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sanctuary was approached through two hypostyle halls, the second of which measured 78 ft. by 113 ft., and contained 32 columns 5 feet in diameter. Almost opposite the railway triangle' at Dalgo, about 191 miles from Wâdî Ḥalfa, on the west bank of the Nile, lie the ruins of the Temple of Sesebi, which bear inscriptions of Seti I., about B.C. 1370. At mile 203 is the Kaibar (or, Kagbar) Cataract, and at mile 231 the village of Hannek is passed. The village of Abû Fâțma marks the boundary between the Provinces of Halfa and Dongola. On the Island of Tombos, near Kerma, and on the banks of the river, at the head of the Third Cataract, 201 miles from Wâdî Ḥalfa, are gray granite quarries, in one of which the two statues, now lying on the Island of Arkô (Argo), were quarried; nearly 70 years ago Mr. Hoskins saw lying here a broken statue of the same material 12 feet long. Kerma, at mile 246, was the terminus of the railway.

Al-Hafir, about six miles to the south of Kerma, on the left bank of the river, is famous in Anglo-Egyptian annals as the scene of the action between the Egyptian artillery and gunboats and the Dervishes on September 19, 1896. The Dervishes had made along the river a long line of shelter trenches, with loopholed mud walls, and they had five small guns, which were well worked by ex-gunners of the Egyptian army. The Sirdar's gunboats, Tamaai, Abu Klea, and Metammeh, attacked the forts; the Egyptian artillery kept up a strong fire, but it was the fire from three batteries of artillery and a Maxim battery, which were landed on the Island of Artaghasi, that silenced the Dervish guns. On the Island of Arķô, which is about 20 miles long, are two gray granite statues, which, together with the pedestals, must have stood about 24 feet high; they seem not to have been finished. One is broken, and the other has lost part of an arm. Lepsius assigned the statues to the Hyksos.

period, but this is clearly impossible; and there is no reason for doubting that they belong to the period when the Nubian kingdom of Napata or of Meroë was flourishing. From their positions it appears that they were set up in front of the temple, the ruins of which lie close by, after the manner of the colossal statues of kings that were placed before the pylons of temples in Egypt. The temple which stood on this island must have been of considerable size. On the right bank of the Nile, near Arķô, at Karmân, are the ruins of a very large town, and in the necropolis are the remains of two rectangular mud brick tombs which, in Lepsius' day, measured 150 × 66 × 40 feet, and 132 × 66 × 40 feet respectively; they are called Dafûfa and Karmân.

Al-Urdî, or New Donkola, a little over 70 miles from Kerma, on the west bank of the Nile, was re-occupied by Egyptian troops on September 23, 1896. In the western desert, at no great distance from the town, are large quantities of salt deposit. During the revolt of the Mahdi this town, under the rule of Mustafa Yawir, who doubted the divinity of the Mahdî, remained loyal for a long time, and its people actually defeated the Dervishes at Kurta (Korti); finally, however, it was compelled to submit to the rebel, and the loss of the Donķola Province was a serious blow to Egypt. The town was large and prosperous, but, like every place which fell under Dervish rule, was destroyed. The old town lay 2 miles south of the modern town. Seven miles to the south are the ruins of a small Egyptian temple, which was discovered and partially excavated by Colonel Hon. J. Colborne, in 1885.

At mile 291 is Lebab Island, where the Mahdî was born. Khandak marks the site of an ancient Egyptian town, and the ruins of several churches prove that there was a flourishing Christian community here in the Coptic period. Christian remains are also found at Firgi, Khalêwa, Amentogo, Arab

Hag, to the south of Khandak. At Arab Hag an obelisk inscribed with the name of Piankhi was found.

Old Donkola is situated on the east bank of the Nile, and is 351 miles from Halfa. At the present time it is simply a deserted town, filled with the ruins of mud-brick houses, and containing about 30 able-bodied men. The people belonging to it usually live on a little island in the Nile close by, and on the western bank. It is built on a rocky height overlooking the river and the Eastern Desert, and has always been of great strategic importance, from its commanding position. The current is very strong here, and the steamer in which the writer passed it in September, 1897, with difficulty made one mile in an hour. A fine stele, dated in the 8th year of the Nubian king Nåstasenen

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ago, proves that the town was of considerable size and importance long before the Christian era began, and in the first half of the sixth century A.D. the Christian king Silko, who defeated the Blemmyes, adopted the town as his capital. Abû Şalîḥ describes it as a large city, and says that it contains many churches, and large houses, and wide streets. The king's house is lofty, with several domes of red brick, and resembles the buildings in Al-'Irâk; and this novelty was introduced by Raphael, who was king of Nubia A.H. 392," i.e., A.D. 1002. The Nubians are said to have been star-worshippers, and the first who was converted to Christianity was Bahriyâ, the son of the king's sister, who built many churches and monasteries in Nubia, some on the river banks, and some in the desert. The northern frontier of Nubia was at Aswân, which was said to be distant a journey of 40 days, and was called Marîs, a name derived from two ancient Egyptian words meaning the south land.' The south wind is commonly called 'Marîsiyah,', as belonging to the south.

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king of Nubia had dominion over Mâkurrah and 'Alwah. The Mosque at Old Donkola was dedicated to the service of God A.D. 1317; it stands in a prominent place, and commands the country and the river.

Abû Kussi, 356 miles from Halfa, is the starting point of the great Kordôfân and Dâr Fûr caravan road.

Al-Dabbah (Debbeh), 371 miles from Halfa, originally a small village, was turned into a fortified place by the Turks; at this point the Nile is 750 yards wide. Debbeh is the starting point of the direct caravan road to Omdurmân.

Kúrta (Kôrti), 416 miles from Ḥalfa, on the west bank of the river, was the headquarters of Lord Wolseley's expedition to rescue General Gordon in 1884; nearly all the forces were concentrated there on Christmas Day of that year, and the withdrawal from the place began in March, 1885. From this point on the Nile to Matammah is a distance of 176 miles. Water is first met with 37 miles from Kôrtî or Ambikôl, and 18 miles further on are the Wells of Al-Huwêyât; 100 miles from Ambikôl are the Gakdûl Wells, which are situated in one of the spurs of the Gebel Gillif range. The wells are water-worn basins at the bottom of a granite gorge, and the largest of the pools measures 180 feet by 30 feet; the water is sweet. At the distance of 150 miles from Ambikôl are the Wells of Abû Klea, and 18 miles further on is the Well of Shabakat, which is 12 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep.

At Kurru, Zuma (east bank), and Tankâsi (west bank), 7 to 10 miles from Marawî, are the remains of large groups of pyramids, but the stone casings have been removed by many generations of Muḥammadans for building their tombs, and for making the foundations of the supports of their water-wheels. The cores of most of these pyramids were built of mud bricks, but in each pyramid

field are the ruins of at least one well-built step pyramid made of stone.

Marawi (east bank), and Sanam Abû-Dôm (west bank), 447 miles from Halfa, mark the site of the ancient and famous city of Napata, the

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www Nepita, of the Egyptian inscriptions. The ancient city seems to have been situated on the west bank, over which, on account of the bend in the river, the sun rises. It must have been a city of very considerable size, for whenever any excavations were made for the purpose of building block-houses, etc., in 1897, when Sanam Abu-Dôm was the headquarters of the Frontier Field Force of the Egyptian Army, remains of buildings and portions of large sandstone columns were generally found at the depth of a few feet below the surface. Away in the low hills on the west bank, a few miles from the river, are the remains of a number of rock-hewn tombs, and on the east bank, about three or four miles up-stream from Sanam Abû-Dôm, lie the pyramids and ruins of the temples of Napata. The name Sanam Abû-Dôm means 'the place of graven images which is situated among dom palms,' and proves that there were ancient ruins of one or more temples in the immediate neighbourhood. At Marawi, just opposite, are the ruins of one of the brick and stone forts which are so common in the country, and a mosque, and close by is a settlement of the brave Shaiķia Arabs, whose ancestors several centuries ago came from Arabia and possessed considerable power in the country. Next comes the village of Shibba, and straight ahead is the striking mountain called Gebel Barkal by the Arabs, and Ţu-āb,

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the Holy (or Pure) Mountain' in the Egyptian inscriptions. This mountain is 302 feet high, and is about fiveeighths of a mile long; it is the most prominent object in the

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