The Hebrews. 
46 ON THE PLACE OF FISH IN 
all depicted. Angling for sport was practised by the 
wealthy, as is indicated by the dress of the angler 
comfortably seated, and by the presence of attendants. 
The net was used by the poor, and the spearing 
trident by the sportsman. 
Fishing was under Imperial control, and Herodotus 
mentions that the profits from the fisheries of Lake 
Meeris and its canals paid daily into the treasury 
amounted to a talent of silver, about 4193 15s., during 
the six months the waters were retiring. 
After the time of the XIXth dynasty, B.c. 1269 to 
1180, when fish became a recognised luxury of the 
banquet, and was imported from the distant waters 
of the Orontes, Euphrates, Halys, and the lakes of 
Palestine and North Syria, the Egyptians, like most 
nations in periods of luxury, turned their attention to 
fish culture: and the vzvarza, or ponds, formed an 
important part of the domestic establishment of an 
Egyptian retem or noble. 
Salted and dried fish, as well as fresh, formed a 
portion of the diet of the Egyptian; and the former 
was especially prescribed as the food to be eaten on 
fast days. 
In consequence of the attention given to fish as an 
article of diet during the golden age of Egypt, 
three kinds were strictly prohibited. These were the 
Oxyrhynchus—the mezdeh of the Arabs ; the Phagrus, 
or eel, which to this day is avoided by Orientals, chiefly 
on account of its unwholesome qualities; and the 
Lepidotus, which Dr. Birch suggests as the Kelt-el- 
Bahr, or Nile dogfish, which was not eaten, probably 
on account of its unpleasant appearance. 
The Hebrews, who had formed part of the poorer 
