•BIZ 63 



I BIZ {continued). 

 cap. De Ibi. How the basilisk springs from an &gg, the product of 

 poison eaten by the Ibis : ex ahquo quod ilia peperit, ut putredinoso, 

 magnum aliquid malum enascitur basiliscus, &c., Theoph. Simoc. 1. c. ; 

 cf. Pier. Valer. p. 175. 



It was foul-feeding and insatiable of poison, Ael. x. 29, Phile xvi ; 

 cf. Gesner v. 547 apud Graecos lexicorum conditores ibin 6(pio(^dyov 

 ab esu serpentium, et pvTrapo(^ayov ab impuritate victus cognominare 

 invenit. Nevertheless, it was in other respects cleanly (Ael. x. 29), 

 and the Egyptian priests washed in water from which the Ibis had 

 drunk (Ael. vii. 45), ov nivfi ycif} rj voaSibes rj ne4>apyixfvov, Plut. De Is. 

 p. 381. It is killed by hyaena's gall, Ael. vi. 46, Phile 666. 



Mentioned with name AvKovpyos, Ar. Av. 1296. Compared with 

 the Stymphalian birds, Paus. viii. 22, 5. Its tameness noted, Strabo, 

 1. c, Joseph. Antiq. Jud. p. 127, Amm. Marcell. p. 337. 



Its name a term of reproach, Ovid, Ibis, v. 62 Ibidis interea tu 

 quoque nomen habe : cf. Callim. Alciati embl. 87, in sordidos. 



The Ibis was sacred to Isis, the Moon-Goddess : Ael. ii. 38 iepa ttjs 

 (Te\rjVT]s f] opvis eVri, TOcrovTOiV yovv fjp.ep5iv to. coa €Ky\v(pet, oaatv r] Beos 

 av^ei re koX \rjyei (cf. ib. ii. 35)- '''^^ ^^ AlyvnTov ovnore a.Tro8r]p€i, to 8e 

 aiTiov, voTiooTaTri )(a>paiv anaawv AlyvTrros eari, kuI rj aeXrjVi] 8e voTKOTaTr] 

 Tcov irXavMpevav aarpav TrcmaTfvfTai, cf. Plin. x. 48. Hence an emblem 

 of Egypt, Pier. Valer. xvii. 18, Kircher, Oedip. iv. p. 324, and as such 

 on coins and medals of Hadrian and Q. Marius. See also Phile xvi 

 Koi rf;? aeXrjvrjs ov naprjXSe tovs Spofiovs peiovpevrji . . . koI Tr\rjpovp,ei'T]S. 

 Plut. De Is. p. 381 iTi de fj TMV p.e\dpcov mepav nepl to. \fVKa TTOiKtXm Koi 

 pi^is ep<paivei aeXrjvrjit dfjKpLKvpTov, also Symp. 4, 5. Cf. Pignor. Mens. 

 Isiac. Expl. p. y6; Wilkinson, Anc. Egyptians, (2) ii. pp. 217-224; 

 Renouf, Hibbert Lectures 1879, pp. 116, 237. It is figured together 

 with the new moon on the southern Temple of Jupiter Amnion at Karnak 

 (Descr. de I'Egypte, Thebes, ii. 261, pi. 52 ; Creuzer, ii. p. 208, &c.). 

 On the connexion between Thoth and the Moon, discussed in explana- 

 tion of the Ibis' relation to the latter, see Leemans in Horap. p. 247. 



It represented the moon (as a hawk symbolized the solar Osiris) 

 at Egyptian banquets of the gods, Clem. Alex. Stromat. v. 7. Its mode 

 of generation was probably related to lunar superstitions : Ael. x. 29 

 p.iyi'VVTai fie ro'is ardp-ciaL Kai TraidoTroLovvrni top rpoTVov tovtov : cf. Anax- 

 agoras ap. Arist. De Gen. iii. 6, 756 B, Schol. in PI. Phaedr., Solin. 

 XXXV, (Sic. Its ashes prevent abortion, Plin. xxx. (15) 49. 



The Ibis was sacred also to Thoth or Hermes : cf. Socr. ap. PL 

 Phaedr. p. 274 ; Ael. x. 29; Plut. Symp. ix. 3 ; Diod. Sic. i. 8 ; Horap. i. 

 capp. 10, 36 ; Pier. Valer. xvii. 19 ; Kircher, Obel. Pamph. iv. 325, Oedip. 

 i. 15, ii. 213, &c. Thoth was the patron or emblem of Sirius, which 

 star on the small zodiac of Dendera is represented close to a double- 



