34 CHRONOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



Homer, with the Latin "far," and with "burr," the current name in 

 Yemen (according to Forskal) of one of the kinds of Triticum. — 

 Herodotus states, that the presents sent by the Hyperboreans to Delos 

 were wrapped in the straw of the " pyros :" and by some writers, the 

 Latin "far" is referred to the spelt (Triticum spelta). Belon appears 

 to be the only modern traveller who has seen spelt in Egypt. 



The " btnm" of Genesis xliii. 11, may be compared with " botm," the 

 current Egyptian name of the imported berries of the terebinth (Pis- 

 tacia tere bin thus). — The " terebinthos" of Xenophon (Anab. iv. 4,7), 

 and Josephus (Bell. Jud. iv. 9, 7), is admitted to be the terebinth : a 

 tree well known at the present day in Syria and Greece. Belon 

 mentions a tradition, that the Persians lived on its berries before 

 becoming acquainted with bread. 



The "seneh" of Exodus iii. 2, 3, 4, and Deuteronomy xxxiii. 16, is 

 by some writers referred to the " sena" of the modern Egyptians : and 

 the geographical range corresponds with that of the " sena gebely" or 

 Cassia obovata. — I found this plant growing in the Desert at the head 

 of the Red Sea ; and Forskal met with it, also in the Desert near Cairo. 



According to the Septuagint Version, the biting fly (Stomoxys) is 

 mentioned in Exodus viii. 21, and Psalm lxxviii. 45. — The insect 

 resembles, and is often mistaken for the house-fly ; but is separately and 

 distinctly mentioned by Homer (II. xxi. 294), Philon Judseus (De vita 

 Mosis ii.), and Tertullian (Adv. Marcion. i. 14). 



The " mrrym" of Exodus xii. 8, may be compared with " murreyr," 

 the current Egyptian name (according to Delile) of Picris altissima. 

 — The Septuagint Version agrees; as appears from the Greek name 

 taken in connexion with Sibthorp's account of a species of Picris eaten 

 in Greece. 



Hermas iii. 9, 20, refers the " mrrym" of Exodus to the Centaurea 

 calcitrapa. — A plant distinctly characterized by Theophrastus vi. 5; 

 and abundant in Lower Egypt, where it likewise bears the name of 

 " murreyr." 



The " azwb" of Exodus xii. 22, Leviticus xiv., and Psalm li. 9, 

 may be compared with the " yssopos" of Theophrastus, and with 

 "yssopo," the current Greek name of Satureja Juliana. — This plant is 

 indigenous in Greece : and two kinds, the wild and the cultivated, are 

 mentioned by Theophrastus. Forskal (Mat. Med.) speaks of the 

 importation of " hyssopus" into Egypt from Palestine. 



The "mr" of Exodus xxx. 23, Psalm xlv. 8, Proverbs vii. 17, and 



