102 FISH OF THE NILE. BOOK II. 72. Otters also are found in the Nile, and are considered sacred. Only two sorts of fish are venerated, that called the 8 7 The name évúdpies is indefinite, and the otter is unknown in Egypt; but Ammianus Marcellinus (xxii. 14, p. 336) explains it by showing that the "hydrus was a kind of ichneumon;" and though Herodotus was aware of the existence of the ichneumon, he may easily have mistaken it for the otter, as modern travellers are known to do, on seeing it coming out of the river.-[G. W.] The fish particularly sacred were the Oxyrhinchus, the Lepidotus, and the Phagrus or eel; and the Latus was sacred at Latopolis, as the Mæotes at Elephantine. The Oxyrhinchus, which gave its name to the city where it was particularly honoured, had, as its name shows, a "pointed nose," and was the same as the modern Mizdeh, the Mormyrus Oxyrhinchus. It is often found in bronze. So highly was it revered at Oxyrhinchus that a quarrel took place between that city and the people of Cynopolis, in consequence of their having eaten one; and no Oxyrhinchite would eat any other fish taken by a hook, lest it should have been defiled by having at any time wounded one of their sacred fish (Plut. de Is. vii. 18, 22). The Lepidotus was a scaly fish, but it is uncertain whether it was the Kelb-el-Bahr (Salmo dentex), the Kisher (or Gisher), a name signifying "scaly," the Perca Nilotica, or the Benny (Cyprinus Lepidotus); and the bronze representations do not clear up the question, though they favour the claims of the last of the three (see Plut. de Is. s. 18). The 104 THE VULPANSER. Book II. lepidôtus and the eel. These are regarded as sacred to the Nile, as likewise among birds is the vulpanser, or fox-goose." Phagrus or eel was sacred at Syene and at Phagroriopolis, and the reason of its being sacred at this last place was evidently in order to induce the people to keep up the canal. Of the habits of some fish of Egypt, see Strabo xv. p. 486. It is uncertain what species the Latus and Mæotes were, and Elian thinks the Phagrus and Mæotes were the same fish (see At. Eg. W. vol. v. p. 253). But all people did not regard these fish with the same feelings, and all kinds are represented as caught and eaten in different parts of Egypt. The people, not priests, ate them both fresh and salted, and fishing with the hook, the bident (At. Eg. W. vol. iii. p. 41), and the net, are among the most common representations in the paintings of Thebes and other places, and an amusement of the rich as well as an occupation of the poor. Several fish have been found embalmed in the tombs; but it has been difficult to ascertain their species; though this would not prove their sanctity, as everything found dead was embalmed and buried, to prevent its tainting the air.[G. W.] "This goose of the Nile was an emblem of the god Seb, the father of Osiris; but it was not a sacred bird. It signified in hieroglyphics a "son," and occurs over the nomens of Pharaohs with the Sun, signifying "son of the sun." Horapollo pretends that it was so used because of its affection for its young, but though it does display great courage and cunning in protecting them, it was not adopted on that account, but from the phonetic initial of its name, s, with a line being se, "son." As an emblem of Seb it was connected with the great Mundane Egg, in which form the chaotic mass of the world was produced. Part of the 26th chapter of the funereal ritual translated by Dr. Hincks contains this dogma, alluded to in the Orphic Cosmogony: "I am the Egg of the Great Cackler. I have protected the Great Egg laid by Seb in the world: I grow, it grows in turn: I live, it lives in turn: I breathe, it breathes in turn." This Mr. Birch shows to be used on coffins of the period about the 12th dynasty. (See Gliddon's Otia Eg. p. 83). On the Orphic Cosmogony and the connexion between the Egg and Chronus (Saturn, the Seb of Egypt), see Damascius in Cory's Fragments, p. 313; Aristophanes, (B.rds, 700) mentions the egg produced by "black-winged night." (Cory, p. 293, CHAP. 73, 74. THE PHOENIX. 105 73. They have also another sacred bird called the phoenix,' which I myself have never seen, except in pictures. Indeed it is a great rarity even in Egypt, only coming there (according to. the accounts of the people of Heliopolis) once in five hundred years, when the old phoenix dies. Its size and appearance, if it is like the pictures, are as follows:-The plumage is partly red, partly golden, while the general make and size are almost exactly that of the eagle. They tell a story of what this bird does, which does not seem to me to be credible: that he comes all the way from Arabia, and brings the parent bird, all plastered over with myrrh, to the temple of the Sun, and there buries the body. In order to bring him, they say, he first forms a ball of myrrh as big as he finds that he can carry; then he hollows out the ball, and puts his parent inside, after which he covers over the opening with fresh myrrh, and the ball is then of exactly the same weight as at first; so he brings it to Egypt, plastered over as I have said, and deposits it in the temple of the Sun. Such is the story they tell of the doings of this bird. 74. In the neighbourhood of Thebes there are some sacred serpents which are perfectly harmless. They are of small size, 106 THE WINGED SERPENTS. Book II and have two horns growing out of the top of the head. These snakes, when they die, are buried in the temple of Jupiter, the god to whom they are sacred. 75. I went once to a certain place in Arabia, almost exactly opposite the city of Buto, to make inquiries concerning the winged serpents. On my arrival I saw the back-bones and ribs though the asp is shown to have been a sacred snake. The frequent repetition of the cerastes in the hieroglyphics is owing to its occurring so often in "he," "him," "his," and for the letter f in other words. It is found embalmed at Thebes, like other reptiles and animals which have no claim to sanctity, and in ordinary tombs, but not in the temple of Amun. Diodorus even thinks the hawk was honoured on account of its hostility to these, as well as other, noxious reptiles; and as Herodotus does not notice the asp, it is possible that he may have attributed to the cerastes the honour that really belonged to that sacred snake. The asp or Naia was the emblem of the goddess Ranno, and was chosen to preside over gardens, from its destroying rats and other vermin. Altars and offerings were placed before it, as before dragons in Etruria and Rome. It was also the snake of Neph or Nou, and apparently the representative of Agathodæmon. In hieroglyphics it signified "goddess;" it was attached to the head-dresses of gods and Kings, and a circle of those snakes composed the "asp-formed crowns" mentioned in the Rosetta stone. Being the sign of royalty, it was called Baoilσxos (basilisk), "royal," equivalent to its Egyptian name uraus, from ouro, "king." It is still common in gardens, and called in Arabic Núsher. In length it varies from 3 to 4 feet, and the largest I have found was 5 ft. 11 in. It is very venomous. It resembles the Indian cobra (Naia tripudians) in its mode of raising itself, and expanding its breast; but it has no "spectacles on its head. If Cleopatra's death had been caused by any serpent, the small viper would rather have been chosen than the large asp; but the story is disproved by her having decked herself in "the royal ornaments," and being found dead "without any mark of suspicion of poison on her body." Death from a serpent's bite could not have been mistaken; and her vanity would not have allowed her to choose one which would have disfigured her in so frightful a manner. Other poisons were well understood and easy of access, and no boy would have ventured to carry an asp in a basket of figs, some of which he even offered to the guards as he passed, and Plutarch (Vit. Anton.) shows that the story of the asp was doubted. Nor is the statue carried in Augustus' triumph which had an asp upon it any proof of his belief in it, since that snake was the emblem of Egyptian royalty: the statue (or the crown) of Cleopatra could not have been without one, and this was probably the origin of the whole story.-[G. W.] The bite of the cerastes or horned snake is deadly; but of the many serpents in Egypt, three only are poisonous-the cerastes, the asp or naia, and the common viper. Strabo (xv. p. 1004) mentions large vipers in Egypt, nearly 9 cubits long, but the longest asp does not exceed 6 feet, and that is very unusual.-[G. W.] This city of Buto was different from that in the Delta. Some think it was at Belbays (Bubastis Agria), or at Abbaséeh.-[G. W.] 5 The winged serpents of Herodotus have puzzled many persons from the time of Pausanias to the present day. Isaiah (xxx. 60) mentions the "fiery flying serpent." The Egyptian sculptures represent some emblematic snakes with bird's wings and human legs. The Draco volans of Linnæus has wings, which might answer to the description given by Herodotus, but it does not frequent Egypt. The only flying creature the ibis could be expected to attack, on its flight into Egypt, and for which it would have been looked upon as a particular benefactor to Egypt, was the locust; and the swarms of these large destructive insects do come from the east. In Syria I have seen them just hatched in the spring still unable to fly; and some idea of the size and destructiveness of a flight of locusts may be derived from the fact of a swarm settling and covering the ground for a distance of 44 miles. It is singular that Herodotus should not have mentioned locusts, flights of which |