I've been hearing stories about the Milesians' voyage from Iberia to Ireland in search of gold (of which Ireland had rich deposits in those days) and their battles with the Tuatha De Danaan for domination of the island since I was a tot.

How pleasant to see the old stories finally supported by biology! There had already been some archaeological support for them.

I hadn't heard this version of the story, with the guest star turn by Moses, but the story I heard started in Scythia, too.

The story continues:

When the Tuatha de Danaan realized that they stood to lose the war with the Milesians, they sued for peace in the hopes that they could at least negotiate a safehaven for themselves and their children.

The Milesian poet and judge, Amergin, asked the de Danaan what they thought was a fair partition, to which the de Danaan replied, "Half the island."

"Half??" cried Amergin. "We could take you in battle and take it all! Half is no portion for a victor!"

The de Danann replied, "Ah, but if you fight, we will send many of your people to death before you defeat us. Half the land is not so bad a bargain for their lives. If you will take the north, we will take the south. If you take the east, we will take the west. Whichever half you choose, we shall be content with the other half."

Amergin thought about this for a minute, and accepted the bargain. "Half, then," he said, "and the first choice to us."

"Agreed," answered the de Danaan. "Which half will you have?"

"The half above the ground," said the Milesian, "and your people can have the half below. We shall have the sun and you the dark."

The de Danann raged and wept, but in the end were compelled to accept the bargain that they had forged themselves. They cursed their own greed, and cursed the Milesians, vowing revenge. They took themselves and their magical ways to great golden underground halls called sidhes, where they learned to live in bliss. They come out at night to lure the children of the Milesians into their halls with promises of splendor, long life, music, dance, and poetry. Once mortals enter the sidhes and eat of their food, they find the promises are all true but that they can never live among their mortal families again.