those  used  for  trumpets,  often  in  the  same  beds  ;  the  fact
that  some  of  the  trumpet-shells  yield  pearl-like  bodies
which  are  put  to  cultural  uses  ;  and  the  transference  to
pearls  of  some  of  the  magical  attributes  of  the  cowry — all
of  these  considerations  suggest  the  intimate  genetic  rela-
tions of  all  of  these  special  appreciations  of  the  value  of
shells.  Moreover  the  two  areas  were  linked  together  at  a
very  remote  historical  period.  At  least  as  early  as  the
Third  Dynasty  Egyptian  sailors  were  engaged  in  mari-
time trafficking  both  in  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Eastern
Mediterranean,  and  beliefs  in  the  magical  properties  of
shells  no  doubt  were  constantly  being  exchanged  between
the  inhabitants  of  the  shores  of  the  two  seas.  Pliny  men-
tions a  legend  of  the  relationship  of  the  Minaeans  and
Rhadamaeans  of  Southern  Arabia  to  Minos  of  Crete  and
his  brother  Rhadamanthus.  When  the  intimate  relations
between  the  shell-cults  of  the  Red  Sea  and  of  Crete  are
recalled  one  is  inclined  to  attach  some  significance  to
Pliny's  story,  even  though  he  himself  was  sceptical  of  it.
Cyprus  is  intimately  linked  with  the  cult  of  the
cowry  as  well  as  with  the  working  of  copper — an  associa-
tion to  which  I  shall  refer  later.
Crete,  so  far  as  is  known,  was  the  original  home  of
the  conch-shell  trumpet  and  the  manufacture  of  purple
dye.  The  Phoenicians,  with  whom  these  things  are  often
associated,  were  no  more  than  the  chief  agents  for  dis-
tributing them  abroad.
In  studying  the  geographical  distribution  of  the  use
of  conch-shell  trumpets,  of  the  purple  dye  and  of  a  special
appreciation  of  pearls,  one  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with
their  associations.
