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συρμαίη. For the use of the ‘radish’ as a purge cf. c. 77. 2; the ‘onions and garlick’ were for relishes not ‘food’ (σιτία, § 7).

εὖ μεμνῆσθαι. It can hardly be inferred from this, as some have done, that H. trusted his memory in his observations, and made no notes. He only wishes to emphasize the accuracy of a surprising statement. Diodorus (i. 64) and Pliny here repeat H. Maspero (Ann. des É. G., 1875, p. 18) explains this strange inscription as a prayer to Osiris, scribbled by an Egyptian tourist, that he might obtain the blessings of food, &c., and mistranslated by the guide. It would be a kind of parody of the inscriptions usual on tombs, praying that Osiris would give (such blessings) to the departed.

It is simpler (with Murray, u. s., p. 163) to suppose that the royal inscription was mistranslated; the onion plant was the hieroglyph for ‘nesut’ (‘king’), and the papyrus and the lotus were used in spelling his titles as ‘Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt’. But if this be the explanation, H.'s memory as to the exact place failed him; there were no official inscriptions on a pyramid, except close to the entry of the actual tomb-chamber; this one must have been in a temple near. Some, however, have thought that H.'s guide was as unable to read hieroglyphics as H. himself, and that he concealed his ignorance by a complete invention, which he meant also to be a joke.

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