230 
PROCEEDINGS OF 
[1842. 
Stated Meeting , May 9, 1842. 
The Corresponding Secretary announced the following contribu¬ 
tions and deposites: 
For the Cabinet. 
Uniones, 60 varieties; Anadons, 1 variety, Wisconsin river.— From 
Stephen Taylor , Muscoday. 
An old Knife, formerly belonging to Daniel Boone, of which some 
account is given in a letter from Capt. Boone, U. S. Dragoons, his 
son, to W. L. Wharton, Surgeon U. S. Army.— From W. L. 
Wharton , Surgeon U. S. Army. 
Egyptian curiosities, &c.— From George R. Gliddon , Corresponding 
Member , late U. S. Consul for Cairo , Egypt. 
The following is a descriptive list of the articles presented by Mr. 
Gliddon : 
No. 1.—Fragment Limestone. This is a piece of the lining of the tomb of the 
High Priest, “ Petamonophth,” at the “ Apapeef,” Thebes. The tomb being of the 
time of Psameticus second, the hieroglyphics on it were cut before the year 588, 
B. C. 
No. 2.—One piece Porphyry (?) picked up by me one day at Heliopolis, “On” of 
the Bible. The hieroglyphics on it are* * * * * * * 
with the value of which I am unacquainted, unless it be a homophone of , which 
means God. Supposing, however, this to be the signification of the first letter or 
symbol, the inscription might read thus : “ God (?) Rha in the country (or city) (?) 
of Rha,” which would be the “City of the Sun,” Heliopolis. The signs 
are an abbreviation of l’habitation de Phre, or Rha, Heliopolis .—Champollion Gram, 
chap. 5, page 157. I mention this because it would be a curious coincidence to find 
on a little fragment picked up by chance on the mounds of Heliopolis, (now marked 
solely by the solitary Obelisk of Osertasm first, and the portions of the name of 
Ramases third Sesostris on a shattered monolith,) the very name of the ancient 
city amidst the ruins of which the stone was found. 
No. 3.—A piece of marble from the ruins of Dendera, Tentyris, 
No. 4.—A piece of marble from a shattered Monolith, on the Hand of Sehayl, 
first cataract, Nubia. 
No. 5.—A piece of the gigantic statue of Ramases third Sesostris at the 
“ Kamsessium,” Thebes, erroneously called the “Memnonium.” This statue 
when perfect weighed about 900 tons in one block of granite, until overthrown by 
the Persians and shattered. It had been cut and finished at the syenite quarries at 
Aswan, first cataract, and transported from its bed, (which is still visible at the 
quarries,) one hundred and fifty miles to its present position prior to B. C. 1499. 
The granite is a fair specimen of Egyptian monumental syenite . 
No. G.—A piece of the alabaster sanctuary of the same Pharaoh at the Temple 
of Abydos, same date. 
No. 7.—A piece of sandstone from the quarries of Silsilis. 
No. 8.—A piece of marble from the hill above the second cataract, Nubia. 
No. 9.—Three Egyptian pebbles from the desert behind the pyramids of Sac- 
cara. 
No. 10.—Pieces ancient pottery, probably funeral vases, from the Buck pyramid 
of Dashoor , Perring’s French, very ancient, long previous to B. C. 2000. 
No. 11.—Nine small and one large piece of petrified wood, from the petrified 
forests in the Eastern desert, near Cairo. There are three forests of this petrified 
wood: one about two hours ride from Cairo, eastward; one about four hours ride 
south eastward; one about seven hours ride beyond the others. Altogether, they 
cover a space fully equal to ten square miles. There are trunks of trees lying on 
the surface of the desert, (which is here hard gravel or rock,) of all dimensions. I 
measured one eighty-two feet long, and three feet in diameter, a large bamboo 
apparently. The palm trees, and others resembling pine and sycamore wood in 
* The hieroglyphics are necessarily omitted. 
