the disciples of Christ.(1) That king soon died and was succeeded by another. During his reign Mark wrote his Gospel in Hebrew. In the same period he travelled to Alexandria, calling its people to believe in Christ. He was the first to appoint a patriarch over Alexandria, and he set up(2) with him twelve presbyters—the same number as the chiefs of the Children of Israel in the days of Moses. He instructed them that, when the patriarch died, they were to choose one of the twelve to take his place; the twelve would lay their hands upon his head and invoke blessings for him, then select a virtuous presbyter to restore the number to twelve.

That procedure remained in force until the time of Constantine. Afterwards it was discontinued, and they agreed that the patriarch could be installed from any land, whether from those presbyters or others. They then named him “Pope,”(3) meaning “father of fathers.” Mark later went out to Cyrenaica, inviting the people there to the religion of Christ.

Another ruler came to power and unleashed evil and affliction upon the followers of Christ, subjecting them to various kinds of torture. During his reign Peter—the chief of the disciples—wrote Mark’s Gospel on his authority in Greek and attributed it to Mark.

In the same period Luke composed his Gospel in Greek for a nobleman among the Roman grandees, and he also wrote for him the Acts (al-Abraksīs), which contains the accounts of the disciples.(4) And in his time