To Selumiel he carried a book. It consisted of several pieces of papyrus, the stalk of which is divided with a needle into thin leaves, which are then laid together and fastened with the water of the Nile. Several of them were then laid upon each other and fitted together, and on these oblong leaves the book was written. It was an Egyptian invention and very highly prized. “I have brought you,” said he to Selumiel, “the Hebrew work of Jesus Sirach, the same which his grandson has translated into Greek. It is highly esteemed in Egypt both by Jews and heathens. I could easily have procured a transcript of the Greek version, from one of our literati in the Bruchion; but that would not have answered my purpose; it was with difficulty that I could obtain this copy of the Hebrew. I give it thee for the sake of the passage on friendship. Read here; ‘A faithful friend is the medicine of life, and they who fear the Lord shall find him. For he who feareth the Lord shall be happy in his friendship, and as he is, such shall his friend be also.’[106] And here too, ‘Forsake not an old friend.’” Selumiel smiled, a thing which he rarely did, and said, “I accept the present, on the condition that you come to Jericho with me, in order that I may be able to return it.” “We shall see,” said Elisama, “but in so doing I should be giving little, to receive much in return.” “Friendship,” said Selumiel, “has all things in common.” Footnote 106: Eccles. vi. 16. As our travellers came from a heathen land, it was necessary they should be purified before they could go into the temple. This would have prevented Helon from attending at the morning sacrifice, and besides he wished first to discharge a duty of filial piety, and to visit the grave of his father, before he appeared in the presence of Jehovah, whom his father had taught him to honour. When the ceremonies of bathing, cutting off the hair, and others in which purification consisted, were over, he went forth to the valley of Jehoshaphat, to his father’s tomb. It was by his own dying request that he had been interred there; for Iddo would fain have given him a place in the sepulchre of his own family. From the words of the prophet Joel, “I will gather all nations, and will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people,”[107] it had become a prevalent opinion, that this would be the scene of the general resurrection and of the judgment of Jehovah, and therefore many of the Jews wished to be buried there. It took its name from the king Jehoshaphat, who was said to have been interred in that place. Footnote 107: Joel iii. 2.