EGYPT 



At the Fourth International Congress of Entomology at Ithaca, 

 New York, August, 1928, an interesting paper was read entitled " The 

 Development of Entomological Science in Egypt," by H. C. Efflatoun, 

 Bey, at that time Director of Research in the Plant Protection Depart- 

 ment of the Ministry of Agriculture of Cairo. Many of the facts 

 related in the following paragraphs are based upon portions of that 

 address, which, however, related to all entomological science, includ- 

 ing applied entomology. 



Civilization in Egypt is very ancient, and a hieroglyphic honeybee 

 is found on a sarcophagus dating back to 3633 B. C. It is supposed 

 to represent a king of lower Egypt. Another well known Egyptian 

 hieroglyph is that of the sacred dung-beetle (Scarabaeus sacer) ; and 

 Mr. Efflatoun states that an excellent carving of a locust, that he 

 thinks may be Schistocerca grcgaria, has been found on the walls of 

 a tomb at Thebes of the date of Rameses, 1400 B. C. Probably the 

 first detailed reference to a great locust invasion is that given in the 

 Old Testament (Exodus 10, 13-15). Mr. Efflatoun points out "that 

 this Biblical description of the locust plague that Moses engineered 

 on behalf of the Lord " is remarkable in its reference to the direction 

 of the wind, since it corresponds exactly with the east winds that were 

 prevalent during all the locust invasions of Egypt in the last century. 

 Lice and flies are mentioned in the Biblical account of the plagues of 

 Egypt. " Worms " are mentioned on one or more of the ancient 

 papyri. It is stated by several authorities that these creatures were 

 larvae of Agrotis ypsilon, the familiar cutworm of the Egypt of 

 today. A paragraph is quoted that reads, " The worm ate half the 

 crop and the hippopotami ate the other half. The fields were full of 

 rats, a swarm of locusts settled down and fed, the sheep also ate and 

 the birds stole." Another papyrus in hieroglyphics is stated by Mr. 

 Efflatoun to have been identified as a royal decree in which the direc- 

 tor of the administration of agriculture reminds the farmers of the 

 fact that " the worm " ate a large portion of the crop and that this 

 was due to their negligence in dealing with it. Furthermore, he ex- 

 horted them to do their best that year to check it, kill it and thus 

 reduce its harm. It is a pity that the director did not tell the farmers 

 how to check it and how to kill it, since we would then have had in 

 this papyrus the first distinctive writing on practical entomology! 



Of course the oft cj[Uoted lamentations of Joel give other instances 

 of insect damage in old Egypt. 



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