8 BABYLONIAN LITERATURE. 



and that of the Nabathreans 1 (kj), the title 

 of Egyptian Agriculture was frequently sub- 

 stituted for Nabathsean Agriculture, and the 

 editor of the Greek Geoponica, 2 J. ~N. Kiclas, 

 even supposed, in 1781, that "The Book of 

 Nabatha?an Agriculture" was nothing but a 

 translation of the work of which he pub- 

 lished the original text. 



A more exact idea was given of " The 

 Book of Nabathsean Agriculture," when Don 

 Josef Antonio Banqueri published at Madrid, 

 in 1802, the Treatise on Agriculture of Ibn- 

 el-Awwam, which is a kind of abridgment 

 from "The ISTabathsean Agriculture." But 

 the historical interest of the original work 

 entirely disappeared in the abridgment of 

 Ibn-el-Awwam. 



It was my learned brother, M. Quatre- 

 mere, who first 3 studied in its original text 



1 These ancient errors are collected and discussed in Stanley, 

 "Histoire de la Philosophic Orientalc," with notes, by J. Leclerc. 

 pp. 120-121, and Index, at the word Nabqteen. 



2 Geoponica, sive Libri de Re Rustica; 4 vols. Lips. 1781. 



3 Herbelot had examined the manuscript, but in an extremely 

 superficial manner. See " Bibliotheque Orientalc," at the words 

 Vahashiah, Nabathi, Cothai, Falahat, Democratis. 



