Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

338 THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
"merly] in the city of Dios' on the borders of
"Egypt in the time when Persia ruled over Egypt;
"and they fill it with wine when they offer sacrifice
"to the gods, and when they compute the stars,
The won- "and offer up offerings. Now the house which
persiancap- "had bcen built by the king was very large, and
"^''
"they made ready therein much meat so that [my
"soldiers] might eat, and on its walls were [re-
"presentations of] ships, and armies, and troops
"of soldiers," and in the midst of them was a royal
"throne which was ornamented with precious stones.^
"And in it there was alsc* a lofty canopy eleven
"cubits high, which stood by itself and beneath it
"was a throne ornamented with gold, and it had
"eight steps by which those who went up thereon
"approached it. Above it was an eagle of gold,
"the wings of which were spread out over the
"throne, and [there was there] a golden tree with
"seven branches, and the whole of each of the
"seven branches was made of crystal and sapphire
'stones. Now all this had been made inside the
"canopy. But why should I speak of the rest of
' Gr. eK TToXeoj^ Meiaqjiiq; see Miiller, p. 142.
^ Gr. ev TouTLu be TeTpctfTTai f] vaufjaxia f] Yevo|uevii
Zep£ou; see Miiller, p. 142.
3 Gr. Kai Gpovo^ xP^Jcrto? Xi9oK6X\r|Toq.
"* The Greek mentions a harp which played by itself, Xupa
auT0^dTLU5, and also two cupboards of gold, the one of 16
and the other of 27 cubits, irOTiipoBiiKri XP^O'fj eS Kai beKa
TT'lXfi? exoucra, kki dXXn Trapd toutou mixuJv kI' ; see Miiller,
p. 142, col. 2.