If I am asked for evidence that the Egyptian aba had the sense of 'strife' and 'fight,' I can but refer to the group āb, and to its acknowledged descendant, tore, which in the Coptic Bible corresponds to the Greek words ἀντιλέγειν, ἐναντιοῦσθαι, ἐναντίος εἶναι, πατάσσειν, ἀνθισθάναι, ΜΑΧΕΣΘΑΙ. And when I have added the remark that the scriptio plena e abau, shows that the ending corresponds with that of I shall not hesitate to affirm, without fear of refutation, that abau is the true and indisputable value of the latter group. The great number of Egyptian words having the same sound is most probably the reason why the sense of strife and battle is especially distinguished by the significant sign A. Before proceeding to identify the fish āba, I must return to one of the groups in which it occurs phonetically. The group aba re is manifestly a compound expression. The sign which sometimes follows it is a determinative of the whole expression, not of re. But what is this re which has lost its determinative? Brugsch It might signify ‘mouth,' or 'door,', or 'path,' identifies the last group with the Coptic paorw or pεrн. But in any case the appears to be a noun, and is commonly followed by suffixes. Mr. Goodwin quotes instances in which it is followed by *—, —— and ȧru, the equivalent of sen. The whole expression occurs in the great inscription of Hapt'efaa at Siout, and has given trouble to its two translators, M. Maspero and Dr. Erman.* The difficulty of course was greatly increased by the presence of several other unknown words. The expression is here written , the determinative of which is conjectured by Dr. Erman to be a small oven, with two metal rings. The sign which it most closely resembles in the copies which have been made is a door, but I suspect that in the original the "metallic rings really point to. The form of the signs in these Siout inscriptions is often rude and strange, so that even copyists as expert as *Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., Vol. VII, p. 30. Zeitschr., 1882, p. 175. Mariette, de Rougé, Brugsch, and Dümichen have read quite different signs. But at all events there can be no doubt as to the meaning of the group with this strange determinative. If we knew the meaning of the sense of the whole passage would be tolerably clear, and, I believe, very important. venture upon a conjecture. The word 21: I can here only t'abet appears, like the Latin solutio, to admit of the sense of payment,* and also that of solution in liquid. In this contract dues seem to be spoken of as paid by the priests into the treasury of the Prince upon every bull and ox and goat. Such dues are still levied in certain countries, and, as an early instance, I will refer to Numbers, chap. 31, where the Levites in charge of the tabernacle receive the tribute, de of beeves, sheep, and asses. At the end of the contract, as I understand it, it is stated that if any future prince remits or lowers these dues, the priests are not on that account to receive a smaller share of bread and beer than is actually bequeathed them on condition of their fulfilling their part of the contract. I there fore translate & t'abet aba-re en ka neb," whatsoever pay ment for each bull..... that they pay into the treasury." The fish aba is the Silurus clarias of Hasselquist, the Silurus schal of Schneider, the Synodontis macrodon of Isidore Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, and Pimelodus synodontis of Geoffroy Saint Hilaire. A good picture of it will be seen in the plates of the great French work on Egypt (Poissons, pl. xii, 5, 6), which enabled me to identify it; and Mr. Budge, who kindly gave me a paper impression from the sarcophagus, recognized it in a bronze figure of the fish, No. 1954a of the Museum Catalogue. Those who have read the description of this fish will have no difficulty in understanding why the Egyptians gave it the name sabau, "the warrior." * Is t'abet connected with TEBI, the Coptic equivalent for money, in the Gospels, or with THỔI, which is the equivalent of ouvraĝıs assigned impost? Like most fishes of the genus Silurus, its pectoral fin is armed with a powerful spine. "Elle est tellement articulée sur l'os de l'épaule," says Cuvier, “que le poisson peut à volonté la rapprocher du corps ou la fixer perpendiculairement dans une situation immobile, ce qui en fait alors une arme dangereuse, et dont les blessures passent en beaucoup d'endroits pour envenimées, sans doute parce que le tétanos survient à la suite de leurs déchirures." But the Schal, as he is called in Lower Egypt, has helmet and buckler, as well as his terrible sword and spear. "De toutes les sub-divisions des siluroides .... celle des schal est la plus remarquable en ce qui concerne l'armure de sa tête et celle de sa nuque, et surtout la forme de ses dents. Cette armure de la tête et de la nuque . . . . n'est plus seulement comme dans les bagres et les pimelodes, une production de l'interpariétale . . .. c'est une suture complète sur un large espace ... Le troisième intérépineux prolonge comme à l'ordinaire les angles du bouclier des deux côtés des épines dorsales, et tout cet ensemble si compacte est formé d'os épais, grenus, qui règnent depuis la dorsale jusqu'au bout du museau. Les surscapulaires, qui en font les angles latéraux ou les bras, portent eux mêmes des huméraux dont la très grosse pointe ajoute encore à cette formidable armure, qui est complétée par d'énormes épines pectorales à dents très fortes dirigées en deux sens, et par une épine dorsale haute pointue et tranchante. Mais ce qui est encore plus singulier que leur casque c'est la forme de leur bouche et la nature extraordinaire de leurs dents."* I should be sorry to weaken by translation the force of this powerful description. A secondary meaning of the word aba is pierce, explore, probe, examine, control. abi-nef åb, "scrutatus est cor," Rouge, Inscriptions, pl. 23. is a spear or harpoon. ] ābab (Bonomi, Sarc., pl. 12, B), Hence the title of the Egyptian examiner or inspector, abau, variously written, iloD, TA * P. 244. The two last of these forms can only be con "Histoire Naturelle des Poissons," par Cuvier et Valenciennes : tome XV, nåt), through the unscholarlike neglect of the important letter which still disgraces our science. How can a word ending with the letter / possibly be sahu? The sign is only a determinative in , which is also written (Mariette, Mon. Div., pl. 40), like the royal title (see Denkm. III, 5) of the King of the North. 监 But is certainly ābau, and I believe that is ābat. The true reading of a text at Benihassan (Denkm. II, pl. 128) is A not-A Brugsch, on authority of recent period, supports the phonetic reading aua (Dictionary, V, p. 7), but really furnishes me ab is attached to the sign, which represents an altar, down to the time of the inscriptions of Edfu (see J. de Rougé, pl. 134), and this very sign is the determinative of the word patronised by Brugsch. Aua is perhaps a mere corruption of aba. The reading aba is equally applicable to the word a sacrificial cake, and , to pierce. On the first of Epiphi it is said in the Calendar of Edfu, āba-ut sut em hru pen, ‘Sut is pierced through on this day.' inscription of Aahmes (Lepsius, "Auswahl,” pl. 14a), is the same as A, and signifies chef du contrôle, head of the "Muqabalah.” This latter word, which has been so often referred to of late in connection with Egyptian finance, is derived from a Semitic root , Hebrew, Syriac, which, like the Egyptian āba, means 'obviam venit.' There is another homophone of aba which has not been recognised, in the title t'ebu en abat. The sign here may be one of those innumerable variants of spoken of by M. de Rougé, but it may also represent the tall hook, the 'severus uncus,' in the hands of the gods in their war against the dragon Apepi, as engraved on the sarcophagus of Seti (Bonomi, pl. 12). The following Communication has been received from Dr. A. Wiedemann SUR DEUX TEMPLES BÂTIS PAR DES ROIS DE Dans le dernier numéro du "Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie Egyptienne " (VI, p. 20), M. Maspero a fait part d'une découverte bien intéressante faite à Thèbes en 1884, de la trouvaille d'un petit temple situé au sud du premier pylon de Karnak, et montrant côte-à-côte les noms des rois Achoris et Psamut de la 29e dynastie. Comme le dernier est presque inconnu, de sorte que Lepsius et Lauth l'ont même mis dans une autre dynastie, je crois devoir publier ici comme un supplément à la belle notice de M. Maspero les notes que je me suis faits sur d'autres monuments portants son nom à Thèbes pendant mon séjour à Louqsor en 1882. Rien que les résultats les plus essentiels de ces notes ont pu trouver place dans mon "Handbuch der ægyptischen Geschichte," pp. 697 et 698. Dans les murailles au sud du lac sacré de Karnak (R chez Lepsius) nous trouvons au bas d'une colonne les mots 100 "qui "qui fait les choses, le roi de la haute et de la basse Egypte Ra-user-Ptah," c'est à dire le prénom du roi Psamut. La fin de son nom avec quelques signes insignifiants se retrouve sur la porte de la dernière chambre de ce temple. C'est d'ici probablement que proviennent deux bas-reliefs conservés actuellement à Berlin, et publiés plusieurs fois (p. c. L. Denkm. III, 259, a, b). L'un d'eux nous montre le roi Psamut faisant une offrande à Amon-Ra et à Chunsu-em-us-t-nefer-hetep. Le second est un architrave, qui donne au milieu le nom et le titre de Hut-t, au-dessous se voit le disque ailé; puis dans la ligne suivante les deux |