682 EEPORT— 1886. 



Abd-el-Qurna, of the twentieth dynasty (a thousand years before the Christian era), 

 were moistened and laid out by Dr. Schweinfurth, equalling, he says, the best 

 specimens of this plant in our herbaria, and consequently permitting the most 

 exact comparison with living sycomores, fi'om which they ditfer in no respect. 

 The fruit of the vine is common, and presents, besides some forms familiar to the 

 modern grower, others which have been lost to cultivation. The leaves which 

 have been obtained entire exactly agree in form with those cultivated at the 

 present day, but the under surface is clothed with white hairs, a peculiarity Dr. 

 Schweinfurth has not observed in any Egyptian vines of our time. A very large 

 quantity of hnseed was found in a tomb at Thebes of the twentieth dynasty, now 

 three thousand years old, and a smaller quantity in a vase in another tomb of the 

 twelfth dynasty, that is, one thousand years older. This belongs certainly to 

 Linmn humile, Mill., the species still cultivated in Egypt, from which the capsule* 

 do not differ in any respect. Braun had already determined this species preserved 

 thus in the tombs, though he was not aware of its continued cultivation in Egypt. 

 The berries of Juniperus phcBnicea, L., are foimd in a perfect state of preservation, 

 and present a somewhat larger average size than those obtained from this juniper 

 at the present day. Grains of barley and wheat are of frequent occurrence in the 

 tombs ; M. Mariette has found barley in a grave at Sakhara of the fifth dynasty^ 

 five thousand four hundred years old. 



The impurities found with the seeds of these cultivated plants show that the 

 weeds which trouble the tillers of the soil at the present day in Egypt were 

 equally the pests of their ancestors in those early ages. The barley fields were 

 infested with the same spiny medick {Meclicago denticulata, Willd.) which is still 

 found in the grain crops of Egypt. The presence of the pods of Sinapis arvensis, 

 L., among the flax seed testifies to the presence of this weed in the flax crops of 

 the days of Pharaoh, as of our own time. There is not a single field of flax in 

 Egypt where this charlock does not abound ; and often in such quantity that its 

 yellow flowers, just before the flax comes into bloom, present the appearance of a 

 crop of mustard. The charlock is Sinajns m-vei^sis, L., var. Allionii, Jacq., and is 

 distinguished from the ordinary form by its globidar and inflated silicules, which 

 are as characteristically present in the ancient specimens from the tombs as in the 

 living plants. Rumex denfatus, L., the dock of the Egyptian fields of to-day, baa 

 been foimd in graves of the Greek period at Dra-Abu-Negga. 



It is difficult without the actual inspection of the specimens of plants employed 

 as garlands, which have been prepared by Dr. Schweinfurth, to realise the wonderful 

 condition of preservation in which they are. The colour of the petals of Papaver 

 Rhoeas, L., and the occasional presence of the dark patch at their bases, present the 

 same peculiarities as are still found in this species growing in Egyptian fields. Th& 

 petals of the larkspur {DelpJiinium orientale, Gay) not only retain their reddish- 

 violet colour, but present the pecidiar markings which are still found in the living 

 plant. A garland composed of wild celery (Apiuni groveolens, L.) and small 

 flowers of the blue lotus {Nympihcea cctrulea, Sav.), fastened together by fibres of 

 papyrus, was found on a mummy of the twentieth dynasty, about three thousand 

 years old. The leaves, flowers, and ii'uit of the wild celery have been examined 

 with the greatest care by Dr. Schweinfurth, who has demonstrated in the clearest 

 manner their absolute identity with the indigenous form of thi.'j species now 

 abundant in moist places in Egypt. The same may be said of the other plants 

 used for garlands, including two species of lichens. 



It appears to have been a practice to lay out the dead bodies on a bier of fresh 

 branches, and these were inclosed within the linen wrappings which enveloped the- 

 mummy. In this way there have been preserved branches of considerable size of 

 Ficus Sycomorus, L., Olea europan, L., Mimusops Sckimperi, H., and Tamarix 

 nilotica, Ehrb. The Mimusops is oi^ frequent occurrence in the mural decorations 

 of the ancient temples ; its fruit had been detected amongst the ofi'erings to the 

 dead, and detached leaves had been found made up into garlands, but the discovery 

 of branches with their leaves still attached, and in one case with the fruit adhering, 

 has established that this plant is the Abyssinian species to which Schimper's nam& 

 has been given, and which is characterised by the long and slender petiole of the leaf. 



