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PART 9. Why Moses might be called Apis.
SOmething I would say concerning the name of Apis as relating to Moses; but what I have to produce is very little, and very uncertain. And nothing is more uncertain than the reason of the first imposition of names. It is at the pleasure of men, and they are often humoursome; and often a just occasion taken by them is worn out through time and new uses, which create new names. In an Egyptian word it is no wonder if men be at a loss, seeing the Language is perished. The Learned Gerard Vossius a 1.1 thinketh Joseph to be Apis, and deriveth the name from [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or] A B in the He∣brew Language, which was possibly, but a distinct Dia∣lect from the ancient Egyptian Tongue, as the Coptick, written from the left to the right hand, is but a Dia∣lect of the Greek. Now 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 doth not only signifie a Fa∣ther, Author, or Inventer; but is also attributed to Kings, Princes, and Lords, and is therefore a title not improper either for Joseph or Moses. My Conjecture fetcheth the name of Apis from [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or] Abir, which signifieth strong and valiant, and is used by Synech∣doche, for an Ox, a creature of strength b 1.2: Nay, it imports strength with such Emphasis, that it is ap∣plied to God himself c 1.3. Upon supposition that this were right, it ought to be added that the S in Apis, as in Mnevis, Memphis, Serapis, Osiris, Isis, is from the Greek, and not the Original Egyptian. But enough of a word concerning the derivation of which we are so much in the dark, and likely so to continue.