrine; and Solomon used to pass such judg-
ment upon him as was meet and right for him.
The second wonder. Solomon made a vessel. The second
'^°" "'
[and set it] upon a stand, and whosoever looked
at this urn or came unto it could be harmed neither
by fire nor by cold. And if he were to sit in the
full blaze of the sun, or in the snow, he would be
in no way harmed by either of them.
The third wonder. There was a misty cloud The thM
which used to travel forth in the hottest part of""" "'
the day and in the coldest part of the night, and
beneath it there was a large space; now any
' Read ^^^i •