course found at intervals, where portions of the dyke AFRICA. had been probably washed away by the breaking CHAP. IV. through of the waters; but so many traces were to be seen, that there could be no difficulty in forming them into a continuous line. The breadth of the dyke could not be measured with accuracy on account of its very easy slope towards the interior, but M. Linant estimated it to be about 200 feet.' Its height was about 7 feet above the ground which it enclosed, but about 27 feet above the ground without. The surface soil within the dyke was probably at so much a higher level than that of the soil without it in consequence of the deposition of the mud in the interior, where the dyke served to confine the water. On the southern side, at a spot called Shiek Ahmed, the line of level of the waters may be seen on the edge of the desert at a height which they never attain in the present day. According to the tradi- Identifications of the country this dyke is said to be the work tion of the of the Pharaohs, and M. Linant is of opinion, that with that of the whole extent of country enclosed by the line, ris. along which he is enabled to find traces of the dyke, is the site of Lake Moeris, enclosing an area of 156 square miles.

of the Bahr-bela-Ma, a canal which runs almost directly north and south. On the top of the deep and sloping bank opposite to him, and above the ordinary layers of stone and clay, he saw the transverse section of a mound, chiefly composed of gravel and flint, which must, of course, be running from east to west. On the other side of the ravine, namely, on that which he was sitting, he saw a similar section, which exactly corresponded with the other. M. Linant immediately climbed the slope of the ravine, and saw distinctly that the mound was an immense artificial dyke sloping down more to the north than to the south, and continuing in a very straight line from east to west. At a long distance off he found that it changed its course and turned towards the south, and subsequently enclosed the area which we shall presently describe.

1 M. Linant, of course, gives the results of his measurements in metres, each of which is about 3,3% of a foot. I have generally converted these into English measures, and in round numbers.

2 M. Linant traced the boundaries of this area, which the reader may easily identify on the modern map. The results of this survey are as follows:-The dyke at its eastern extremity begins at the dry bed of an ancient, and now abandoned, canal, called the Canal of Warden, and from thence runs in a tolerably straight line over the ravine of the Bahr bela-ma, as far as El-Ellam. Here it disappears, but is again to be seen in the neighbourhood of Biamo, towards the north-west, where it encloses

enclosed site

Lake Moe

AFRICA. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the area thus CHAP. IV. pointed out falls very far short of the enormous dimensions of 3600 stadia in circumference, assigned explanation to the lake by Herodotus. But little reliance how

Further

of Linant's identifica

tion.

His identification of

ever is to be placed on our author's measurement; though, in the present case, it is certainly remarkable that he should give his statement additional emphasis by saying that the circumference was equal to the sea-coast of Aegypt. This enormous exaggeration may have arisen from his having been unable to see the northern boundary of the lake, and consequently supposing it to be coextensive with the Libyan hills, whose eastern face he had seen in his journey from Memphis. In other respects the recently discovered site satisfies every condition, and particularly the object of utility. Thus the fertility of Fayoum, and especially of its highest terrace, is now explained. Its soil is the fine sediment deposited by Lake Moeris. When, in consequence of neglect and dilapidations, the dykes gave way and the waters were drained off, the Aegyptians naturally gave to the rich and newly acquired land, the appellation of Phiom, or "the sea."

The two pyramids mentioned by Herodotus are the two py- identified by M. Linant with the two structures of ramids de- hewn stone, which had been previously mistaken for Herodotus. pedestals of statues, and which stand at the north

scribed by

the two stone structures which have been taken for the pedestals of statues. Thence going towards the south-west, between the village of Zawiet and the ruins of Crocodilopolis, are to be seen the remains of some portions of the dyke extending towards the ruins. South-east of Medinet it appears again, and M. Linant supposes that it must have passed by Ebgig, and thence to Attamné. After that he found it constructed of good masonry, near Miniet el Heit, where it crosses the Bahr Neslet, and so on to Chidimo; thence to Lake Garac, where it terminates in the desert. In this latter part it was not of masonry. "Let a line," says M. Linant, "be now drawn, starting from the beginning of the dyke, and continuing, as I have just pointed out, as far as the Lake of Garac, thence returning northwards by Shiek Ahmed, and then passing by Calamchâ, Deir, turning to Dimishquine upon the right, following the dyke of Pillawan, and passing on to Arrarat Equilan; thence proceeding to the bridge of Illahoun, going north-westward by the dyke of Guedalla, returning to the west by Arrarat el Macta, and from that point regaining, by Demo, its point of departure at Selle. "The whole extent of country enclosed by this line," adds M. Linant, "is, in my opinion, the site of Lake Moeris."

west corner of the supposite site. These two masses AFRICA. are each surrounded by a square enclosure, con- CHAP. IV. structed of large square stones, and in some places three layers of these stones may be seen; the others have probably been removed for other buildings. They are called in the country Pharaoh's chairs, and were supposed to be pedestals of statues; and this agrees with the statement of Herodotus, that on the top of each pyramid was placed a stone statue seated on a throne.

marks upon

discovery.

Thus far I have endeavoured to explain the views General reof M. Linant, and give due prominence to his in- Linant's teresting discovery. The latter has been generally taken for granted by modern commentators, and appears to be approved by Lepsius. If however we are to accept it, we must believe that Herodotus, Diodorus, and Strabo have passed over one of the most remarkable objects in Aegypt, namely, Lake Keïroun. Mr. Kenrick seems to consider that the embankment traced by Linant was that of an artificial reservoir in the centre of Fayoum, which retained the water of the inundation, to be dispersed when it was needed over the adjacent country. It is presumptuous for one who has never visited the Fayoum, to offer any suggestion after Linant; but I do not think, judging from the Mémoire, that the embankment from Biamo to Shiek Ahmed has been satisfactorily traced, nor do I think that it has been sufficiently proved that Lake Moeris, which Herodotus says was 50 orgyae, or 300 feet, deep in its deepest part, did not include Lake Keïroun, and extend to the eastern embankment, near Crocodilopolis and the Labyrinth. The discovery however of the northern and southern dykes by Linant is most interesting, and may at some future time lead to a more satisfactory settlement of the disputed site.

topography

The remaining topography of Middle Aegypt is Remaining but little noticed by Herodotus. The town of Ery- of Middle threbolus is mentioned, where King Pheron burnt Erythreboall the unfaithful wives;' the city of Crocodiles, near Croco

1 ii. 111.

Aegypt.

lus.

dilopolis.

CHAP. IV.

AFRICA. the Labyrinth; and Hermeopolis, where the ibis was buried. The docks on the Arabian Gulf, where Hermeopo- King Neco built his triremes, were also still to be seen in the time of our author.3

lis.

Docks in the Arabian Gulf.

Upper Ae

not describ

ed by Herodotus.

Extreme paucity

graphical

notions.

UPPER AEGYPT, properly so called, is scarcely noticed by Herodotus at all, and we have no allugypt proper, sion to the magnificent temples at Luxor and Karnac, nor indeed any description whatever of those marvellous structures, whose ruins are still existing on the great plain of Thebes. That he resided some of his topo- time at Thebes, and entered the magnificent temple of Zeus, or Ammon, is certain; we may also take it for granted that he examined the Memnonium, for he tells us, in a decided manner, that those persons who supposed that the sculpture in Ionia was the image of Memnon were greatly mistaken. It is difficult to say whether his silence arose from the loss of any portion of his writings, or from his having been unable to acquire such historical information as could be illustrated by descriptions of what he saw. We shall merely follow in his steps, and present the reader with his plain narrative without further embellishment; for a general description of the temples of Thebes would stretch to a great length, without illustrating the pages of our author.

His account of Thebes

and temple of Zeus, or

Ammon.

5

Thebes contained a splendid temple of Zeus, who was also called Ammon; and here a woman constantly resided, and, like the female in the Babylonian temple of Belus, had no intercourse with mortal man.' Every high priest in succession left a wooden colossal statue of himself within this sanctuary; and Herodotus, on his visit to the city, was shown three hundred and forty-five of these statues, each of which represented a generation, and was called a Piromis, which signifies in the Greek language " a noble and good man."8

ii. 143. The name piromi probably referred to the nobility of the sacerdotal descent. The Coptic word romi signifies a man; Pi is only the article prefixed. Cf. Jablonski, Proleg. ad Panth. Aegypt, § 18.

CHAP. IV.

Chemmis was a large city in the Theban nome, AFRICA. not far from Neapolis. It contained a sacred enclosure, (ieron or temenus,) in the shape of a quad- Chemmis. rangle, which was dedicated to Perseus. The Temples of pro- Perseus. pylaea were built of stone, and very spacious, and before them were placed two large stone statues. The naos within the sacred enclosure was surrounded by palm trees, and contained a statue of Perseus. The Chemmitans declared that Perseus often appeared both within and without the temple, and that they sometimes found his sandal, which was two cubits long; and they added, that whenever this latter circumstance took place it was followed by general prosperity throughout Aegypt.' Elephantine is also Elephanmentioned, where, in the reign of Psammitichus, and again in the time of the Persian rule, it was garrisoned against the Aethiopians. Between this city and Syene were the two pointed mountains, Crophi and Mophi, from whence the Nile was said Crophi and to have originated.3

4

tine.

Mophi.

boundary

The southern boundary line of Aegypt cannot be Southern drawn satisfactorily. It would appear that Ele- of Acgypt. phantine was the most southerly town, but that the Aegyptians also inhabited the half of the island of Tachompso, the other half being occupied by the Aethiopians. We shall however return to this subject when treating of Aethiopia, and consider Elephantine as the actual frontier, which was doubtless formed by the cataracts; and, having thus concluded the topography of Aegypt, we proceed to develope our author's account of the mythology and manners of the Aegyptian people.

1 ii. 91. For an account of the Chemmitan worship of Perseus, see chap. v. 2 ́ii. 30. 3 ii. 28. See also p. 361. * ii. 17, 29.