The Old Testament is not in a position to throw light on Jewish history after the fourth century BC but a well-known story in the Acts of the Apostles is revealing. It is related that St Philip, one of the seven Hellenist evangelists, was on his way from Jerusalem to Gaza when he met 'a man from Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for to worship'.(1) When Philip saw him he was sitting in his chariot puzzling over a text in the book of lsaiah. The evangelist offered to explain the passage and then proceeded to tell him of the new teachings which were circulating in Jerusalem. The upshot of their conversation was that, on seeing a nearby stream, the eunuch invited Philip to baptise him and then they parted and went their separate ways.

There can, of course, be no doubt (provided that the story is not purely legendary) that the eunuch came from the Meroitic kingdom though it may be thought that, in obedience to the biblical injunction about mutilation, he would be debarred from participating in the religious rites in the Temple, for which he had come to Jerusalem. The term 'eunuch' was, however, sometimes used in a wider sense to mean a high court official. (2) It has also been suggested that he might have belonged to the class of'God-fearers, Gentile adherents of Judaism who did not or could not become actual proselytes'.(3) The name 'Candace', moreover, does not represent a specific queen but, like the Egyptian word 'pharaoh', was a generic term used in the Meroitic kingdom as a title for queen or queen mother and, according to Ullendorff, 'is almost

(1) Acts 8:27.
(2) See Peake, 170e.
(3) Peake, 782k.