the court were without reliefs, but the pillars of the portico were decorated with figures of the deceased and with inscriptions on each of their sides. The face of the tomb is inscribed with a long text in which the deceased tells how he "filled the heart of the king" (i.e., satisfied him), and enumerates all the work which he did in Nubia on behalf of his lord; to the left of the doorway is a relief in which Sa-ren put-ȧ is seen in a boat spearing fish (?), and to the right we have a representation of ancestor worship. On the wall of the

first chamber

inside is a long inscription which fortunately enables us to date the tomb, for it mentions

the prenomen Kheper-ka-Ra

(ou) of

Usertsen I., a

number of boats, fishing scenes, etc. The other scenes in the tomb refer to the storage of wheat, jars of wine, etc. When the writer first cleared this tomb for Sir Francis Grenfell in 1886, the shrine, containing a figure of Sa-renput-ȧ, was in situ, and was of considerable interest. In the sand which filled the first chamber almost to the ceiling were found the bodies of two or three Muḥammadans, who appear to have been hastily buried there.

The shaft, which is entered from the right side of the second chamber by means of a flight of steps, was cleared out, and two or more small chambers, lined and barricaded with unbaked bricks, were entered. In the floor of one of these an entrance to a further pit was made, but the air was so foul that candles ceased to burn, and the work had to be abandoned.

Lower down in the hill are the following tomos :-

In 1902 and 1904 Lady William Cecil excavated a large number of the tombs which lie to the south of the Grenfell group, but nothing of importance was found in them. Nearly every tomb had been used by two occupants at least. For an account of the work done see Annales du Service, tom. iv, p. 51 ff; and tom. vi, pp. 273-283.

The Monastery of St. Simon, or Simeon.* On the western bank of the Nile, at about the same height as the southern point of the Island of Elephantine, begins the valley which leads to the monastery called after the name of Saint Simon, or Simeon. It is a large, strong building, half monastery, half fortress, and is said to have been abandoned by its monks in the XIIIth century, but the statement lacks confirmation; architecturally it is of very considerable interest. It was wholly surrounded by a wall

* A plan and full description of this building will be found in J. de Morgan's Catalogue, vol. 1, Vienna, 1894, page 130 ff.

from about 19 to 23 feet high, the lower part, which was sunk in the rock, being built of stone, and the upper part of mud brick; within this wall lay all the monastery buildings. The monks lived in the north tower, in the upper storeys, where there were several cells opening out on each side of a long corridor; on the ramparts were a number of hiding places for the watchmen, and there are evidences that the building was added to from time to time.

The church consisted of a choir, two sacristies, and a nave, the whole being covered with a vaulted roof, which was supported by columns. In the church are the remains of a fine fresco in the Byzantine style, which formerly contained the figures of Christ and twenty-four saints, etc., and also a picture of Christ enthroned. In a small rock-hewn chapel at the foot of the staircase which leads to the corridor, the walls are ornamented with figures of our Lord's Apostles or Disciples. Every here and there are found inscriptions in Coptic and Arabic. The Coptic texts usually contain prayers to God that He may show mercy upon their writers, who regard the visit to the monastery as a meritorious act; the oldest Arabic inscription states that a certain Mutammar 'Ali visited the monastery in the year A.H. 694, i.e., towards the end of the XIIIth century of our era. About a fifth of a mile to the east of the monastery lay the ancient cemetery, which was cleared out about seventeen years ago; the bodies of the monks had been embalmed after a fashion, but they fell to pieces when touched. M. Clédat made excavations here in 1903-1904, and brought to light some 34 Coptic stelae. If the position of the Copts in Egypt in the XIIIth century be considered, it will be seen to be extremely unlikely that the monastery of St. Simon was flourishing at that time, and it is far more probable that it was deserted many scores of years before. From Abû Saliḥ, the Armenian, we learn that there were several churches and monasteries at Aswân. Thus he says

that on the island of Aswân, i.e., Elephantine, there was a church in which was laid the body of Abû Hadrî, and near this church was a monastery, which was in ruins in the days of Abû Şalih, with 300 cells for monks. There were also the churches of Saint Mennas, the Virgin Mary, and the archangels Gabriel and Michael. The church of Saint Ibsâdah stood in the citadel of Aswân, on the bank of the Nile, and the saint was said to have had the power of walking upon the water. The monastery of Abû Hadri was "on the mountain on the west," and it is probable that the monastery now called by the name of St. Simon is here referred to.

The gold mines, which are often referred to by writers on Aswân, were situated in the western desert and in the Wâdî al-'Alâkî, to the south-east of Aswân, in the country of the Bishârîn; these appear to be the mines that were worked by the Egyptians under the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties. The clay quarries were situated on the east bank of the Nile, just opposite to Elephantine Island, and were famous for red and yellow ochres, and for a fine clay, called the "clay of art," which was much used in making jars to hold Aswân wine. These quarries were worked in ancient days, and the stratum of clay was followed by the miners to very considerable distances into the mountains; the entrance to the workings is buried under the sand.

Aswan was as famous for its granite quarries as Silsila was for its beds of sandstone. The Egyptian kings were in the habit of sending to Aswân for granite to make sarcophagi, temples, obelisks, etc., and it will be remembered that Una was sent there to bring back in barges granite for the use of Pepi I., a king of the VIth dynasty. It is probable that the granite slabs which cover the pyramid of Mycerinus (IVth dynasty) were brought from Aswân. The undetached Obelisk, which still lies in one of the quarries, is an interesting object.

Near the quarries are two ancient Arabic cemeteries, in which are a number of sandstone grave-stones, many of them formed from stones taken from Ptolemaic buildings, inscribed in Cufi* characters with the names of the Muhammadans buried there, and the year, month, and day on which they died. We learn from them that natives of Edfû and other parts of Egypt were sometimes brought here and buried. The oldest quarries of all were, no doubt, the granite islands which stood in the Cataract.

The following translations will illustrate the contents of these interesting monuments :

I. "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the "Merciful. This is a sufficient announcement for men ; " and (it is revealed) that they may be warned thereby, and "that they may know that He is one God, and that the "discreet may remember. O God, bless Muhammad the "Prophet and his family and save (them), and have mercy upon Thy servant that hath need of Thy mercy, Ja'far, son of Ahmad, son of 'Alî, son of Muḥammad, son of "Kâsim, son of 'Abd as-Samad. He died on Thursday, "when six days (nights) were past (the 6th) of al-Muharram, "in the year 418 (A.D. 1027). May the mercy of God be 66 upon him and His favour."

66

II. "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the "Merciful. Verily those who say, 'Our Lord is God' and "then walk uprightly, upon them shall the angels descend "(saying), 'Fear ye not, neither be ye sad, but rejoice ye in "the Paradise which ye have been promised.' O God, bless

* A kind of Arabic writing in which very old copies of the Ķor'ân,

etc., are written; it takes its name from Kûfah, „| Al-Kûfah, a town on the Euphrates. Kûfah was one of the chief cities of 'Irak, and is famous in the Muhammadan world because Muḥammad and his immediate successors dwelt there. Enoch lived here, the ark was built here, the boiling waters of the Flood first burst out here, and Abraham had a place of prayer set apart here.