BOOK VII. Lvi. 192-195 



was discovered in Syria ; both schools of thought 

 believe that Cadmus imported an alphabet of 16 

 letters into Greece from Phocnicia and that to these 

 Palamedes at the time of the Trojan war added the 

 four characters Z»I"I>X, and after him Simonides the 

 IjTic poet added another four YHOC"), all represent- 

 ing sounds recognized also in the Roman alphabet. 

 Aristotle holds that the primitive alphabet contained 

 18 letters, and that 4^ and Z were added by Epi- 

 charmus more probablv than Palamedes. Anti- 

 clides records that a person named Menos invented 

 the alphabet in l''gA'pt 15,000 years before Phoroneus, 

 the most ancient king of Greece, and he attempts to 

 prove this by the monuments. On the other side 

 Epigenes, an authority of the first rank, teaches that 

 the Babylonians had astronomical observations for 

 730,000 years inscribed on baked bricks ; and those 

 who give the shortest period, Berosus and Crito- 

 demus, make it 490,000 years ; from which it appears 

 that the alphabet has been in use from very ancient 

 times. It was brought to I>atium Ijv the Pelasgi. 



Brick-kilns and hoiises wcre first introduced by 

 the brothers Eur}'ahis and Hyperbius at Athens ; 

 previously caves had served for dweUings. GelHus 

 accepts Toxius son of Uranus as the inventor of 

 buikiing with clay, the example having been taken 

 from swallows' nests. Cecrops named after himself 

 the first town, Cecropia, which is now thc Acropolis 

 at Athens ; though some hold that Argos had been 

 founded before by King Phoroneus, and certain 

 authorities say Sicyon also, but the Egyptians hold 

 that DiospoHs was founded in their country long 

 before. Tiles were invented by Cinyra, son of 

 Agriopa, as well as mining for copper, both in the 



X2 637 



