OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 69 



2952 B. C. (= 2953 in calendar years = 1413 + 1540 =: 2210 -f- " 16 -\- 43 + 185 + 100 -f- 100 

 + 0. 75 d. + 203" of Euseb.-Maneth. continued in Afr.-Maneth. + "9 -j- 7 + 22 _|_ 25" _|_ 33 or 

 "31 years" of Mosheres in Eratosthenes = 2498 -f "203 + 448" of Euseb.-Maneth. continued in 

 Afr.-Maneth. — "29 — 63 — 66" — 38 or 39th year of Menhgres), end of the first Great Year. 

 (The "heliacal rising of Sirius in the ninth year of Menkeres " is however placed by Biot "between 

 3007 and 3010 B. C," Boston Transcript for Friday, May 5th, 1876). 



The Third pyramid at Gizeh is connected with this event ; was attributed to " rothopis " (a phce- 

 nix according to C. Muller fragm. Maneth. p. 520 to 555) when Herodotus ii. 100 was in Egypt ; to 

 " nitdkris " by Manetho, though misplaced under the Sixth dynasty ; " vokhoris " is made the suc- 

 cessor of Meghgrinos or Mukennos by Diodorus i. 65 ; and the pyramid is known to have been built 

 by Menkaura. Though the smallest of the three, it must have been very costly, being exclusively of 

 sienite brought from the First cataract (in entire accordance with the account of Herodotus ii. 134). 



In one of the contemporaneous tombs at Gizeh (Leps. d. ii. pi. 36), men probably of the Negro 

 Race are represented ; at least, if we may judge from their wearing the three-lobed emblem. — At 

 Benihassan (Champoll. pi. 361), this emblem is clearly a black writing-stile: 



Iris sisyrinchium of Egypt and the Mediterranean countries. Called in Greece " agriokrinos " 

 (Sibth.), in Egypt "zambak" (Forsk.), and in other instances seems the three-lobed emblem, the 

 flowers agreeing in form and to some extent in colour — (the Ethiopians being termed "kuanoi" by 

 Homer), and the growing plant occurring as a hieroglyphic character from the Seventeenth dynasty 

 to the Ptolemies (Leps. k. pi. 51) : I. sisyrinchium, the only species known to grow wild in Egypt, 

 is described by Forskal p. 12 as a flower "plurimae dignitatis " in colour " violaceus medio petalorum 

 croceo ; " was observed by him, and Delile, on the Desert-margin from the Pyramids to Alexandria. 

 Farther North, was observed by Sibthorp, Chaubard, and Fraas, on hills along the sea from Cyprus 

 to the Peloponnesus ; is known to grow also in Barbary, Spain, and Portugal (Tourn. inst. 365, and 

 Pers.). 



Anona Senegalensis of Tropical Africa. A small tree called in Unyoro " mtaotao " (Grant) ; and 

 as early doubtless as this date its hard twigs used for rubbing fire by Negro tribes on the Upper Nile, 

 — as at the present day witnessed by Schweinfurth vi to xii : A. Senegalensis was observed also by 

 Grant from "2° to 3 N." on the Nile, its fruit eaten, and wood made into hoe-handles ; was received 

 by Jussieu from Senegal (Pers.). 



Forty-first generation. Sept. 1st, 2934, mostly beyond youth : 



The name of king Menkaura occurs on his own wooden coffin, discovered within the Third pyra- 

 mid. The inscription containing the name, is alleged by Birch to be an extract from the "Osiris- 

 myth ; " a sacred drama, whose high antiquity is thus demonstrated. 



Cedrus Libani of the Lebanon and Taurian mountains. The Cedar of Lebanon is called by 

 the Syrian Arabs "arz" (Royle in Kitt. bibl. cycl.). in Egyptian " tshe'nsSife' " or "tsh£nsev£" or 

 "tshSnsifi " (transl. Sept.), and is possibly the " kind of cedar" of which this coffin is made, there 

 being no Coniferous trees large enough for the purpose nearer than Palestine : — the " arz " is pre- 

 scribed by Moses for purifying the unclean and in leprosy (Lev. xiv. 4, and Num. xix. 6) ; was 

 brought for building from Tyre to Jerusalem (2 Sam. v. 11, and 1 K. vi. 9 to 20) ; is mentioned as 

 growing on Lebanon in Psalm xxix. 5, xcii. 12, and Jer. xxii. 7 to 23 ; as a lofty tree by Amos ii. 9, 

 Isaiah ii. 13, and Ezekiel xxxi. 3 ; is also mentioned in Cant. i. 17, Zeph. ii. 14, Job xl. 17, Zech. xi. I, 

 1 Esdr. iv. 48, and Sirach xxiv. 13 ; and the " cedrus magna " or " cedrelaten," by Pliny xiii. 11 and 

 xxiv. 11 as yielding resin, having fruit like "cupresso," and incorruptible timber employed for images 

 of the gods : C. Libani has become rare on Lebanon, but a grove continues to be shown to travellers, 

 and trees have been found in unfrequented portions of this mountain-range by American missionaries 

 (Kitt. bibl. cycl., forest). 



The tree selected for the coffin was in all probability felled in Syria, and seems to imply the exist- 

 ence of navigation upon the Mediterranean : — river-barges, larger than any now used on the Nile 

 and propelled by numerous oars, are figured at the beginning of the Fifth dynasty in the beautiful 



tomb at Saccara. 



2919 B. C. (= 2920 in calendar years = 2953 — 33 = 2983 — "63" of the Afr.-Maneth. 

 table), accession of Ratoises, sixth king of the Fourth dynasty ; — to whose reign "twenty- 

 five " years are assigned. The name of king Ratatef occurs on the monuments (Leps. k. 

 pi. 7), and is referred here by Birch. 



Forty-second generation. Jan. 1st, 2900, mostly beyond youth : 



2894 B. C. (= 2895 in calendar years = 2920 — " 25 " of the Afr.-Maneth. table), Ratoises 

 succeeded by Vihens, seventh king of the Fourth dynasty ; — to whose reign "twenty-two" 

 years are assigned. The "vokhoris " of Diodorus i. 65, may be compared (see above, Men- 

 hgres) : a judicial decision attributed to Vokhoris is preserved by Clemens Alexandrinus 

 ^-~y strom. iv. 18. 



