Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

BY AL-MAKIN. 38 I
were thirty-two years, and that he was sixteen'
years old when he began to reign, and that the
days of his kingdom were sixteen' years. The
writer" of this book saith that he reigned fifty-
six^ years. Now there are others who say that
Alexander divided his kingdom during his life-
time* into four parts, which he gave unto his
kinsfolk and the members of his household. The
first part [he gave] to Ptolemy, who was surnamed The division
of his em-
Koladankes (Lagus.-*), and it consisted of Alexandria pire.
and the country of Egypt as far as its western
boundary; the second part [he gave] to Peleskos
(Priscus), and it consisted of Macedonia as far as
[p. 223] the boundary of the kingdom of Rum;
the third part [he gave] to Demetrius, and it con-
sisted of the district of Asia, and of the country
about Damascus; and the fourth part [he gave]
to Sarkerros (Perdiccas?), and it consisted of the
country of Persia to the remotest border of the
country towards the east. These are the four
governors who [ruled] over the countries under
Alexander, but no one of them was called "king;"
now when Alexander was dead they took possession
of their parts [of the empire], and were called kings.
al-Rahib, or Abu Shaker Petrus, ibn Abi'l-Karam ibn al-
Muhaddib, who was a deacon in the Church of the Virgin
Mary, at Al-Mu allakah, in Cairo, and who flourished about
the middle of the Xlllth century. See Rieu, Supplement to the
Catalogue of Arabic MSS. in the British Museum, p. 32, col. 2.
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