On the Four Kingdoms: Text and Manuscripts

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Post diluuium exorta sunt quatuor principalia regna: assyriorum ab oriente ubi primus regnauit belus , sycioniorum ab occidente ubi egialeus , scytharum ab aquilone ubi ninus , egyptiorum a meridie ubi nuneus ; belo successit semiramis uxor sua, que babyloniam caput regni constituit, cui ninus , qui inuentor ydolorum fuit faciens ymaginem patri; tandem sardanapallus , a quo arbaces regnum ad medos transtulit, super quos tandem astiagies regnans, data filia sua principi persarum de quo cyrus ortus, ab eo est superatus; quo mortuo, regno ad persas translato, darius filius astiagis cum eodem cyro conregnauit.

After the flood, four main kingdoms arose: that of the Assyrians to the east, where Belus reigned first; that of the Sycionians in the west, where Aegialeus reigned; that of the Scythians in the north, where Ninus reigned; that of the Eygptians in the south where Nuneus reigned. Belus was succeeded by Semiramis, his wife, who made Babylon the capital of the kingdom, then by Ninus, who invented idols, having an image made of his father. After this came Sardanapalus, from whom Arbaces transferred the kingdom to the Medes. After this, Astyages reigned over them. He gave his daughter to the prince of the Persians, to whom Cyrus was born, and by whom Astyages was defeated. On Astyages' death, the kingdom was transferred to the Persians, and Darius, son of Astyages, co-reigned with this Cyrus.

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Image excerpts from the manuscripts (as grouped by main graph versions) are the result of tool-based image annotation (via Cadmus) or manual extraction. For each manuscript version only these visually annotated manuscripts are listed here. For the grouping of all manuscripts we provide a separate list (Manuscript groups). Transcriptions are semi-diplomatic following project specific rules.

Version

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 29 (C2)

Post diluuium exor
ta sunt .iiij. princi
palia regna. Assyriorum
ab oriente ubi primus
regnauit belus. Syci
oniorum ab occidente ubi egialeus. Scitharum ab aquilone.
ubi ninus. Egiptiorum a meridie. ubi nuneus. Belo succes
sit Semiramis uxor sua . que babyloniam caput regni con
stituit. Cuj ninus. qui inuentor ydolorum fuit faciens ym
aginem patri. Tandem sardanapallus . a quo arbaces
regnum ad medos transtulit. Super quos tandem astiagies reg
nans data filia sua principi persarum . de quo cyrus ortus
ab eo est superatus. Quo mortuo. regno ad persas translato.
darius filius astiagis. cum eodem cyro conregnauit.

Version 1

Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 363 (W)

Manuscript group AT1

Post diluuium exorta sunt iiiior. principalia reg
na assyriorum ab oriente ubi primus regnauit belus.
sycioniorum ab occidente ubi egialeus. scytarum
ab aquilone ubi nynus. egyptiorum a meridie ubi
mineus. Belo successit semiramis uxor sua.
que babiloniam caput regni constituit. Cui nynus
qui inuentor ydolorum fuit. faciens ymaginem
patri. Tandem sardanapallus. a quo arbaces
regnum ad medos transtulit. Super quos tandem
astiagies regnans data filia sua principi per
sarum de quo cyrus ortus. ab eo est superatus. Quo
mortuo. regno ad persas translato. darius filius
astiagis cum eodem ciro conregnauit.

Linz, Oberösterreichische Landesbibliothek, Hs. 490 (Schiffmann 26) (Lz1)

Manuscript group AT2

Köln, Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln, W 247 (Kö)

Manuscript group BE1

Klosterneuburg, Augustiner-Chorherrenstift, Cod. 696 (K)

Manuscript group FR1

Auxerre, Bibliothèque municipale, Ms. 145 (Ax)

Manuscript group FR2 [2 Images]

Post diluuium uero exorta sunt quatuor principalia regna.
Assyriorum ab oriente ubi primus regnauit belus. Sicyoni
orum ab occidente ubi egyaleus. Scytharum ab aquilone
ubi ninus. Egyptiorum a meridie ubi mineus. Belo suc

cesit semyramis uxor sua. que babyloniam capud regni
constituit. Cui ninus. qui inuentor ydolorum fuit faci
ens ymaginem patrj. Tandem sardanapallus a quo
arbaces regnum ad medos transtulit. Super quos tandem
astiages regnans. data filia sua principi persarum. de quo
cyrus ortus. ab eo est superatus. Quo mortuo. regno ad
persas translato. darius filius astyagis cum eodem cyro conregna
uit.

Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Sal. IX, 40 (H)

Manuscript group GB3

Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.15.5 (C)

Manuscript group GB6

Post diluuium exorta sunt .iiiior. principalia regna. Assiriorum ab oriente! ubi
primus regnauit belus. Sicioniorum ab occidente! ubi egialeus. Scitharum ab
aquilone. ubi tanus. Egyptiorum a meridie! ubi nuneus. Belo successit se
miramis uxor sua. que babiloniam caput regni constituit. cui! ninus. Qui inuen
tor ydolorum fuit faciens ymaginem patri. Tandem sardanapallus. a quo arba
ces regnum ad medos transtulit. Super quos tandem astiages regnans data fi
lia sua principi persarum. de quo cirus ortus! ab eo est superatus. Quo mortuo. re
gno ad persas translato! darius filius astiagis cum eodem ciro conregnauit.

Version 2

Cleveland, Museum of Art, 1973.5 (Cl)

Admont, Benediktinerstift, Cod. 128 (Ad)

Manuscript group AT3

Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 15.11 (F1)

Manuscript group FR3 [2 Images]

Version 3

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 83 (C3)

Manuscript group GB2

Version 4

Frankfurt am Main, Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. germ. quart 13 (Fm)

Manuscript group CH1

Version 6

Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. Apel 1 (Le1)

Manuscript group NL1

Citation recommendation

On the Four Kingdoms: Text and Manuscripts. In: Peter of Poitiers' Compendium historiae: a research platform and edition, ed. by Andrea Worm, et al., Graz: 2026. https://gams.uni-graz.at/query:chigc.thirdlayer?params=$1|t-postDiluuium.

Credits

Data modeling, data curation and web design: Jakob Sonnberger
Project principal investigators: Andrea Worm, Roman Bleier and Patrick Sahle
Mercator Fellows: Laura Cleaver and Franz Fischer