Manchester Memoirs, Vol. liii. (1909), No. 9. 



IX. The Dowels of some Egyptian Coffins of the 

 Xllth Dynasty. 



By T. G. B. OsBORN, B.Sc, 

 Lecturer in Eco?iofnic Botany in the University of Manchester. 



Received and read January 26th, igog. 



Though we early obtained a fairly complete general 

 knowledge of the timbers employed by the ancient 

 Egyptians in building and carpentry, it does not appear 

 that any attention has as yet been paid to the details of 

 such knowledge. In the reports of the British Egyptolo- 

 gical committees the term " wooden objects " is generally 

 used, no mention being made of the species of timber 

 employed in their construction. The British Museum 

 Guide to the First and Second Egyptian Rooms states 

 that the wood in general use for coffins was " sycamore." 

 This name is rather misleading to English readers, who 

 are more familiar with Acer pseiidoplatmms under that 

 name than with Ficus sycomorus, the sycamore fig. 



Wilkinson, in his "Manners and Customs of the 

 Ancient Egyptians," a book published as long ago as 

 1837, gives more details, telling us that sycamore was in 

 use for coffins, boxes, tables, etc., where large planks were 

 needed. Acacia was used for the planks and masts of 

 ships (this we find recorded in Herodotus), weapon handles 

 and furniture. Groves of this tree were cultivated at 

 Memphis and Abydos, while several species besides the 

 common A. Arabica {Niloticd) were employed. Boissier's 

 "Flora Orientalis " gives five species of trees, besides 

 shrubs, belonging to the genus Acacia, as occurring in the 

 Nile Valley. 



February, 24th, igog. 



