ELEPHANTS, HISTORICAL 137 



hence this material does not seem to have been favoured 

 for the making of scarabs.* In a mutilated inscription of 

 Sesostris I (1980-1935 B. C), a king of the Twelfth Dynasty, 

 there appears to be mention of an elephant brought to 

 Egypt.t 



The Nimrod Obelisk of the Assyrian monarch Shalmanesar 

 II (860-825 B.C.) figures the elephant in unmistakable form, 

 these animals being noted as part of the tribute paid by the 

 land of Musri, while ivory was received from the Suhseans 

 and Patseans. The tribute of Jehu, King of Israel, is also 

 inscribed on this obelisk. J 



The elephant is probably not named in the Bible, except 

 in the Apocryphal Books, as in various passages of the First, 

 Second, and Third Books of Maccabees** when treating 

 of the military forces of the Greek kings of Syria and of 

 Ptolemy Philopater of Egypt. Ivory, indicated by the 

 word shen, " tooth," is mentioned in several passages, namely, 

 Amos iii, 15; vi, 4; I Kings x, 18; 2 Chron. ix, 17; Ezek. 

 xxvii, 6; Psalm xlv, 8; Cant, v, 14; vii, 5; to which must be 

 added the qarnoth shen, "horns of ivory" in Ezek. xxvii, 15. 

 The New Testament contains but one reference to ivory, in 

 Rev. xviii, 12, and here the adjective elephantinon is used. 

 The marginal rendering "elephant" in the Authorized 

 Version, for behemoth^ is undoubtedly incorrect, as the name 

 should certainly be rendered hippopotamus. 



Both elephants and ivory are mentioned in early Chinese 

 records. In the Chou-li, belonging possibly to the tenth 

 century B. C, it is stated that the trade of the province 



*Personal communication of Miss C. L. Ransom, Assistant Curator in the Department 

 of Egyptian Antiquities, Metropolitan Musemn of Art, New York. 



tBreasted, "Ancient Records of Egypt," Chicago, 1906, Vol. I, p. 247. 



f'Altorientalische Texte," ed. by Grossman, Leipzig, 1909, Vol. II, pp. 134, 135, Fig. 

 268; text in "KeilinschriftUche Bibliothek," ed. Schrader, Vol. I, Berlin, 1889, p. 151. 



**Macc. i, 17; iii, 34; vi, 30, 34, 35, 46; viii, 6; 2 Mace, xi, 4; xiii, 2, 15; 3 Mace, v, I, 2, 

 10, 20, 38, 48. Conmaunicated by Prof. Francis Brown of Union Theological Seminary. 



