56 CHRONOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



to the presence of the plant in Egypt ; and the Sinapis juncea was 

 seen there by Delile in cultivated fields. The S. alba and S. nigra 

 were seen by Sibthorp in Greece ; but according to Clot-Bey and 

 Figari, have been only recently introduced into Egypt. 



In Egypt, the anise (Pimpinella anisum) is called " yansoun ;" in 

 which word, we recognise the "anison" of Pythagoras (as quoted by 

 Pliny), of some of the writings attributed to Hippocrates, and of Dios- 

 corides iii. 58. — Pliny expressly alludes to the presence of the plant 

 in Egypt. 



In "B. C. 526" (Clinton i. p. 236), the accession of Psamtik III., 

 the ninth king of the Twenty-Sixth Egyptian Dynasty, took place. 

 His name has been found on the monuments, although his reign 

 lasted only a few months. 



In "B. C. 525" (Clinton), the Persians under Kembath or Cambyses 

 obtained possession of Egypt. Kembath thus became the head of a 

 new Egyptian Dynasty; and his name has been found in hieroglyphic 

 characters on the monuments; together with the date of the sixth year 

 of his reign. 



In " B. C. 521,"* the accession of Nteriusch or Darius, the second 

 Persian king who ruled Egypt, took place. His name has been found 

 in hieroglyphic characters on rocks on the Kosser road ; and on 

 temples at the Oasis el Khargeh and the Oasis of Ammon : among the 

 accompanjdng dates, one is in the thirty-sixth year of his reign. The 

 first coined money used in Egypt, appears to have been, the well-known 

 "dariks" issued by Darius. 



The kontzh of Hecatceus and Athenseus x. 67 (the flower of which, 

 according to Hora polio, formed one of the hieroglyphic characters), 

 may be compared with the Conyza Dioscorldis : — A plant seen by Bau- 

 wolf in Palestine ; and by Forskal and Delile, growing spontaneously 

 at Bosetta, Damietta, and Cairo. The C. JEgyptiaca was also seen by 

 Forskal and Delile, growing spontaneously at Cairo. 



The nrAsoN, thgtaaiaas, and ke<daai2ton of Epicharmus, the Ba- 

 trachomyomachia, Eubulus, Theophrastus, Diphilus, Polemon, Epae- 

 netus, and Athenseus ix. 13, are usually referred to the leek (Allium 

 porrum.)f The " krommya karta kaloymena" of Galen (equivalent 



* In the following pages, the dates of the accession of kings, are taken from Clinton 

 (unless otherwise specified) as far as the commencement of the Muslim Period; and in 

 after-times, from the work entitled, L'Art de Verifier des Dates. 



f There is, however, a closely allied species (Allium ampeloprasum) in the Grecian 



