52 CHRONOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



near Philge ; on an obelisk, now at Rome ; and on a papyrus and 

 other movable articles in the museums of Europe ; together with 

 various dates, the latest being in the forty-fifth year of his reign. 



The monuments of the Greek Period may be recognised, by a dif- 

 ference in the style of art ; by the increased number of hieroglyphic 

 characters, and the general want of care in sculpturing them ; by the 

 re-duplication of the deities; and by the absence of all representations 

 relating to manners, occupations, and the mechanic arts. 



Demotic Inscriptions have been traced as far back as the Twenty- 

 Sixth Dynasty. Demotic or Enchorial writing, is regarded by Birch 

 as " an outgrowth of the hieratic writing, which it superseded for the 

 legal and ordinary purposes of life ;" and, as " an attempt to assimilate 

 the Egyptian system of writing to the alphabetic Phoenician." In the 

 form of the characters, some general resemblance may be observed 

 between Demotic and modern Arabic writing. 



One of the new deities figured, has the head of the cat (Felis) . — 

 The ambiguous representations at Benihassan, appeared to me after 

 careful examination, to be intended for varieties of the dog. I do 

 not find the cat mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures, nor by Homer, 

 Hesiod, nor even in the Batrachomyomachia. It was, however, a 

 common domestic animal in Egypt in the days of Herodotus. 



The ©piaaka of Alcman, Hipponax, Herodotus, and Athengeus iii. 

 82, according to the received opinion and Greek usage, is the lettuce 

 (Lactuca sativa). — At the present day, the lettuce is very generally 

 cultivated throughout the Arab countries. 



In Egypt, the Sesamum Orientale] is called "semsem;" and in this 

 word, we recognise the sasamh of Alcman, Stesichorus (or " according 

 to some Ibycus"), Crates, and Athengeus iii. 75 and iv. 72. — Herodotus 

 speaks of the sesamum and its oil, in his account of the Euphrates ; 

 and Pliny alludes to the presence of the plant in Egypt; where at the 

 present day, it is abundantly cultivated. Forskal met with the sesa- 

 mum as far North as the island of Tenedos. 



In Egypt, the Calendula arvensis is called " kahleh ;" and in this 

 word, we recognise the kaaxan of Alcman, Epicharmus, Nicolaus Da- 

 mascenus, and Athengeus xv. 28. — Delile found the C. arvensis grow- 

 ing spontaneously around Cairo ; and the C. officinalis, in gardens at 

 Alexandria. 



The coronary EAixrrsn of Alcman, Ibycus, Cratinus, Themistagoras, 

 and Athenaeus xv. 27, is usually referred to the Gnaplialium stoechas. — 

 This plant was seen by Delile at Alexandria, but apparently indigenous. 



