White, Joseph; White, Joseph [Hrsg.]: Aegyptiaca, or observations on certain antiquities of Egypt (Band 1): The history of Pompey's pillar elucidated (Oxford, 1801)

io6

APPENDIX. No. II.

PART I.

therefore, that when Alexandria was firft built, and
when that name became the general appellation amongft
the Greeks, thofe conquerors totally forbore all ufe of
the term Rhacotis.

The Serapeum-Rhacotis feems then to be quite a dif-
ferent thing from the Rhacotis of Strabo. And, indeed,
this might well be inferred from the very paffages them-
felves of Tacitus and Clemens above quoted. For, the
former of thefe writers defcribes the Serapeum-Rhacotis,
not as the tite of the fmall Egyptian town, which pre-
ceded the building of Alexandria, but as the lite of a
Chapel formerly dedicated to Serapis and Ms : and the
latter fays, that the place was then1, i. e. in the se-
cond century, called Rhacotis ; moft clearly intimat-
ing, that this was not its ancient appellation.

But what puts the matter out of all doubt, is the
pofitive teftimony of Cyril of Alexandria ; whofe oppor-
tunities of information entitle him to the higheft autho-
rity on this queftion. He had long lived at Alexan-

“ prouvent, qu’on en a effedlivement apporte ; et qu’on n’a pas voulu s’en
“ fervir, fans les changer, li ce n’eft quand on les mettoit dans des endroits,
“ oh on les croyoit pour toujours caches aux yeux des hommes.” Nor-
DEN, tom. i. p. 22.

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