ELEPHANTS, HISTORICAL 137
hence
this material does not seem to have been favoured for the making of
scarabs.* In a mutilated inscription of Sesostris I (1980-1935 B. C), a
king of the Twelfth Dynasty, there appears to be mention of an elephant
brought to Egypt.t
The
Nimrod Obelisk of the Assyrian monarch Shalmanesar II (860-825 Β. C.)
figures the elephant in unmistakable form, these animals being noted as
part of the tribute paid by the land of Musri, while ivory was received
from the Suhseans and Patœans. The tribute of Jehu, King of Israel, is
also inscribed on this obelisk.^
The
elephant is probably not named in the Bible, except in the Apocryphal
Books, as in various passages of the First, Second, and Third Books of
Maccabees** when treating of the military forces of the Greek kings of
Syria and of Ptolemy Philopater of Egypt. Ivory, indicated by the word shen, "
tooth," is mentioned in several passages, namely, Amos iii, 15; vi, 4;
I Kings x, 18; 2 Chron. ix, 17; Ezek. xxvii, 6; Psalm xlv, 8; Cant, v,
14; vii, 5; to which must be added the qarnoth shen, "horns of
ivory" in Ezek. xxvii, 15. The New Testament contains but one reference
to ivory, in Rev. xviii, 12, and here the adjective elephantinon is used. The marginal rendering "elephant" in the Authorized Version, for behemoth, is undoubtedly incorrect, as the name should certainly be rendered hippopotamus.
Both
elephants and ivory are mentioned in early Chinese records. In the
Chou-li, belonging possibly to the tenth century B. C, it is stated
that the trade of the province
•Personal
communication of Miss C. L. Ransom, Assistant Curator in the Department
of Egyptian Antiquities, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
jBreasted, "Ancient Records of Egypt," Chicago, 1906, Vol. I, p. 247.
f'Altorientalische
Texte," ed. by Grossman, Leipzig, 1909, Vol. II, pp. 134, 185, Fig.
268; text in " Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek," ed. Scbrader, Vol. I,
Berlin, 1889, p. 151.
**Macc.
i, 17; iii, 34; vi, SO, 34, 35, 46; viii, 6; 2 Mace, xi, 4; xiii, 2,
15; 3 Mace, v, 1, 2, 10, 20, 38, 48. Communicated by Prof. Francis
Brown of Union Theological Seminary.
Flickr
Stumbleupon
Scribd
