The Succession and the Scribe's Recognition

Thermuthis, deeming him worthy to make him successor to his father's kingdom, places him in his hands. The one receiving it, having bowed down, loved; and being gracious, took off his own crown and placed it on that man's head. But Moses, having cast the crown upon the ground, trampled it.

And the scribe, having foretold his origin, seeing and understanding that this was the one destined to be the enemy of the Egyptian rule, resolved to kill him, but was not strong enough; he cried out to the king: 'This is he, king, who was useful to us to drive away the demon of the Hebrews, which was a threat to the Egyptian kingdom; behold, even now he has shown a small sign of what is to come, having thrown and trampled the very symbol of the kingdom into the dust. This one, having risen, will indeed deprive the Egyptians of the evils expected, and cause the Hebrews to err in the hope that will be established upon him.'

Having said these things, the king, by the providence of God, became slow toward the killing; but Thermuthis, snatching Moses from the king's hands, protected him safely. And the Ethiopians, being inhabitants belonging to the Egyptians, having come suddenly, were besieging Egypt, and having turned the Egyptians by opposing them, they advanced even to Memphis and the sea, where the Egyptians, having taken the race of the Hebrews as allies according to an oracle, went forth.

And Pharaoh, thinking he had found an opportune time for the refutation of Moses, compelled Thermuthis to provide him Moses, so that he might make him general of the Hebrews, remembering to do him no harm, but only to establish him as a commander of the Hebrews, supposing easily that he would be destroyed by the enemies, as one being an endless fighter.

Having previously reproached the father and the scribes, because they intended to kill what they now call a helper, they now call him a helper and give them Moses. The general of the local nation, having been led forward, leads the army by another way to avoid the Ethiopians, a land of wild beasts (for all nature breeds beasts, even flying ones), and to avoid being struck by any beast, he orders woven baskets filled with ibexes to be brought forward; for this animal is an enemy to the asp. As they were passing through that place, they let the ibexes fall to the beasts, and not enduring that supply of these, the beasts tore them apart; and having passed through this way, he suddenly falls upon the Ethiopians, slaughtering a great multitude of them and putting the rest to flight.

The Ethiopians, having barely escaped death by flight, seize the city of Sabe. For this was their kingdom, fortified with strong walls and earthworks, inaccessible because of the Nile (since it surrounds the whole city with its stream); therefore it was also a difficult city to besiege for the Egyptians. Moses led the army toward the city, being in great distress because it was hard to capture. While many of the Egyptians were making engines, but nothing was effective, the daughter of the king, named Tharmis, having seen Moses through the towers, and having been drawn to his beauty and marveled at the foresight of his plans, comes into desire; and having sent her most faithful servant, she spoke to him concerning marriage.

Moses promised to do this if she would deliver the city to him. She immediately offers peace and delivers the city to him. Once the battle was resolved, and the Egyptians had returned to their own lands, he leads her to marriage, and founds a city, and calls it Hermopolis; for in this way Moses is introduced to the people, because he performed the interpretation of the sacred writings. He was honored.