Uashasha, 8. If the name ‘Osci’ is a contracted form of Opici' (through Opisci),' and p consequently a root letter of the name, we should expect the p to appear in an Egyptian representation of the word bearing date about B.C. 1300. Further, the second sh is superfluous, 'Osci' having one 8 only. Purusata, Here the difficulty is admitted to be considerable, since, if the Pelasgi are meant, the t of the last syllable is inexplicable. It is true that the Egyptians had no g; but they had several forms of k, and would naturally have expressed the g in Pelasgi by one of them. There would also have been no reason why they should have used the long u, to express the Greek epsilon in IIeλaoyol. These grounds of objection to the proposed identification are so strong, that many think them insuperable, and suggest that the Purusata are really the Philistines, Dnes, PUOTIelp, whom they suppose to have migrated from Crete at this time, and, after their repulse by Rameses, to have been settled by him in Gaza, Ashdod, and Ascalon. This view, however, if free from etymological, is beset by historical difficulties; and the result is that the Purusata, like most of the other tribes named, remain an enigma for future ages to unriddle. Tekaru, The identification of the Tekaru. with the Teucri (Teuxpoí) is wholly unobjectionable. Etymologically the two words are exact equivalents, while historically the Teucri are known as powerful and bold adventurers, dissatisfied with their old settlements in Asia, and desirous of spreading themselves into remote countries. The Teucrian 1 As Niebuhr argued (History of | Gaza by Qazata, Migdol by MakRome, vol. i. p. 66, E. T.) on the tal, &c. authority of the grammarian Festus (ad. voc. Oscum). 2 As they expressed Gozan by Qazautana, Megiddo by Maketu, So Lenormant, Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne, vol. i. p. 438. 4 These are well pointed out by M. Chabas (Recherches, pp. 40-7). and Mysian invasion of Europe, mentioned by Herodotus,' which began at the Canal of Constantinople and ended at the Adriatic, is a fair parallel to the expedition of the Tekari and Purusata in the eleventh year of Rameses III., which began in Asia Minor and terminated on the confines of Egypt. The argument which has the greatest force in favour of the proposed identifications is the cumulative one. While, severally and separately considered, the identifications are in almost every case doubtful, they lend support to each other by the way in which they blend into an harmonious whole. No counter theory has been proposed which is nearly so plausible. Dr. Brugsch's Carian-Colchian' invasion, in which the natives proceed from Armenia and Cilicia, partly by land through Asia Minor, and partly by water on the Mediterranean,2 in which the Uashasha are the Ossetes of the Caucasus, the Tekaru and the Purusata Zygritæ and Prosoditæ from Cyprus, the Turusha people of Mount Taurus,5 the Sharuten Colchio-Caucasians, and the Sheklusha the people of Zagylis, has no coherency, and approves itself to no one. In the theory of De Rougé, adopted by M. Chabas and Dr. Birch, there is the double charm of consistency and of surpassing interest. The nations form a group, widely dispersed yet still continuous, extending from Sardinia and Sicily on the one hand to north-eastern Asia Minor on the other. They represent the chief nations of these parts and leave no manifest gap. The parts, by land and sea, are distributed as we might expect. And the result is that most minds accept the view as probably not far from the truth. They delight to think that the European nations, so far back as the thirteenth century B.C., showed signs of their inherent vigour, possessed fleets, fought naval battles, 13. 1 Herod. vii. 20. Compare v. • History of Egypt, vol. ii. p. 147, 1st ed. Ibid. p. 140. 4 Ibid. and contended with the most advanced and the most powerful of then existing monarchies. They cannot but feel that the entire subject is encompassed with difficulties; but the theory which has been put forth attracts them, and they embrace it with entire satisfaction. If it is not true it ought to be. Se non è vero è ben trovato. LIST OF AUTHORS AND EDITIONS QUOTED IN THE NOTES. ABD-ALLATIF, Relation de l'Egypte, traduite et enrichie de Notes par M. Silvestre de Sacy, Paris, 1810, 4to. ACHILLES TATIUS, ed. Jacobs, Lip- Animalium, ed. Jacobs, Jenæ, 1832. AGATHARCIDES, in C. Müller's Geographi Minores, Parisiis, 18551861. AFRICANUS, Fragments, in the Chronographia of Syncellus. SYNCELLUS.) (See ALEXANDER, Bishop, Bampton Lec- ed. Gronovius, Lugd. Batav., 1693, 4to. ANDERSON, Geography for the Use of Schools, London, 1868. ARISTOTLE, Opera, ed. Acad. Reg. Boruss., Berolini, 1831. ATHENAUS, Deipnosophistae, ed. Schweighäuser, Argentorat., 1801, &c. BAKER, Sir S., Albert Nyanza, BAKER, Sir S., Nile Tributaries, BARTH, Dr., Wanderungen, &c., BEHISTUN INSCRIPTION, ed. H. O. BELZONI, G., Operations and Dis- BEROSUS, in C. Müller's Fragm. Hist. Græc., vol. ii., Parisiis, 1848. BIRCH, Dr. S., Ancient Pottery, London, 1873. Egypt from the Earliest Times,1 Guide to First and Second Egyp Hieroglyphical Dictionary, in BLAKESLEY, Dean, Herodotus with a carum, Berolini, 1828, &c., folio. BRUCE, Travels to discover the 1 Quoted sometimes in this work as Ancient Egypt.' |