MISCELLANEOUS. 405 



and eminence. The Cuthites or Koyal Shepherds in Egypt 

 were so called. The title Phcenices was given to the Egyptian 

 colonists of Tyre. They did not call their colony so them- 

 selves but it was called so by outsiders, — the Greeks ; hence 

 it was known as Phoenicia, so long regarded as having played 

 such an influential part in early civilization. 



The appellation may be traced from Babylon to Arabia 

 and Egypt thence through the Egyptian colonies to the west. 

 As we are thus informed, it Was an individual title for a lord or 

 prince, and was conferred' on many things primal or noble. 

 Hence the red or scarlet color appropriated by great and 

 honorable persons was termed phcenic. 



Phoenix was a color among horses ; they were styled 

 phcenices and phoeniciati. This was derived from the color of 

 the palm tree. (Pliny informs us that the noblest palm among 

 Babylonians were called royal palms, and were emblems of 

 royalty.) 



Upon this account they also had the name of spadices, • — 

 synonymous with the other, and Homer, describing the horses 

 of Diomedes, tells us that one was phcenix, or of a bright palm 

 color, with a white spot on his forehead like a moon. This 

 horse was of a bright palm color, which is a bright red. Such 

 horses are now called bays. This word is of similar origin. 

 The branch of a palm tree was called " bai " in Egypt. Baia 

 is used by St. John for palm bearers, the palm being used on 

 the most solemn occasions by the Jews. The Greeks borrowed 

 the word from Egyptians, and the Latins have the same word 

 in the form Badius, used by Varro in regard to horses. 



The palm tree was regarded as immortal, or, if it did die as 

 reviving again. The Egyptians gave the name of bai to the 

 soul. The legend of the phoenix bird as an emblem of immor- 

 tality is evidently derived from this regard for the palm main- 

 tained by both sacred and profane people. To-day the belief 

 may be perpetuated in Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday. 



