Cleodemus Malchus (fl. 200 BCE) was a Jewish writer of whom only a few lines survive. He connects the inhabitants of Syria and North Africa with Abraham by identifying them as descendants of three sons whom Abraham had by Keturah: Apheran (the town of Aphra), Asoureim (the Assyrians), and Iaphran (Africa).[1] His work appears cited in a quote from Alexander Polyhistor referenced by Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews[2] 1.239-41.[3]
^ abcRobert Doran, Cleodemus Malchus (prior to First Century B.C.). A New Translation and Introduction, in James H. Charlesworth (1985), The Old Testament Pseudoepigrapha, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company Inc., Volume 2, ISBN0-385-18813-7 (Vol. 2), p. 883