BIZ 63 



IB II (continued']. 



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

 poison eaten by the Ibis : ex aliquo 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(pdyov 

 ab esu serpentium, et pvrrapocpdyov 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 TriWt yap rj voo~)8cs r) nfcpcipyij.fvov, Plut. De Is. 

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



Mentioned with name AuKovpyos-, 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 icpa rrjs 

 (T\r)VT)s f) opvis e'ori, roo-ovrtov yovv fjntpwv ra &>a Ky\v<pi, oVooi/ f/ Qebs 

 avf-ei re KCU Aqyei (cf. ib. ii. 35). rrjs de Alyvrrrov ovTrore aVo^/iel, TO 8e 

 aiTiov, roTicorarry %wp5)V anacrtov AiyvTrrd? ecrTi, Koi f) cr(\r]VT] Se voTKOTarr] 

 TO>V TrAai/oojueVcoi/ aWpcoi/ TTfTrio-reuerai, 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 

 Kal rrjs o~e\T)vr]S ov rraprjXOe TOVS 8pop,ovs p.iovfjivi]S . . . KOI 7r\r)povfievr)S. 



Plut. De IS. p. 38l Tl 8e f) TQ)V lJL(\aV<t)V T7Tep>V TTfpi TCt \CVKO. TTOlKlXta Kttl 



pit-is cpfpaivei (reXrjvrjv dufpiKvprov, also Symp. 4, 5. Cf. Pignor. Mens. 

 Isiac. Expl. p. 76; 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 Ammon at Karnak 

 (Descr. de I'^gypte, 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 

 fjiiyvvvrai de rois 0To'/xacri /cat TratdoTroioui/rat rbv rporrov TOVTOV : cf. Anax- 

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

 xxxv, &c. Its ashes prevent abortion, Plin. xxx. (15) 49. 



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

 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- 



