THEORY OF THE EARTH. 177 



to Berosus, and of which Ctesias, and those who 

 have followed him, had no idea, and which has 

 not even been adopted by any of the profane au- 

 thors posterior to Berosus. Justin and Velleius 

 consider Ninus as the first of the conquerors, and 

 those who, contrary to all probability, place him 

 highest, only refer him to a period of forty centu- 

 ries before the present time *. 



The Armenian authors of the middle age 

 nearly agree with one of the texts of Genesis, 

 when they refer the deluge to a period of 4916 

 years from their own time ; and it might be 

 thought that having collected the old traditions, 

 and perhaps extracted the old chronicles of their 

 country, they form an additional authority in fa- 

 vour of the newness of the nations. But when 

 we reflect that their historical literature com- 

 mences only in the fifth century, and that they 

 were acquainted with Eusebius, we perceive that 

 they must have accommodated themselves to his 

 authority, and to that of the Bible. Moses 

 of Chorene expressly professes to have followed 

 the Greeks, and we see that his ancient history 

 is moulded after Ctesias f. 



However, it is certain, that the tradition of the 

 deluge existed in Armenia long before the con- 



* Justin, lib. i. cap. i. Vetleius Paterculus, lib. i. cap. 7. 



t See Moses of Chorene, Histor. Armeniac. lib. 1. cap. i, 



M 



