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126 CH R O N O LO G IC A L A R R A N G EM E N T
(Grant), and seems the flabellate-leaved kind figured in a campaign of Ramessu IL, in which the
Equatorial forest has been reached — ( . . . . ) : t h e “ d ileb ” palm was first met with by Lepsius
eg. and sin. 173 in about Lat. 14° at Wad Negudi, its “ slender naked stem” bearing leaves large
enough for one to be “ set up in the boat as an umbrella,” the “ leaf-stalk serrated,” and the round
fruit “ larger ” than that of the doum ; was observed by Grant, “ plentiful in Shillook country 1 1° N.,
where natives make beautiful strong white baskets and mats for the markets on the Nile,” the leaves
also furnishing thatch, rope, sieves, fences, firewood, and flageolet reeds among more distant tribes,
and the boiled roots eaten in famines by the Wanyamuezi, but very few about the Equator.
Hyphaene nov. sp. of Abyssinia. A palm called “ mizanza” (Grant), and possibly the kind
figured : — observed by Grant in desolate valleys “ 21° N. ” on the Nile, thirty feet high and never
branching, its green leaves collected to make shackles for camels; had been seen by one of his men
“ grondng in Wambweh, 8° or 9“ S. Lat.”
1354 B. C. (in the ninth or tenth generation or about “ 283 years ” before the fall of Troy, Clint,
i. p. 73 and 88), Pelasgus establishing himself as king in Arcadia, the central mountainous portion
of the Peloponnesus.
Quercus esculus of the wooded portion of the Mediterranean countries. An oak called in Italy
“ rovero” or “ querce e sculo” (Lenz), in Greece “ agria vélanithia” (Fraas), in which we recognise
the “ phégós” whose acorns found edible by Pelasgus were the only kind permitted by him to the
Arcadians — (Paus. viii. 2. 6), the oracular tree at Dodona according to a Hesiodic poem (quoted
by Sophocles trach. 1167, and Strabo vii. 7. 10), and another solitary tree on the tomb of Ilus outside
the walls of Troy (Homer ¡1. vi. 237 to xxiv. 349, and Theophrastus iv. 13) : the “ phégós ” is described
as having “ stroggulas ” rounded acorns by Theophrastus iii. 10, and as a kind of oak by Dioscorides :
O. esculus was observed by Sibthorp, and Fraas, in Greece and Asia Minor as far as Constantinople.
AVestward, the “ esculos ” sacred to Jove is mentioned by Horace, Virgil, Vitruvius, and Ovid, by
Pliny xvi. 5 to xvii. 34 as cultivated and bearing esculent acorns : O. esculus is described by Dalechamp
pl. s ; is termed “ q. parva sive phagus Grtecorum et esculus Plinii ” by Tournefort inst. 583 ;
was observed by Lenz in Italy, its acorns according to Daubeny “ so sweet as to be much eaten by
the peasantry” in T u s can y ; and is known to occur in other parts of Southern Europe (Pers.).
“ 1352 B. C. = 1st year of Siao-y, of the Chan g” or Fourth dynasty — (Chinese chron. table).
“ In the reign of Phorbas” (Tat., and Clem. Alex., see also Strab. ix. i. 18), Actaios governing
the district of “ Aktaia,” so-called after his own name ; — but in later times, known as Attica.
Sambucus nigra of Europe and Northern Asia. Called in Britain elaer, in Piers Plowman
“ eller,” in Anglo-Saxon “ e llen ” or “ ellarn” from its hollow branches used to blow a fire (Prior),
in France “ sureau ” (Nugent), in Germany “ holunder,” in Italy “ sambuco ” or “ s. montano ” (Lenz),
in Greece “ kóuphóxulia ” (S ib th .) ; the “ aktéa ” or “ akté,” named from Akté on the Gulf of Argolis
— (see Strab. ix. r. i) , mentioned also by Euryphon 2 morb. 19, Theophrastus i. 7 to iv. 4, by Dios-
corldes as arborescent with reedlike hollow branches and juicy purplish-black fruit, is referred here
by writers : S. nigra was observed by Sibthorp, and Fraas, in Greece, but chiefly or altogether in
the vicinity of dwellings; is enumerated by Clot-Bey as long known in the gardens of Egypt. Westward,
the “ émérón” kind or “ thénthrón arktou ” is identified- in Syn. Diosc. with the “ s é v a ” of the
Dacians, “ skoviSn ” of the Gauls, and “ samvóukóum ” of the Romans : the “ sambucus ” is described
by Phny xvi. 71 and xvii 34 as both wild and cultivated, having “ abundant pith ” and “ small black
edible” berries ; seeds of S. nigra occur in debris of the earliest villages of Switzerland (Troyon p.
465) ; the living tree was observed by Lenz in wild situations in Italy; and is known to occur around
dwellings as far as Sweden (Linn., Wahl , and A. Dec.). Eastward from Greece, is known to grow
about Caucasus, and throughout Siberia as far as Japan (Pers., and Lindl.). “ The inspissated juice
of the fruit ” and “ the inner bark ” according to Lindley are used medicinally ; and the flowers “ in
French pharmacy are commonly employed as expectorants.”
1346 B. C. = “ 21st year of Ramessu I I.,” treaty at tlie fortress of Pa-ramessu — (Birch).
Temples and other structures by Ramessu II. occur throughout Nubia and E g yp t; are more
numerous than those of any other king ; and historical documents of great importance, as the Abydos
series of successive kings, have been preserved by being inscribed on the walls. His name is often
accompanied by his portrait, which is sufficiently striking to be at once recognized: of these portraits,
the finest I have seen is one in polished sienite — (now in the possession of Francis C. Lowell
of Boston).
Amid the costliness and imposing dimensions of the structures by Ramessu 11., there is yet
manifest a falling off in taste, a Decline o f the a ; * y — strikingly parallel to that in a later period
of history, under the Romans.
1344 B. C. = ; “ 23d year of Ramessu I I .,” peace concluded between him and the Khita —
(Mariette 88).
The “ new king over Egypt which knew not Joseph,” alarmed at the increasing number of Israel-
■ it!
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OF A C C OM P A N Y IN G A N IM A L S A N D P L A N T S . 127
ites, lest “ when there falleth out any war they join also unto our enemies,” employed them under
“ taskmasters” in building, and from the name, “ Raamses ” one of the “ treasure c itie s ” (Ex. i. 7
to I I) could hardly have been earlier than Ramessu II. : ovals of Ramessu II. are cut in a block of
granite at Abu Kesheb on the ancient Red Sea canal and this is regarded by Lepsius (eg. and sin.
438) as the site of “ Raamses.” The “ Patóumós ” described as an Arabian town by Herodotus,
and called “ Thoum ” in the Itinerarium Antonini, is not far distant on the same canal, and" is regarded
by Lepsius as the “ Pithom ” of the Israelites.
The rtf? having been long practised in Egypt, the canal in question was carried by
Ramessu II. from Bubastis to Heroonpolis — (Leps. p. 445). In B. C. “ 600,” the canal appears
to have been extended by Nekau II. as far as the Bitter Lakes; in “ 500,” was carried to the Red
Sea and the connexion completed by Darius ; whose name and statue occur with cuneiform inscriptions
in Persian ruins near Suez; but the canal was narrow, not intended for large ships, and in
“ 350,” in the days of Aristotle, appears to have fallen mto disuse : in “ 250,” a wide canal was carried
by Ptolemy II. Philadelphus from the Bitter Lakes to tlie Red Sea, where he founded the city of
Arsinoe : in “ 100 A. D ,” a new canal was opened by Trajan from Babylon on the Nile to Heroonpolis :
in “ 643 ” to “ 644,” the connexion was re-opened by khalif Omar : and in “ 762 to 767,” on the occasion
of the revolt of Mohammed ben Abdallah at Medina, the canal was filled by khalif El Mansur.
1336 B. C. ( = 1371 — “ 35 years ” of Castor in Euseb. i. p. 129, see also Pausan. . . . ), in the
Peloponnesus, Phorbas succeeded by his son Triopas, of the “ seventh generation from Ina ch u s”
(Clem. Alex.) and now seventh Argive king.
Contemporary with Triopas (Paus. iv. i, and Clint, i. p. 33, see also Homer il. k 429 and <p 86),
Lelex ruling a district in the Peloponnesus named after him Lelegia — (but in later times Laconia).
Besides Aones, Temmices, and Hyantes, Leleges are enumerated as original inhabitants of Boeotia
(by Strabo ix. p. 401) ; and holding the islands as far as the coast of Asia Minor, are identified with
the Carians (by Herodotus i. 171), and with the fabulous centaurs (by Suidas, and schol. Find,
pyth. ii. 78). '
Eighty-ninth generation Sept. ist, 1334, mostly beyond youth : Paapios father of the Egyptian
prophet Amenophis (Maneth. in Jos. c. A.); Laadan ( i Chron, vii. 26), Gilead (Num xxvi. 29, Josh,
xvii. 3, and i Chron. vii. 17), Hur the firstborn of Ephratah (Ex. xxxi. to xxxviii., and i Chron. ii. 19
and iv. 4) : and among Greeks, Agenor son of Triopas (Hellan., and Pausan. ii. 16. i).
Husham succeeded by Hadad, son of Bedad and now fourth king of Edom (Gen. x x x v i. 35, and
I Chron. i. 46). ’
“ 1325 B. C.” (argum. Chi-King iv. 5. 5), beginning of the reign of Kao-tsong of the Chang.*
“ 1324 B. C. = 1st year of Wou-ting I I., of the Chang ” or Fourth dynasty (Chinese chron. table).
“ In the reign of Triopas ” (Hes. theogon. 507, Dionys. i. p. 45, Tat., and Clem. Alex.), the three
brothers Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Atlas, living. The date is important, Prometheus and Clymene
being the parents of Deucalion.
Ferula covinnmis of the East Mediterranean countries. Called in Italy “ fe ru la ” (Lenz), in
Greece “ kalami” (Fraas) or “ anartkSkas ” (Sibth.), in which we recognize the “ nartheca” or “ ferula
” employed to preserve fire struck from the rock; an art taught by Prometheus, — and continuing
in Egypt in the days of Pliny vii. 57 and xiii. 43, who further speaks of staffs made of the stem :
tlie “ narthex ” is mentioned by Aeschylus prom., 109, Euripides bacch. 695, Xenophon cyr. ii. 3. 7, and
Theophrastus i. 9; its medicinal uses, by Dioscorides; and F. communis was observed by Sibthorp,
and Fraas, from Attica to Cyprus. Westward, the “ ferula ” is enumerated by Pliny as foreign to
Italy; F. communis, described by Dodoens pl. 321, was observed by Lenz seemingly wild in Italy,
and by Desfontaines i. p. 251 in Barbary.
Clematis cirrhosa of the Mediterranean countries. Called in Greece “ hélithronaki ” (F ra a s );
and the “ athragénes ” whose wood was preferred for rubbing fire, with a laurel borer, — further described
by Theophrastus v. 9. 6 and ign. 64 as a woody vine climbing around trees, is referred here by
writers : C. cirrhosa was observed by Sibthorp, and Fraas, frequent in Attica, and by Bory on Milo.
* Pinus Massoniana of China. The “ p in ” cut for building purposes on the King mountain
according to the ode to Kao-tsong, — furnishing planks for ships according to an ode to the queen
of Hui (Chi-King i. 5. 5 to iv. 5. 5), growing according to the Chou-King in the province of Tsing
(Gaubil), may be compared: P. Massoniana, having very long geminate leaves, was received by
Lambert pl. 12 from China (Pers.).
Cupressus Japónica of Japan. The “ cypres ” also cut for building purposes on the King mountain
according to the ode to Kao-tsong — (Chi-King iv. 5. 5). growing in the province of King according
to the Chou-King ii. i. 13, not shedding its leaves in winter according to Confucius lun-yu ix. 27,
and unknown in Cambodia when visited by a Chinese official in A. D. 1296, may be compared : C.
Japónica, “ arbor altissima” very lofty, was observed by Thunberg 265 in Japan (Pers.).
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