sage in Pausanias; who, after saying that money was not in use in Greece, at the time of the death of Polydorus, king of Lacedæmon, (that is about 720 years before our æra, and above 800 after the arrival in Greece of Cadmus, Danaus, and Cecrops) adds, that even in his own time, that is about the year 180 of our æra, the people of India, though their country abounded in metals, had no money;* and it is to be observed that Pausanias had great means of being informed on this point, by the extensive commerce then carried on by the Romans with India.

M. Sylvestre de Sacy, in a note which he obligingly communicated to the author, begins with the following observation of M. Chézy :

Be metal, I * Ensuite is Hy iftec les Somers i Sata, les Copres Jew Cependant les dens, ont les mot parcissent désign ent dite, d'arge dans le diale il paroit doute gue Syrienne: i e racine Chalda

Le seul mot Sanskrit, à ma connoissance, qui signifie, tout à la fois, argent comme métal, et argent comme monnoie, est roupiam. Ce mot est employé dans les anciens livres des Indiens. Si, comme on

* Pausanias, Journey in Laconia, lib. iii. c. 12.

ourroit le croire, il est dérivé du mot upam, figure, forme, on pourroit en inire que très-anciennement, aux Indes, rgent reçevoit une empreinte qui en dérminoit la valeur dans les échanges comerciaux."

M. de Sacy then proceeds:

J'aurois peine à admettre cette conture, qui paroit contraire à la marche turelle des idées.

"Les Egyptiens et les Syriens se servent mmunément des mots qui signifient l'arnt comme métal, pour désigner la mone. Ensuite ils emploient des mots pris Grec, les Syriens les mots dinoro et dauno, les Coptes les mots nomisma et sa. Cependant les Syriens, ainsi que les aldéens, ont les mots zouz, zouza, et zouzo,

paroissent désigner une monnoie proment dite, d'argent, et on les trouve si dans le dialecte des Samaritains. is il paroit douteux que ce mot soit rigine Syrienne: il ne semble pas tenir ne racine Chaldaïque et Syriaque, et il

pourroit être Persan d'origine; il pourroit venir du nom de la ville de Suse, Zouzen, comme Besans de Byzantium. Les Syriens et les Chaldéens ont encore un autre nom d'une sorte de monnoie, zifla, et par métathèse zelafto; mais la vraie signification de ce mot est fort douteuse."

"S. de SACY.”

In a letter to the author on the subject of ancient coins, particularly with the Hindūs, M. Langlès observes :

Les Egyptiens n'avoient pas de mon

le

noie de métal, et si les Hindous en eussent eu, ils n'auroient pas manqué d'emprunter d'eux cette découverte au rešte je doute de l'existence du système monetaire des anciens Hindous; la langue Sanskrite n'a aucun synonyme pour le mot monnoie, pièce de monnoie; je ne connois que mot rastjata en Bengali, argent, métal, roupa, et roupia; en effet les plus anciennes nations connues n'avoient point de monnoie. Le Pana et le Drauna des Hindous sont des poids, et non des monnoies; et le texte Hébraique du mot Sikel, ou Sicle,

ou Shequel, comme on l'écrit dans les langues modernes, est également un poids, comme l'indique la racine même qui sigaitie peser."

To these observations of M. Langlès, it may be added, that, in the Laws of Menu, where hire for servitude is mentioned, it is aid one pana of copper shall be given; but if by ana, a coin were here meant, the word coper would be superfluous. We say, a penny, shilling, a crown, a guinea; not a penny f copper, or a shilling or crown of silver, r a guinea of gold.

We find in the Scriptures, that 1860 years efore our æra, Abraham having purchased piece of ground for a burying place, eighed to Ephron for it, four hundred

ekels of silver, current money with the erchants;* that 121 years afterwards, cob bought a parcel of a field where he d spread his tents, for a hundred pieces

* See Genesis, c. xxiii. In the translation of the ole, the word money is employed.

E

of money;* shortly after this, that Joseph
was sold by his brethren to Midianite mer-
chants going to Egypt, for twenty pieces of
silver;+ and that Moses, about 1571 years
before our æra, laid a poll-tax of one be-
kah, or half a selah or shekel, on every male,
from twenty years and upwards, for the
purpose of building the tabernacle.
lomon, who began his reign 556 years
afterwards, sent ships to Ophir,§ which

* Genesis, c. xxxiii. v. 19.

So

+ Idem. c. xxxvii. And on the money, or silver given in payment by the Jews, see Otho Sperlingius, from c. vi. to c. xviii. inclusively.

See Exodus, c. xxxviii. v. 25, 26. The tax according to Brerewood, amounted to eighteen pence English a head, which on 603,550, the number of males mentioned, makes for the whole 45,266 pounds, English money.

§ The Ophir of the Jews is supposed by Bruce, and others, to be the country named Sofala, on that part of the continent of Africa opposite to Madagascar. The ships of Solomon sailed from a place that was named Ezion-Geber, situated at the bottom of the Elanitic gulf; whence proceeding down the Red Sea, or Arabian gulf, they entered the Indian ocean.

The voy

Ata sud, took up all
catrasted with the
Ma wonderfully long g

mined to procure th
troumstances, may b

ips of Solomon
ught back by th
oned (1 Kings, C. X.
Bored in Africa, but th
tant of India, whence

-See Buffon,

Kings, c. x. v. 22.