title from the capital province, Tzain, which he was first possessed of: but on the other hand, he gave name to the Saïte nome, which is not termed Nomus Saïticus, but Saites, and was called so from Sait, or Said, which was the name of this prince. This nome lay principally in upper Egypt: but Train was in the lower, and was properly distinct, though by some included in the former. I have taken notice, that the Greeks by their inflexions and terminations often rendered things the most unlike, very similar; and made other things to become very like, which at first had no connection nor resemblance. By their changing Train to Saïs, one would be led to imagine, that it gave name to the Saïte nome, and that there was some affinity between them but in reality there was no similitude, nor correspondence. The province received its name from the prince, as I have mentioned; but Tsaïn or Tsoan was the place from whence he took his title; and was consequently of a different etymology. It was a place of pastures, and the original seat of the Shepherds in Egypt, and undoubtedly received its name from thence; being derived from 47 Tzon, Tzaan, Tzanah (, ) which signify sheep, flocks, and cattle. Tzoan signifies the Shepherd province, as Cushan does the Arabian: and Melech al Tzoan is the Shepherd king. What the

47 Gen. 4. v. 2. Gen. 47. v. 4. Psalm 8. v. 7.

Hebrews expressed NY, according to the Egyptian idiom seems to have been rendered tys.

Such is my opinion about the antient city and province of Tzoan. The city I have supposed to have been the same, which was called afterwards Heliopolis: and the field of Zoan to have been the adjacent country, a portion of the plain of Egypt. This Tzoan of the Hebrews, I imagine, was the Tsaan and Tsain of the Egyptians, altered by the Greeks to Sain and Sais. It was called both Tzain and Cushan; being denominated from the family, as well as from the occupation, of the people, who possessed it, the Shepherds, and Cuseans. But the Saïte province, though it did include Tsaïn, yet extended far above; comprehending Memphis, and whatever in upper Egypt was in the possession of this people: which province received its name from Said, or Saït, the name of some of the most early princes in that country; but especially of Salatis, the first Cusean king. What is extraordinary, no time has been able to efface these memorials: and the Copts, as well as the Arabs, who now possess the country, call all this part of Egypt Saït, and Sahid at this day. It is mentioned by 48 Ulug Beig, and "Nassir Ettusaus, who place Cous in it, a place undoubtedly of Cusean original. Kus

"Ulug Beig. Geogr. Vet. vol. 3. pag. 91.

49 Nassir Ettuseus. Geogr. Vet. vol. 3. pag. 123.

in Sait Egypti superioris. The "Nubian geographer speaks of it, in his description of places to be passed through in going from Al Cairo upwards. Qui autem egreditur ex Metzr secùs ampliorem partem Nili, intendens Sahid, &c. But " Leo Africanus describes it more amply. He makes Egypt to consist of three parts, Errif, Bechria or Maramma, and Sahid. Errif is the western, and Canobic part of Delta: Maramma is the Pelusiac, and eastern and upper Egypt from Cairo south, is called Sahid: which he particularises as being farthest from the sea. Errific et Maramma habitatores Sahidicos urbanitate superant; quòd duæ hæ partes mari vicina, ab Europæis, Barbaricis, et Assyriis ampliùs frequentantur. Verùm Sahidici, in mediterraneis ultra Al Cairum habitantes, exteros nullos vident præter raros quosdam Æthiopas. He moreover tells us, that the province Sahid was in antient times the seat of Egyptian grandeur: nobilitatem priscorum Ægyptiorum olim in Sahidicâ regione supra Al Cairum constitisse. All these circumstances correspond with the country from Heliopolis upwards, the μεγιση πολις, which was situated not much below the spot, where Cairo now stands. Memphis was about eighteen

50 Geog. Nubiens. Clim. 3. Part. 3. pag. 99.

s Leo Africanus. lib. 8. cap. 2.

52 Ibid. cap. 3.

miles above Heliopolis. If any farther confirmation be wanting, it may be obtained from the Arabic version of the Bible; where the land of Goshen is always interpreted Sadir, or the land of Said: and Arabian evidence must have weight in respect to an history of that nation.

53 Vansleb tells us, that Sahid signifies a place or region higher than another: but Leo supposes it to signify terrestris. If my opinion be well grounded, the province received its name from the first of the Shepherd kings: and the etymology at this distance of time is hardly to be arrived at. It is pretty certain, that Said, Sait, and Saites are originally the same as Seth; and Sethus, a naine, by which one or more of the princes of the country were called; and particularly the first Pastor king. He is represented in the mythological history of Egypt, as the brother of Osiris; and is called Typhon; and is mentioned as having been in a constant state of war with Osiris. He was the first king of the Auritæ, as I have shewn: and the dynasty of the Aurite was the most antient of any in Egypt; as Syncellus witnesses from the old Chronicle; though he supposes them to have been gods: 35 [Θεων] βασίλειαν πρωτον των Αυρίτων. This name

53 Vansleb. pag. 13.

་

54 Ab Al Cairo ad Bugie confinia, Sahid, id est, Terrestrem. pag. 666.

35 Syncellus. pag. 51.

signifies, if we may believe Plutarch, a person of high rule; a man of violence: but this interpretation I do not much depend on. It was not an Egyptian name, but a Babylonish; as may be seen in the annals of that nation. And this leads me, before I conclude, to take notice of a mistake in an Assyrian or Babylonish dynasty, similar to what I have mentioned in the Egyptian; which will afford the highest confirmation to what I have been saying. The tenth king in the list is by Eusebius termed Altadas; and by Moses Choronensis, from Maribus of Catina, he is called Azatagus. However different they may appear, these are certainly the same name, only mixed, and transposed. Altadas is Al Tsaid, or "7 Seth: and Azatagus, or, as it should be read, Alzatagus, is Out Al Tsait with the Greek termination subjoined. They have suffered a transposition, like that of the name of Salatis: but, when traced to their original elements, are found to be Saïd, Saït, and Seth; as they were at different times expressed. Africanus puts the matter out of all doubt: for he expressly calls the person Seth or Sethos, who is the

57

$6 Moses Choronensis Hist. Armeniæ. lib. 1.

51 Theophilus Antiochenus tells us, that Seth gave name to the country. Ad Autolyc. lib. 3. pag. 396. All these little fragments of history accord; and serve to the establishment of what I have been endeavouring to prove.