When Adam was cast out of Paradise, he first reached the lowest of the
seven earths, the Erez, which is dark, without a ray of light, and
utterly void. Adam was terrified, particularly by the flames of the
ever-turning sword, which is on this earth. After he had done penance,
God led him to the second earth, the Adamah, where there is light
reflected from its own sky and from its phantom-like stars and
constellations. Here dwell the phantom-like beings that issued from the
union of Adam with the spirits. They are always sad; the emotion of joy
is not known to them. They leave their own earth and repair to the one
inhabited by men, where they are changed into evil spirits. Then they
return to their abode for good, repent of their wicked deeds, and till
the ground, which, however, bears neither wheat nor any other of the
seven species.[34] In this Adamah, Cain, Abel, and Seth were born.
After the murder of Abel, Cain was sent back to the Erez, where he was
frightened into repentance by its darkness and by the flames of the
ever-turning sword. Accepting his penitence, God permitted him to
ascend to the third earth, the Arka, which receives some light from the
sun. The Arka was surrendered to the Cainites forever, as their
perpetual domain. They till the ground, and plant trees, but they have
neither wheat nor any other of the seven species.
Some of the Cainites are giants, some of them are dwarfs. They have two
heads, wherefore they can never arrive at a decision; they are always
at loggerheads with themselves.[34] It may happen that they are pious
now, only to be inclined to do evil the next moment.
In the Ge, the fourth earth, live the generation of the Tower of Babel
and their descendants. God banished them thither because the fourth
earth is not far from Gehenna, and therefore close to the flaming
fire.[35] The inhabitants of the Ge are skilful in all arts, and
accomplished in all departments of science and knowledge, and their
abode overflows with wealth. When an inhabitant of our earth visits
them, they give him the most precious thing in their possession, but
then they lead him to the Neshiah, the fifth earth, where he becomes
oblivious of his origin and his home. The Neshiah is inhabited by
dwarfs without noses; they breathe through two holes instead. They have
no memory; once a thing has happened, they forget it completely, whence
their earth is called Neshiah, "forgetting." The fourth and fifth
earths are like the Arka; they have trees, but neither wheat nor any
other of the seven species.
The sixth earth, the Ziah, is inhabited by handsome men, who are the
owners of abundant wealth, and live in palatial residences, but they
lack water, as the name of their territory, Ziah, "drought," indicates.
Hence vegetation is sparse with them, and their tree culture meets with
indifferent success. They hasten to any waterspring that is discovered,
and sometimes they succeed in slipping through it up to our earth,
where they satisfy their sharp appetite for the food eaten by the
inhabitants of our earth. For the rest, they are men of steadfast
faith, more than any other class of mankind.[36]
Adam remained in the Adamah until after the birth of Seth. Then,
passing the third earth, the Arka, the abiding place of the Cainites,
and the next three earths as well, the Ge, the Neshiah, and the Ziah,
God transported him to the Tebel, the seventh earth, the earth
inhabited by men.