May 31, 1883] 



NA TURE 



1 1 1 





Should this distinctive character be constant in the two 

 African species, there is a double reason for naming the 

 ancient Mimusops M. Schimperi. The fruit of M. Elengi 

 is very distinct from that found in the tombs. I think it 

 very likely that this species, of which we so often find the 

 fruits and leaves in the tombs of the ancient Egyptians, 

 may be the Persea of the old authors, which modern 

 botanists have erroneously referred to Balanites and 

 Diospyros mespilijormis} The latter has not hitherto 

 been found in the ancient tombs ; neither does it occur 

 depicted on the monuments. Diodorus (i. p. 34) has 

 transmitted to us a valuable tradition concerning the 

 Persea. He states that it was introduced into Egypt 

 with the first colonists coming from Ethiopia, which 

 clearly implies that the ancient authors regarded it as 

 having been introduced from the regions of the Upper 

 Nile and not as belonging to the indigenous flora. 

 Balanites, however, grows wild in the valleys of the 

 Eastern Thebaid and on the borders of the Red Sea, and 

 in Nubia this shrub is of general dispersion. True its 

 fruit has been found in the funeral repasts in the tombs, 

 yet that of the Mimusops has been found much more 

 frequently, and, in support of my hypothesis, the thick 

 leaves of the Balanites are always wanting in the wreaths. 

 According to Theophrastus, the Persea had a black 

 wood, and he compares the flowers with those of the 

 apple-tree. I do not know the wood of the Mimusops 

 sufficiently, but with regard to the flowers it must be 



admitted that no ancient authors ever made a more un- 

 mistakable comparison, while the flowers of the Bala- 

 nites have nothing in common with those of the apple. 

 Pliny (lib. xiii. p. 9) does not speak of the Persea, but of 

 the Persiea, and the only surprising thing in it is that he 

 treats it as indigenous in Egypt. He mentions, too, the 

 peculiarity of the Egyptian variety of the peach-tree, 

 which consists in its persistent foliage. Even now in the 

 middle of winter we see the peach-trees in blossom while 

 still carrying their leaves. The same author (lib. xv. 

 j p. 13) expressly points out the difference between the 

 I Persiea and the Persea. On Egyptian monuments we 

 ! often see a tree diagrammatically represented, though the 

 distichous, elliptical, acute leaves are evident. This tree, 

 sacred to Hathor or Isis, and often drawn with these 

 divinities, probably represent the Mimusops in question. 

 The fruit of Mimusops Kummel, of Central Africa, re- 

 sembles in appearance as well as in taste that of the wild 

 rose ; and it may be that under cultivation a still more 

 palatable fruit could be obtained. Indeed, the fruit of 

 specimens of this species collected in Abyssinia appears 

 to be much more pulpy. 



All the wreaths of the find at Deir-el-Bahari are of one 

 and the same pattern. The leaves are folded lengthwise 

 in the middle, 1 then folded again in the contrary direc- 

 tion over a string or strip about J in. wide, of a leaf of 

 the date-palm. In the fold of each leaf, single flowers, 

 or parts of flowers (sepals and petals), are inserted in 



Fig. 2. — Portion of a Funeral Wreath from the tomb of Amenhotep I. (1300 to 1700 B.c.\ composed of the folded leaves of Saiix'sa/sa/ and the 

 flower-heads of Acacia Nilotica strung together with strips of the leaves of the Date Palm. A separate leaf of the Saliec (the teeth 

 represented too sharp)and a flower-head of the Acacia. 



such a manner that they are fixed in the leaf as in a pair 

 of pincers Then with a finer strip of the date-leaf than 

 the central one, they are stitched through and securely 

 fastened together in long rows side by side, and all 

 pointing in the same direction. These wreaths are 

 arranged in semicircles on the breast of the mummy, so 

 that their disposition is like one sees in the necklaces of 

 the present day. Their thinness rendered them suitable 

 for using in large numbers, and sometimes they occur in 

 several layers one above the other, filling up the limited 

 space between the mummy and the lid of the coffin. 



It is probable that it is to this kind of wreath that 

 Pliny alludes (lib. xxi. p. 2) as the "so-called Egyptian 

 wreaths," of which Plutarch and Athenius praised the 

 beauty. Unfortunately these wreaths, which, with ordi- 

 nary care, might have been removed entire from the 

 mummy when the coffin was first opened, were broken 

 and reduced to powder in several places. The specimens 

 I send you attached to cardboard are the most perfect 

 that I could procure after those selected for the Museum 

 of Boulak. On placing them in boiling or cold water, 



Kunth took the stones of Mimusops found by Passalacqua to be this 



[It may be mentioned that Kunth published his determinations of the 

 rebes found by Passalacqua in the Annates des Sciences NaturelUi, viii. 

 (1826) p. 418. Unfortunately it is not known to what peri d they belonged. 

 Among them were seeds of a palm, Arcca (!) Passalacame, Kunth, which 

 was subsequently identified by Unger with Hypluene Argun, Mart., a palm 

 which inhabits some of the valleys of the Nubian desert in the bend of the 

 Nile between Korosko and Abou Hammed.— W. B H.I 



according to the species, the leaves, &c, recover their 

 original flexibility, especially in Nymphaa earulea ; and 

 with proper precaution one succeeds in spreading them 

 out and drying them again effectually. The fragility of 

 these objects is only due to the extreme state of dryness 

 they have reached during the thirty to thirty-five cen- 

 turies they have lain in the tombs. It is at the same 

 time the principal factor in their wonderful preservation. 



The wreaths of the other kings of this vault I have at 

 present only partially examined. From their general ap- 

 pearance, however, as well as from the flowers and leaves 

 of which they are composed, which also indicate a dif- 

 ferent season - of the year, one would be justified in 

 attributing them to a different period from that during 

 which the wreaths of Ramses II. were renewed. If they 

 really date from the time when the bodies of the kings of 

 the eighteenth dynasty were first deposited in the vault, 

 we have here to do with specimens four or five centuries 

 older than the wreaths of Ramses II. In any case these 

 objects are at least contemporaneous with the time com- 

 monly assigned to the Trojan war, if not several centuries 

 more ancient. 



The wreaths of Amenhotep I. (who was found during 



1 Or when they were too large they were torn in two. 



2 '1 he records to which I have alluded indicate the day and the month ; 

 and these fl iwers will one day serve to fix the season with which the month 

 of that epoch coincides. '1'he t/arthamus could only be had from the end of 

 March to the middle of May : the Water-lilies from July to November 

 while the young leaves of Salix indicate the spring. The Acacia and 

 Sesbania flower at all seasons. 



