the work of Sekhet,* [and] the birds [which] he sets apart Lower register. Nekht and his wife sitting in a summerhouse "to make himself glad and to experience the happiness of the land of the north (ie., Lower Egypt); before them funereal offerings are heaped up. In the upper division of this register are seen Nekht's servants gathering grapes, the treading of the grapes in the wine-press, the drawing of the * Sekhet was the goddess of the country, and was the wife of the god Khnum. She is represented with the sign for field, upon he head, she wears a girdle of lotus plants round her waist, and upon her hands she bears a plantation filled with all manner of wild fowl. See Lanzone, Dizionario, p. 1995. new wine, the jars for holding it, and two servants making offerings to Nekht of birds, flowers, etc. In the lower division we see Nekht instructing his servants in the art of snaring birds in nets, the plucking and cleaning of the birds newly caught, and two servants offering to Nekht fish, birds, fruit, etc. In the other scenes we have Nekht, accompanied by his wife Taui, making an offering of anta unguent and incense to the gods of the tomb, and a representation of his funereal feast. The most ancient necropolis at Thebes is Drah abu'l Nekkah, where tombs of the XIth, XVIIth, and XVIIIth dynasties are to be found. The coffins of the Antef kings (XIth dynasty), now in the Louvre and the British Museum, were discovered here, and here was made the marvellous "find" of the jewellery of Åāḥ-ḥetep, wife of Kames, a king of the XVIIth dynasty, about B.C. 1750. A little more to the south is the necropolis of Asasif, where during the XIXth, XXIInd, and XXVIth dynasties many beautiful tombs were constructed. If the visitor has time, an attempt should be made to see the fine tomb of Peṭā-Âmen-ȧpt. Armant, or Erment, 458 miles from Cairo, on the west bank of the river, was called in Egyptian Menth, and ம் ୪ Ànnu qemāt, “Heliopolis of the South"; it marks the site of the ancient Hermonthis, where, according to Strabo, "Apollo and Jupiter are both worshipped." The ruins which remain there belong to the Iseion built during the reign of the last Cleopatra (B.C. 51-29). The stone-lined tank which lies near this building was probably used as a Nilometer. Gebelên, i.e., the "double mountain," 468 miles from Cairo, on the west bank of the river, marks the site of the city called by the Greeks, Crocodilopolis, and by the Egyptians, Neter-het Sebek, 7. A city must have stood here in very early times, for numerous objects belonging to the Early Empire have been, and are being, continually found at no great distance from the modern village. Below the ruins of the Egyptian town, quite close to the foot of the "double mountain," large numbers of flints belonging to the pre-dynastic period have been found, together with pottery both whole and broken. Asfûn-al-Mata'na, 475 miles from Cairo, on the west bank of the river, marks the site of the city of Asphynis, the Het-sfent In this neighbour www of the Egyptians. hood was Pathyris, or Per-Ḥet-bert of the Phatyrites nome, Per-Ḥet-her the capital ESNEH Esneh, or Asneh, 484 miles from Cairo, on the west bank of the river, was called in Egyptian Senet; it marks the site of the ancient Latopolis, and was so called by the Greeks because its inhabitants worshipped the Latus fish. Thothmes III. founded a temple here, but the interesting building which now stands almost in the middle of the modern town is of late date, and bears the names of several of the Roman emperors. The portico is supported by twenty-four columns, each of which is inscribed; their capitals are handsome. The Zodiac here, like that at Denderah, belongs to a late period, but is interesting. The temple was dedicated to the god Khnemu, his wife Nebuut, and their offspring Kaḥrả. El-Kâb, 502 miles from Cairo, on the east bank of the river, was called in Egyptian J Nekheb; it marks the site of the ancient Eileithyias. There was a city here in very ancient days, and ruins of temples built by Thothmes IV., Amenḥetep III., Seti I., Rameses II., Rameses III., Ptolemy IX. Euergetes II. are still visible. A little distance from the town, in the mountain, is the tomb of Åāḥmes (Amāsis), the son of Abana, an officer born in the reign of Seqenen-Ra, who fought against the Hyksos, and who served under Amāsis I., Amenophis I., and Thothmes I. The inscription on the walls of his tomb. gives an account of the campaign against some Mesopotamian enemies of Egypt and of the siege of their city. Amāsis was the " Captain-General of Sailors." It is an interesting text both historically and grammatically. The site of El-kâb is of considerable interest, for it is clear that the little town was at one time fortified in a remarkable manner; the town wall was, in many places, 40 feet thick, and some of the parts of it which still remain are 20 feet high. The tombs found here are of various kinds, e.g., maṣṭăbas either with square shafts or inclines, both made of unbaked brick; and numerous examples of burials in earthenware vessels, i.e., after the manner of the autochthonous inhabitants of Egypt, occur. Mr. Quibell made some extremely interesting excavations here in 1898, and in the course of his work he found a number of diorite bowls inscribed with the name of Seneferu, an early king of the IVth dynasty, a fact which proves that a town was in existence near the spot where they were found in the Early Empire. The small predynastic graves were found chiefly inside the fort of Elkâb, but there were a few outside the walls, and it was evident, from the positions of the bodies, and the style and character of the objects found in the graves, that they |