54. 



THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XI. 



All these, the ordinary productions of modern 

 Egypt, appear to have been known to and cultivated 

 by the ancient inhabitants : and according to Dios- 

 corides, from the HelbeJi, or Trigonella, was made 

 the ointment, called by Atheneeus* * Telinon.* 

 The Carthamus tinctorius is now proved, by the 

 discovery of its seeds in a tomb at Thebes, to have 

 been an old Egyptian plant ; and there is reason to 

 believe the coleseed to be an indigenous production, 

 though it may be doubted if peas and hemp were 

 formerly grown in the valley of the Nile. 



The Carthamus was not only cultivated for the 



* Athen. lib. v. p. 195. 



