The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

The sower went forth and cast each of the seeds into the ground,, and they fall on to the ground, parched and bare, and suffer decay; then from their decay the greatness of the providence of the Master raises them up, and from one grain more grow and bring forth fruit.

Let us consider the strange sign which takes[*](The Phoenix as a sign of the resurrection) place in the East, that is in the districts near Arabia.

There is a bird which is called the Phoenix. This is the only one of its kind, and lives 500 years; and when the time of its dissolution in death is at hand, it makes itself a sepulchre of frankincense and myrrh and other spices, and when the time is fulfilled it enters into it and dies.