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polis Magna, where the crocodile and its worshippers were detested. The Temple of Edfû, for which alone both the ancient and modern towns were famous, occupied 180 years three months and fourteen days in building, that is to it was begun during the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes I., B.C. 237, and finished B.C. 57. It resembles that of Denderah in many respects, but its complete condition marks it out as one of the most remarkable buildings in Egypt, and its splendid towers, about 112 feet high, make its general magnificence very striking. The space enclosed by the walls measures 450 X 120 feet; the front of the propylon from side to side measures about 252 feet. Passing through the door the visitor enters a court, around three sides of which runs a gallery supported on thirty-two pillars. The first and second halls, A, B, have eighteen and twelve pillars respectively; passing through chambers C and D, the shrine E is reached, where stood a granite naos in which a figure of Horus, to whom the temple is dedicated, was preserved. This naos was made by Nectanebus I., a king of the XXXth dynasty, B.C. 378.

The pylons are covered with battle scenes, and the walls are inscribed with the names and sizes of the various chambers in the building, lists of names of places, etc.; the name of the architect, I-em-ḥetep, or Imouthis, has also been inscribed. From the south side of the pylons, and from a small chamber on each side of the chamber C, staircases ascended to the roof.

The credit of clearing out the temple of Edfû belongs to M. Mariette. Little more than twenty-five years ago the mounds of rubbish outside reached to the top of its walls, and certain parts of the roof were entirely covered over with houses and stables.

HAGAR SILSILEH.

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Hagar (or Gebel) Silsileh, 541 miles from Cairo, on the east and west banks of the river, derives its name probably not from the Arabic word of like sound meaning "chain," but from the Coptic xwxeλ, meaning "stone wall"; the place is usually called Chennu in hieroglyphic texts. The ancient Egyptians here quarried the greater part of the sandstone used by them in their buildings, and the names of the kings inscribed in the caves here show that these quarries were used from the earliest to the latest periods. The most extensive of these are to be found on the east bank of the river, but those on the west bank contain the interesting tablets of Heru-em-heb, a king of the XVIIIth dynasty, who is represented conquering the Ethiopians, Seti I., Rameses II. his son, Meneptaḥ, etc. At Silsileh the Nile was worshipped, and the little temple which Rameses II. built in this place seems to have been dedicated chiefly to it. At this point the Nile narrows very much, and it is generally thought that a cataract once existed here; there is, however, no evidence to show when the Nile broke through and swept such a barrier, if it ever existed, away.

KOM OMBO.

Kom Ombo, 556 miles from Cairo, on the east bank of the Nile, was an important place at all periods of Egyptian history; it was called by the Egyptians, Pa-Sebek, "the temple of Sebek" (the crocodile god), and by the Copts. The oldest

Nubit, and

object here is a sandstone gateway which Thothmes III. dedicated to the god Sebek.

The temple is double, and consists of a large court containing sixteen columns inscribed with the cartouche of

Tiberius, and a hypostyle hall containing nineteen columns about 40 feet high. The pronaos has ten columns, three chambers, and two shrines; one shrine is dedicated to Sebek and the other to Heru-ur or Aroueris. The temple measures about 500 feet by 250 feet, and stands at a height of about 40 feet above the level of the Nile during its low season. By the side which fronted the river there originally stood a propylon and a small temple built by Domitian; on the right of this stood the mammisi. The bas-reliefs upon the walls and columns are exceedingly fine, and the delicacy, of the colours and the fineness of the workmanship are equal, if not superior, to the art displayed at Edfu and Phila. The inscriptions, although of a religious character, are of considerable interest, and among them may be mentioned (1), the dedicatory address of Ptolemy VII.; (2), the calendar of the festivals; (3), ephemerides with the names of the deities who preside over the days of the year; (4) and the texts referring to the geography of the nomes.

ASWÂN.

Aswân (or Uswân), the southern limit of Egypt proper 583 miles from Cairo, on the east bank of the river, called in Egyptian, Coptic coran, was called by the Greeks Syene, which stood on the slope of a hill to the south-west of the present town. Properly speaking Syene was the island of Elephantine. In the earliest Egyptian

Åbu, ie., "the district of the elephant," and it formed the metropolis of the first nome of Upper Egypt. As we approach the time of the Ptolemies, the name Sunnu, i.e., the town on the east bank of the Nile, from whence comes the Arabic name Aswân, takes the place of Abu. The town obtained great notoriety among the ancients from the fact that Eratosthenes and Ptolemy considered it to lie on the tropic of Cancer, and to be the most northerly point where, at the time of the summer solstice, the sun's rays fell vertically; as a matter of fact, however, the town lies o' 37′ 23′′ north of the tropic of Cancer. There was a famous well there, into which the sun was said to shine at the summer solstice, and

to illuminate it in every part. In the time of the Romans three cohorts were stationed here,* and the town was of considerable importance. In the twelfth century of our era it was the seat of a bishop. Of its size in ancient days

* It is interesting to observe that the Romans, like the British, held Egypt by garrisoning three places, viz. Aswân, Babylon (Cairo), and Alexandria. The garrison at Aswân defended Egypt from foes on the south, and commanded the entrance of the Nile; the garrison at Babylon guarded the end of the Nile valley and the entrance to the Delta; and the garrison at Alexandria protected the country from invasion by sea.

nothing definite can be said, but Arabic writers describe it as a flourishing town, and they relate that a plague once swept off 20,000 of its inhabitants. Aswân was famous for its wine in Ptolemaic times. The town has suffered greatly at the hands of the Persians, Arabs, and Turks on the north, and Nubians, by whom it was nearly destroyed in the twelfth century, on the south. The oldest ruins in the town are those of a Ptolemaic temple, which are still visible.

The

The island of Elephantine* lies a little to the north of the cataract just opposite Aswân, and has been famous in all ages as the key of Egypt from the south; the Romans garrisoned it with numerous troops, and it represented the southern limit of their empire. The island itself was very fertile, and it is said that its vines and fig-trees retained their leaves throughout the year. kings of the Vth dynasty sprang from Elephantine. The gods worshipped here by the Egyptians were called Chnemu, Sati and Sept, and on this island Amenophis III. built a temple, remains of which were visible in the early part of this century. Of the famous Nilometer which stood here, Strabo says: "The Nilometer is a well upon the banks of the Nile, constructed of close-fitting stones, on which are marked the greatest, least, and mean risings of the Nile; for the water in the well and in the river rises and subsides simultaneously.

Upon the wall

* "A little above Elephantine is the lesser cataract, where the boatmen exhibit a sort of spectacle to the governors. The cataract is in the middle of the river, and is formed by a ridge of rocks, the upper part of which is level, and thus capable of receiving the river, but terminating in a precipice, where the water dashes down. On each side towards the land there is a stream, up which is the chief ascent for vessels. The boatmen sail up by this stream, and, dropping down to the cataract, are impelled with the boat to the precipice, the crew and the boats escaping unhurt.” (Strabo, Bk. xvii. chap. i., 49, Falconer's translation.) Thus it appears that "shooting the cataract is a very old amusement.