Thus we have seen the Saite dynasty rising to power by means of Greek merchandise and Greek mercenaries and maintaining its power by the same means. Its general policy follows the same lines as that of the tyrannies that sprang up at this time all over the Greek world. Herodotus with his usual insight recognized this fact when he put into his history the story of the friendship between Amasis and the Samian tyrant Polycrates. Amasis was probably not the first of the Saites to have a Greek tyrant for his friend. Cordial relations with Thrasybulus, the tyrant of Miletus, are suggested by Necho’s offerings to the Milesian Apollo, and the friend of Thrasybulus must have been also the friend of the Corinthian tyrant Periander. It has often been assumed, and not without reason, that Periander’s successor was called Psammetichus from some personal connexion with the lord of Sais. [Sidenote: The name Psammetichus.] Psammetichus I is the first individual known to have borne that name. It is possible therefore that it may have had some special appropriateness to his own or his father’s career[656]. One of the most probable interpretations of the name is “man (vendor) of mixing bowls.” The choice seems to lie between this interpretation and “man (vendor) of mixed wine” (_i.e._ wine mixed with spices, etc.). Which of these is to be preferred depends on the interpretation of the root mtk[657]. In hieratic writing the phonetic symbols are sometimes followed by a “determinative” symbol or pictograph, placed at the end to prevent misunderstanding. The determinative for mtk is the picture of a vase, as seen for instance in _Rylands Library Demotic Papyri_, p. 201. The vase has a barrel or pear-shaped body, narrow neck, and broad flat mouth, ⚱. The particular shape must not be pressed, and the picture may be meant to denote not the vase but its contents. But it must mean one or the other[658]. Griffith thinks it denotes the contents, his reasons being these[659]: mtk is a Coptic root meaning “mix” and has a Hebrew equivalent meaning “mixture” (wine mixed). This meaning “seems to fit all requirements[660],” _i.e._ it suits the story of the libation which led Psammetichus to become king[661], and also the tales of the low and bibulous (φιλοπότης) origin of Amasis[662]. Griffith’s interpretation rests ultimately on the philological point, and on the assumption that the root in Egyptian must have precisely the same meaning as in Coptic and Hebrew. I am indebted to the writer himself for the information that this is not always the case. Apart from philology “mixed wine” may suit all requirements[663]: but does it do so quite as well as “mixing bowl”? The whole point of the story of Psammetichus’ libation depends not on the wine but its receptacle. On either interpretation however it is sufficiently remarkable that the ruler who is said to have risen to power by trade should have had so mercantile a name. Griffith does not