232 
PROCEEDINGS OF 
[1842. 
Two pieces, wooden feet and face, Memphis. 
One double statue, a modern antique, manufacture of Thebes. 
One piece of the sycamore tree under which tradition says “Joseph and Mary 
sat,” Matereegch, Heliopolis. The tree is old enough . 
Ancient wood, from the pyramid of five steps, Saccara, perhaps as old as anv in 
the world. 
One piece of the wreck of the “ Orient,” burnt at the battle of Abookeer bay. It 
was fished up with other parts by the Engineer of the Diving Bell, 1838. 
One ancient jar, tombs of Memphis. The sand contained in it is some I took 
from the temple of “ Aboosimbel,” Nubia, and is a fair sample of Egyptian and 
Nubian desert sand. This sand was quite pure when I got it; all the extraneous 
matter has got mixed with it in my boxes. 
Two ancient palm-leaf sandals, from Thebes. 
One ancient basket from a tomb at Thebes. It contains ancient bread , ancient 
■pomegranates, and ancient raisins , and is at the very least as old as the com¬ 
mencement of the Christian era, but may be 4000 years old ! 
It is necessary to mention that I got two baskets at the tomb, one containing the 
bread, which is the one sent, and another with the fruit. I have taken out some of 
the bread for friends, and substituted fruit from the other basket. I should consi¬ 
der, from the specimens I have seen, that this bread even now is just as well flavor¬ 
ed and as nutricious as the dyspeptic Graham bread. 
One knife, the manufacture of and worn by the Negro nations on the “ Bah-el- 
Abiard,” White Nile. 
One ancient wooden idol, seemingly a doll. 
One piece Red Sea coral, one map of convent, both given to my sister in 1839, 
by the Prefect of St. Catharine, Mount Sinai, during her visit. 
One modern Nubian Basket, Aswan, containing some wild desert seeds, Nubia, 
one colocynth, Red Sea Deserts. 
Two skulls of mummied dogs, Abydos; two mummied snakes, Thebes; one 
mummied bird, Thebes ; one mummied (?), Thebes—from their respective tombs. 
Four or five unopened ancient jars, containing mummied ibises, from the pit 
near the pyramids of Abooseer, Memphis. 
One box, containing unassorted insects, various parts of Egypt. 
One tin case, containing insects, collected by a German Naturalist in Kordofan, 
Upper Nile. 
One Egpytian fly flapper, date palm leaves, Cairo. 
One Christian rosary, from Bethlehem, made of the wood of Mount of Olives, 
Jerusalem. 
One Mahomedan rosary, from Cairo, made of the stone of a fruit from Mecca, 
Arabia. It is dyed all colors. 
Two Egyptian pipe bowls, made at Aswan, first cataract. 
Fragments of Coptic and Arabic Christian missals, picked by me at the now 
ruined library of the Coptic Convent of “Amba Beshorri,” during a dromedary 
excursion to the Natron Lakes, Western Desert, Lower Egypt. This library was 
ransacked at eighty years ago by the Bcdawee Arabs. These manuscripts are 
very old, and may date from any time subsequent to the invention of paper. 
One bag, containing two kinds of seeds from Abyssinia. They were brought to 
Cairo, and given to me by the talented Abyssinian traveller, Monsieur Georges 
D’Abbadie, in the winter of 1840-1841, who requested me to distribute them for 
growth in America. One is called in Abyssinia “Nook,” and is the seed from 
which the natives extract their culinary oil . The other, name unknown, is tho 
seed of a plant, the jiower of which is used in medicating the eyes by the Abyssi- 
nians. I send them to the National Institution as the most central for distribution 
to Southern gentlemen who may try to raise the plants. If any success attends 
such efforts, it is requested that notice may be sent to Mr. D’Abbadie, and to me. 
One box, containing an assortment of Egyptian Geological specimens, being a 
portion of a large quantity of unassorted specimens presented by me to the Naval 
Lyceum, Brooklyn, with a request, that in the division, they would remember one 
set for Washington. 
Tho above, contained in two boxes, have been delivered to Messrs. Masters and 
Markoe, of New York, who have kindly undertaken to forward them to the Na¬ 
tional Institution. GEORGE R. GLIDDON. 
Nknv York, April 14, 1842. 
