and by an attendant, and by three dogs, and the four lines of text above him state that he is inspecting his cattle and the produce of his lands. Of the four rows of figures before him, the first is perhaps the most important, for it illustrates a procession of foreign people who visited him in his capacity of governor of the nome. The procession consists of 37 persons of the Āāmu, a Semitic people or tribe, and they are introduced by Nefer-hetep, a royal scribe, who holds in his hand a papyrus roll, on which is inscribed, "Year 6, under the majesty of Horus, the leader of the world, the king of the South and North, Ra-Khā-Kheper (.i.e, Usertsen II.). List of the Ãāmu, brought by the son of the Duke Khnemu-hetep, on account of the eye-paint, Āāmu of Shu ; a list of 37 [persons]." Behind the scribe stands the official Khati, and behind him the Āāmu chief, or desert shêkh; these are followed by the other members of the foreign tribe. The men of the Āāmu wear beards, and carry bows and arrows, and both men and women are dressed in garments of many colours. The home of the Āāmu was situated to the east of Palestine. In this picture some have seen a representation of the arrival of Jacob's sons in Egypt to buy corn, but there is no evidence for the support of this theory; others have identified the Aamu with the Hyksos. The company here seen are probably merchants who brought eye-paint, spices and the like from their own country, and sold their wares to the rich officials of Egypt. On the East and South Walls is a series of scenes in which Khnemu-hetep is depicted hunting the hippopotamus, and snaring birds, and spearing fish, and receiving offerings.

No. 13. Tomb of Khnemu-hetep III., a royal scribe, the son of Neteru-hetep. This tomb consists of one small, rectangular chamber with one mummy pit. The inscriptions record the name and titles of the deceased, and petitions to those who visit the tomb to pray that abundant offerings

may be made to him. This is one of the oldest tombs at Beni-Ḥasân, and was probably made long before the site became a general burial ground for the nobles of MenatKhufu.

No. 14. Tomb of Khnemu-hetep I., the governor of the nome of Meḥ, and prince of the town of MenātKhufu. His father's name and titles are unknown, and the rank of his mother Baqet is also unknown; his wife was called Satap, and his son Nekht succeeded to his rank, title, and dignities. He flourished during the reign of Amen-em-hät I. On the south-west wall of the main chamber of this tomb is an inscription which contains the cartouches of Amen-em-ḥāt I., and which states that Khnemu-hetep I. went on an expedition with his king in boats to some country, probably to the south. The paintings in the tomb are much faded, but the remains of the figures of the foreigners represented are of considerable interest.

No. 15. Tomb of Baqet III., governor of the nome of Meḥ. Baqet held the rank of “ḥā” or duke," and flourished before the rule of the kings of the XIIth dynasty. This tomb contains seven shafts leading to mummy chambers. The North Wall is ornamented with some interesting scenes in which men and women are seen engaged in various handicrafts and occupations, and the deceased is seen enjoying himself hunting in the desert, and fishing in the Nile. On the East Wall wrestling scenes are painted, and over two hundred positions are illustrated; below these are illustrations of the events of a pitched battle. On the South Wall are scenes connected with the work on Baqet's estates, and pictures of men engaged in their work or amusements.

No. 17. Tomb of Khati, governor of the nome of Meḥ, and commandant of the Eastern Desert; the main chamber is crossed by two rows of three quatrefoil columns

of the lotus bud type, and of these two remain perfect. Each column represents four lotus stems, with unopened buds, tied together below the buds, and is brilliantly painted in red, blue, and yellow. This tomb contains two shafts leading to mummy chambers, and is decorated with a large number of scenes which have, however, much in common with those in the other tombs already described.

Other inscribed tombs are :-No. 21, Tomb of Nekhta, uncle of Khnemu-hetep II., and governor of Meḥ; No. 23, Tomb of Neter-nekht, governor of the Eastern Desert, and son of the priestess Ārit-hetep, and husband of Ḥer-ȧb; No. 27, Tomb of Re-mu-shenta, chief of the nome of Meḥ ; No. 29, Tomb of Baqet I., chief of the nome of Meḥ; and No. 33, Tomb of Baqet II., who held the same office.*

Rôda, 182 miles from Cairo, and the seat of a large sugar manufactory, lies on the west bank of the river, just opposite Shekh 'Abâdeh, or Antinoë, a town built by Hadrian, and named by him after Antinous, † who was drowned here in the Nile. To the south of Antinoë lies the convent of Abu Honnês (Father John), and in the districts in the immediate neighbourhood are the remains of several Coptic buildings which date back to the fifth century of our era. A little to the south-west of Rôḍa, lying inland, are the remains of the

city of Hermopolis Magna, called in Egyptian

or

пр

,

Khemennu, in Coptic Shmûn, corn.

and in Arabic Eshmûnên; the tradition which attributes the building of this city to Eshmûn, son of Misr, is worthless. The Greeks called it Hermopolis, because the Egyptians there worshipped Thoth, the scribe of the gods, who was named by the Greeks Hermes. A little *Full descriptions of all the above tombs are given by Messrs. Newberry and Fraser in Beni Hasan, 4 parts, London, 1893-1899. † A Bithynian youth, a favourite of the Emperor Hadrian.

distance from the town is the spot where large numbers of the ibis, a bird sacred to Thoth, were buried.

Eshmûnên is sometimes called an "Island" by Arabic writers; this is because it has the Nile on the east, the Baḥr Yûsuf or Al-Manhî on the west and south, and a connecting canal on the north. An old legend says that on the highest point of this town there was a cock, and beneath it a row of dromedaries, and that when a stranger approached, the cock crew, and the dromedaries went forth to destroy the stranger. When our Lord entered this town by the eastern gate these creatures worshipped Him and were straightway turned into stone. It is said that there were three hundred villages in the district, and many Christian churches. The most famous was the church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which contained several altars and marble pillars, on one of which was the mark of the hand of our Lord. Outside it stood a tree bearing fruit of a dark purple colour which resembled a plum, and is called sebestan; when our Lord passed by it, this tree is said to have bowed its head in adoration before Him. About five miles south of Antinoë, and seven miles from Eshmûnên in a direct line across the Nile, on the north side of the rocky valley behind the modern Dêr Al-Nakhleh, is a very important group of ancient Egyptian tombs at the place called Al-Bersheh. The most important of these is the Tomb of Teḥuti-hetep

the chief of

the XVth nome of Upper Egypt, who flourished during the reigns of Åmen-em-ḥat II, Usertsen II., and Usertsen III., in the XIIth dynasty. The façade consists of two fine columns with palm leaf capitals, supporting a massive architrave, all coloured pink, and marbled with pale green to represent rose granite; the ceiling is painted blue and studded with quatrefoils,

and the walls were sculptured with hunting and other scenes. The main chamber measures 25 X 20 X 13 feet, and on the upper part of the left hand wall is the famous painting of the "Colossus on a sledge," in which we see a huge alabaster statue of the deceased being dragged along by nearly two hundred men. This statue, we are told in the inscriptions, was 13 cubits in height, i.e., nearly 21 feet, and it must have weighed about 60 tons; the work of transporting this mass from the mountain many miles distant, where it was quarried, must have been enormous. Of Teḥuti-hetep's career little is known, but the wealth and position of the man are sufficiently indicated by the fact that he was able to undertake such a work. The tomb was discovered by Messrs. Mangles and Irby about August 26, 1817.*

MELAWÎ AL-'ARISH.

Melâwî, 188 miles from Cairo, is situated on the west bank of the river; it is the λ&r of Coptic writers, and there were many Christian churches in the town, among others one dedicated to Abatir, one to Mercurius, one to Saint George, one to Gabriel the Archangel, one to Raphael the Archangel, and two to the Virgin and to Michael the Archangel.

Haggi Kandil, or Tell el-'Amarna, 195 miles from Cairo, lies on the east bank of the river, about five miles from the ruins of the city built by Khut-en-ȧten,

,

or Amenophis IV., the famous "heretic" king of the XVIIIth dynasty, whose pre

* Full descriptions of the tombs at Al-Bersheh, with plans, etc., have been published by Messrs. Newberry and Fraser, in El-Bersheh, 2 parts, London (no date).