Egypt, likewise, exported paper,[[2474]] sails, curiously wrought linen breastplates,[[2475]] linen[[2476]] and cotton[[2477]] cloths, jars,[[2478]] salt, lobsters, Canopic muscles, Venus’s ears,[[2479]] the shad,[[2480]] dates, mustard,[[2481]] vinegar,[[2482]] palm wine,[[2483]] and salt provisions.[[2484]] The scink, or land crocodile, was likewise furnished by Egypt.[[2485]] The game-cocks of Alexandria, which appear to have been held in the highest estimation were doubtless exported.[[2486]] The Egyptian oil stunk because no salt was used in the making of it.[[2487]] Upon the fields of Egypt, at the period of the inundation, was found in great plenty the nymphæa lotus, with its white flower, which was said to remain open so long as the sun continued above the horizon, but closed at the approach of twilight, and dipped its whole head beneath the water, where it remained concealed till sunrise, when it rose and spread its petals to the dawn. The roots of this plant, about the size of a quince, and in taste like the yolk of an egg, when cooked, were eaten by the Egyptians, who with its seed made also a kind of bread.[[2488]]
Among the minerals and precious stones obtained from this country were the sory,[[2489]] the bloodstone,[[2490]] the emerald,[[2491]] and the carbuncle. Lapis lazuli was manufactured in Egypt,[[2492]] the secret of imitating nature in the produce of this substance having been discovered by one of its kings. In the neighbourhood of Memphis was found a sort of variegated pebbles, which, being broken and reduced to powder, were used by surgeons when about to apply the knife or the cautery in dulling the sense of pain, which it effected completely without danger.[[2493]]
The morochthos,[[2494]] likewise used in medicine, was a species of Egyptian clay applied to the bleaching of linen. From Æthiopia came the stone called thyites,[[2495]] which, though green like the jasper, being dipped in water, imparted to it the colour of milk, and rendered it a cure for ophthalmia. The nitre[[2496]] of Egypt was superior to that of Lydia.[[2497]] Aloes, likewise,[[2498]] and the fine sand for the gymnasia were supplied by this country.[[2499]] The best burnt copper was exported from Egypt, where it was prepared as follows in the neighbourhood of Memphis.[[2500]] Taking a number of copper nails from ships decayed and fallen to pieces, they piled them in unbaked jars, alternating with layers of earth and sulphur of equal weight, which, having been well luted, were then placed in red-hot furnaces, where they were kept until the jars were thoroughly baked. In lieu of salt and sulphur alum was sometimes substituted.
Others, without adding any of these substances, burnt the nails for several days; while a fourth method was, previously to smear them with a mixture of alum, vinegar, and sulphur, and afterwards to burn them in unbaked jars. Copper thus calcined assumed a red colour, and, when pounded in Theban mortars and repeatedly washed with rain water, resembled cinnabar or minium.[[2501]] It was usually kept by physicians in boxes of bronze. The marbles of Egypt, used by ancient artists, were generally green and red porphyry.[[2502]] All kinds of glass vessels, it is well known, were exported from Alexandria.[[2503]]
In the commerce of ancient Syria, one of the principal articles was dates,[[2504]] whether dried in the ordinary manner or pressed together and fashioned into square masses. Figs,[[2505]] likewise, with prunes,[[2506]] and walnuts,[[2507]] and pomegranates,[[2508]] and apples, and nuts,[[2509]] and almonds,[[2510]] came from thence. With respect to the exports of Phœnicia we can say but little in this place, as it collected together the wealth of the whole ancient world, which it again distributed according to the tastes and wants of various countries. Thus, we find, that from Egypt the merchandise borne to Tyre consisted of fine linen, with broidered work, which was used in sails on her galleys; blue and purple from the Ægæan; silver, iron, tin, and lead,[[2511]] from Cilicia; slaves and brazen vessels from Javan, Tubal, and Meschech; horses and mules from Kùrdistân; ivory and ebony from the shores of the Persian gulf; emeralds, purple and broidered work, fine linen, coral, and agates, from Syria; wheat of Minnith and Pannag, honey, oil, and balms, from Judea; and white wool and the wine of Helbon from Damascus. Among the other exports of Tyre were bright iron, cassia, and calamus; Arabia furnished her with lambs, rams, and goats, spices, precious stones, and gold, blue cloths and broidered work, and chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar.[[2512]]
From this country was first obtained the Marocco leather which is no other than goat’s-skin tanned with the bark of the pomegranate-tree.[[2513]] The frankincense[[2514]] laid up in vast quantities in the sea-ports of Syria to be conveyed to every country on the shores of the Mediterranean, not having been the growth of the country, will be described elsewhere; but various other odoriferous substances, whether gums, oils, or unguents, were the produce of their land.[[2515]]
Among these was the balm of Gilead,[[2516]] which exuded from a tree originally introduced from Arabia Felix. The gardens, two in number,[[2517]] in which the balsam trees were cultivated lay in the valley of Jericho, flanked on both sides by continuous ridges of lofty mountains,[[2518]] and were of small dimensions, the larger not exceeding twenty acres. The tree itself, at present found to flourish in several regions of the East, resembled in size that of the pomegranate, spreading into numerous branches and covered with an evergreen foliage, in form like the leaves of rue, though in colour lighter. Its fruit resembled the terebinth-berries both in hue and size. The gum, for which alone it is valued, is produced in extremely small quantities, but exhales the most delicious odour.
The season for gathering it in old times was during the extremest heat of the dog-days, when an incision being made with certain iron claws towards the upper part of the trunk, the balsam trickled forth slowly so as scarcely to fill a single shell during the whole day, as was more particularly observed during the visit of Alexander to this valley. The produce of the large garden during the whole year did not exceed six choes, that of the smaller one a chous. The balsam, when it issued from the tree, was liquid, somewhat resembling milk in colour, and about the consistence of oil. It was sometimes collected on flocks of wool and squeezed into small horns, from whence it was transferred to fictile vases. This substance was so fragrant that the smallest particle perfumed the atmosphere to a considerable distance. It is now seldom found unadulterated in Europe. Pompey carried the balsam-tree in his triumph at Rome, and Vespasian afterwards brought another specimen into Italy.[[2519]]
The Syrian costus bore the third rank in the estimation of the ancients, and the superior kinds were adulterated with the roots of a species of inula, growing in the district of Comagena.[[2520]] Another Syrian export was galbanum[[2521]] which appears to have been produced only in this country; another, the speckled wake-robin,[[2522]] the roots of which were eaten like parsnips, while the leaves were salted and used to season dishes. This appears to have been one of the plants which formed the garland of Ophelia, to which the queen alludes in the following words:
There with fantastic garlands did she come,