The Book of the Cave of Treasures 37

1And in the days of Peleg all the tribes and families of the children of Noah gathered together, and went up from the East. And they found a plain in the land of Sén‘ar (Shinar?), and they all sat down there; and from Adam until this time they were all of one speech and one language. They all spake this language, that is to say, SUryAyA (Syrian), which is ARAMAYA (Aramean), and this language is the king of all languages. Now, ancient writers have erred in that they said that Hebrew was the first [language], and in this matter they have mingled an ignorant mistake with their writing. For all the languages there are in the world are derived from Syrian, and all the languages in books are mingled with it. In the writing of the Syrians the left hand stretcheth out to the right hand, and all the children of the left hand (i.e. the heathen) draw nigh to the right hand of God; now with the Greeks, and Romans, and the Hebrews, the right hand stretcheth out to the left.

2And in the days of Peleg the Tower which is in Babel was built, and there the tongues of men were confounded. And from that place they were scattered over the face of all the earth; and that place was called ‘ Babel,’ because tongues were confounded there.

3And after the division of tongues Peleg died in great sorrow, and with tears in his eyes and grief in his heart, because in his days the earth was divided. And his son Reu, and Serug, and Nahor buried him in Peleghin, the city which he had built after his own name. And there were seventy-two tongues in the earth, and seventytwo heads of tribes (or families), and each tribe and tongue made unto themselves a chief like a king.