described it as a town of considerable size, beauty, and importance, and before the abandonment of the Sûdân by the Khedive, all caravans from that region stopped there. In the hills to the west of the town are a number of ancient Egyptian tombs, which date back as far as the XIIIth dynasty. A large number have been destroyed during the present century for the sake of the limestone which forms the walls. When M. Denon stayed here he said that the number of hieroglyphic inscriptions which cover the tombs was so great that many months would be required to read, and many years to copy them. The disfigurement of the tombs dates from the time when the Christians took up their abode in them.

Fifteen miles farther south is the Coptic town of Abu Tîg, the name of which appears to be derived from АПОӨНКН, AПIOOнKн, a “granary;" and 14 miles beyond, 279 miles from Cairo, is Kâu el-Kebîr (the KWOT of the Copts), which marks the site of Antaeopolis, the capital of the Antaeopolite nome in Upper Egypt. The temple which formerly existed here was dedicated to Antaeus, the Libyan wrestler, who fought with Hercules. In the plain close by it was thought that the battle between Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, and Set or Typhon, the murderer of Osiris, took place; Typhon was overcome, and fled away in the form of a crocodile. In Christian times Antaeopolis was the seat of a bishop.

Tahṭah, 291 miles from Cairo, contains some interesting mosques, and is the home of a large number of Copts, in consequence of which, probably, the town is kept clean.

SUHAK (SOHAG), AND THE WHITE AND RED
MONASTERIES.

Sûhâk, 317 miles from Cairo, is the capital of the province of Girgeh; near it are the White and Red Monasteries.

The Dêr el-Abyad or "White Monastery," so-called because of the colour of the stone of which it is built, but better known by the name of Amba Shenûdah, is situated on the west bank of the river near Sûhâk, 317 miles from Cairo. "The peculiarity of this monastery is that the interior was once a magnificent basilica, while the exterior was built by the Empress Helena, in the ancient Egyptian style. The walls slope inwards towards the summit, where they are crowned with a deep overhanging cornice. The building is of an oblong shape, about 200 feet in length by 90 wide, very well built of fine blocks of stone; it has no windows outside larger than loopholes, and these are at a great height from the ground. Of these there are twenty on the south side and nine at the east end. The monastery stands at the foot of the hill, on the edge of the Libyan desert, where the sand encroaches on the plain. . .

The ancient doorway of red granite has been partially closed up." (Curzon, Monasteries of the Levant, p. 131.) There were formerly six gates; the single entrance now remaining is called the "mule gate," because when a certain heathen princess came riding on a mule to desecrate the church, the earth opened and swallowed her up. The walls enclose a space measuring about 240 feet by 133 feet. The convent was dedicated to Shenûti, a celebrated Coptic saint who lived in the fourth century of our era.* Curzon says (op. cit., p. 132) . . . . . . “The tall granite columns of the ancient church reared themselves like an avenue on either side of the desecrated nave, which is now open to the sky, and is used as a promenade for a host of chickens. The principal entrance was formerly at the west end, where there is a small vestibule, immediately within the door of which, on the left hand, is

* Shenûdah, Coptic enоrt Shenûti, was born A.D. 333; he died at midday on July 2, A.D. 45I.

a small chapel, perhaps the baptistery, about twenty-five feet long, and still in tolerable preservation. It is a splendid specimen of the richest Roman architecture of the latter empire, and is truly an imperial little room. The arched ceiling is of stone; and there are three beautifully ornamented niches on each side. The upper end is semicircular, and has been entirely covered with a profusion of sculpture in panels, cornices, and every kind of architectural enrichment. When it was entire, and covered with gilding, painting, or mosaic, it must have been most gorgeous. The altar on such a chapel as this was probably of gold, set full of gems; or if it was the baptistery, as I suppose, it most likely contained a bath of the most precious jasper, or of some of the more rare kinds of marble, for the immersion of the converted heathen, whose entrance into the church was not permitted until they had been purified with the waters of baptism in a building without the door of the house of God" (p. 135). The library once contained over a hundred parchment books, but these were destroyed by the Mamelukes when they last sacked the convent.

The Dêr el-Ahmar or "Red Monastery," so-called because of the red colour of the bricks of which it is built, was also built by the Empress Helena; it is smaller and better preserved than the White Monastery, and was dedicated to the Abba Bêsa, the disciple and friend of Shenûti. The pillars of both churches were taken from Athribis, which lay close by; the orientation of neither church is exact, for their axes point between N.E. and N.E. by E. The ruined church of Armant near Thebes is built on the same model.

Анмім.

A few miles south of Sûhâk, on the east bank of the river, lies the town of Aḥmîm, called Shmin or Chmim,

cees, xere, by the Copts, and, Panopolis by the Greeks; Strabo and Leo Africanus say that it was one of the most ancient cities of Egypt. The ithyphallic god Åmsu, identified by the Greeks with Pan, was worshipped here, and the town was famous for its linen weavers and stone cutters. Its Egyptian name was 4 Apu. In ancient days it had a large population of Copts, and large Coptic monasteries stood close by.

ᄆ

Menshiah, on the west bank of the river, 328 miles from Cairo, stands on the site of a city which is said to have been the capital of the Panopolite nome; its Coptic name was Psôi, w. In the time of Shenûti the Blemmyes, a nomad warlike Ethiopian tribe, invaded Upper Egypt, and having acquired much booty, they returned to Psôi or Menshiah, and settled down there.

Girgeh, on the west bank of the river, 341 miles from Cairo, has a large Christian population, and is said to occupy the site of the ancient This, whence sprang the first dynasty of historical Egyptian kings.

M

ABYDOS.*

Abydos, † in Egyptian Abtu, Coptic ЄRWT,

Arabic Harabat el-Madfûnah, on the west bank of the Nile, was one of the most renowned cities of ancient Egypt; it was famous as the chief seat of the worship of Osiris in Upper Egypt, because the head of this god was supposed to be buried here. The town itself was dedicated to Osiris, and the temple in it, wherein the most solemn ceremonies connected with the worship of this god were celebrated, was more revered than any other in the land. The town and its necropolis were built side by side, and the custom usually followed by the Egyptians in burying their dead away from the town in the mountains was not followed in this case. Though the hills of fine white stone were there ready, the people of Abydos did not make use of them for funereal purposes; the sandy plain interspersed every here and there with rocks was the place chosen for burial. The town of Abydos, a small town even in its best time, was built upon a narrow tongue of land situated between the canal, which lies inland some few miles, and the desert. It owed its importance solely to the position it held as a religious centre, and from this point of view it was the second city in Egypt. Thebes, Abydos, and Heliopolis practically represented the homes of religious thought and learning in Egypt. The necropolis of Abydos is not much older than the VIth dynasty, and the tombs found there

* The Temples at Abydos are visited by Messrs. Cook's travellers on the return journey to Cairo.

That the name was

+ Greek "Aßudos; see Pape, Wörterbuch, p. 4. pronounced Abydos, and not Abydos, is clear from :

καὶ Σηστὸν καὶ ̓Αβυδον ἔχον καὶ δῖαν ̓Αρίσβην.

Iliaa, ii., 836.