Note 3 — Chapter CVIII
P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) Renouf translation
The oldest text (which is here the best authority) does not give the dimensions of the hill, but only of the serpent. The earliest papyri give the dimensions of both, but make the hill so absurdly small that the serpent could not rest upon it. Later papyri beginning with Pf have corrected the texts so as to give the hill a length of 300 cubits, or (each of which is 100 cubits long). They omit the statement that the cubit in question is of 7½ palms (the Royal cubit being of 7 palms), and also the interesting mention of the “balance (or measurement) of the earth.” The relation of this ‘balance’ to the rest of the sentence is not clear, because the MSS. differ as to the preposition which precedes.
