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[5] And every man would certainly have perished had they not gone on a little farther and found villages full of supplies. These villages had entrances for the beasts of burden which were tunnelled under the ground and others for the human inhabitants who descended into them by ladders . . .1 and in the houses the animals were supplied with hay, while the human inhabitants enjoyed a great abundance of all the necessities of life.

1 There is clearly a lacuna in the text. Any reconstruction should be guided by Xenophon's description (Xen. Anab 4.5.25): "The houses here were underground, with a mouth like that of a well, but spacious below; and while entrances were tunnelled down for the beasts of burden, the human inhabitants descended by a ladder. In the houses were goats, sheep, etc." (tr. of Brownson in the L.C.L.). Such underground villages are still to be found in modern Armenia.

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