Boon II. An isolated Egyptian Temple, within its Temenos, or sacred Enclosure; with the Priests bringing in the Ark of the God. Beyond are villas, canals, and the Nile. CHAP. 155, 156. ISLAND OF CHEMMIS. 237 was a chapel in the enclosure made of a single stone, the length and height of which were the same, each wall being forty cubits square, and the whole a single block! Another block of stone formed the roof, and projected at the eaves to the extent of four cubits. 156. This, as I have said, was what astonished me the most, of all the things that were actually to be seen about the temple. The next greatest marvel was the island called Chemmis. This island lies in the middle of a broad and deep lake close by the temple, and the natives declare that it floats. For my own part I did not see it float, or even move; and I wondered greatly, when they told me concerning it, whether there be really such a thing as a floating island. It has he "did not see" (ch. 156), would, if true, have been still more astonishing. 6 According to these measurements, supposing the walls to have been only 6 feet thick, and the material granite, as in other monoliths, this monument would weigh upwards of 6738 tons, being 76,032 cubic feet, without the cornice, which was placed on the roof. The reigns of the Psammetichi and other kings of this 26th dynasty were the period of the renaissance or revival of art in Egypt, both for the size and beauty of the monuments; and though the sculptures are not so spirited as during the 18th and 19th dynasties, they have great elegance, sharpness of execution, and beauty of finish. It is singular that though the sculptures and paintings in the tombs near the pyramids are inferior to those of the best age, and though progress is perceptible in different times, there is no really rude or archaic style in Egypt; there are no specimens of a primitive state, or early attempts in art, such as are found in other countries; and the masonry of the oldest monuments that remain, the pyramids, vies with that of any subsequent age, particularly in their exquisitely wrought granite. The art of Egypt was of native growth, and was ori ginal and characteristic; but the Egyptians, like all other people, borrowed occasionally from those with whom they had early intercourse; and as the Assyrians adopted from them the winged globe, the lotus, and many other emblems or devices, the Egyptians seem also to have taken from Assyria certain ornaments unknown in Egypt before and during the 12th dynasty. Among these may be mentioned vases with the heads of a horse, a cock, a vulture, or an eagle (such as is given to the supposed Assyrian deity Nisroch), the knot, and the feather patterns, and perhaps some of the trappings of the horse, an animal apparently introduced from Asia. Even the Typhonian monster with feathers on his head, so common under the 22nd dynasty, seems to have some connection with Asia, as well as with Libya. Those devices first occur on monuments of the 18th and 19th dynasties, whose kings came much in contact with the Assyrians; and it was perhaps from them that the pointed arch of that time was copied, which, though not on the principle of the true arch, appears to have been cut into the stone roof, in imitation of what the Egyptians had seen, as the round one was in imitation of the brick arches they had themselves so long used (see n.1 ch. 136).—[G. W.] 7 Hecatæus had related the marvels of this island, which he called Chem 238 SIEGE OF AZOTUS. Book II. a grand temple of Apollo built upon it, in which are three distinct altars. Palm-trees grow on it in great abundance, and many other trees, some of which bear fruit, while others are barren. The Egyptians tell the following story in connection with this island, to explain the way in which it first came to float:-"In former times, when the isle was still fixed and motionless, Latona, one of the eight gods of the first order, who dwelt in the city of Buto, where now she has her oracle, received Apollo as a sacred charge from Isis, and saved him by hiding him in what is now called the floating island. Typhon meanwhile was searching everywhere in hopes of finding the child of Osiris." (According to the Egyptians, Apollo and Diana are the children of Bacchus and Isis; while Latona is their nurse and their preserver. They call Apollo, in their language, Horus; Ceres they call Isis; Diana, Bubastis. From this Egyptian tradition, and from no other, it must have been that Eschylus, the son of Euphorion, took the idea, which is found in none of the earlier poets, of making Diana the daughter of Ceres.) The island, therefore, in consequence of this event, was first made to float. Such at least is the account which the Egyptians give. 8 157. Psammetichus ruled Egypt for fifty-four years, during twenty-nine of which he pressed the siege of Azotus1 without bis, without any appearance of incredulity. (Fr. 284.) There is a tacit allusion to him in this passage. 8 Apolio was Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris (Ceres and Bacchus); but he had no sister in Egyptian mythology, and Diana was Bubastis or Pasht, who appears to be one of the great deities, and was the second member of the great triad of Memphis, composed of Pthah, Pasht, and Nofre-Atmoo. The Diana of the Greeks was daughter of Latona; and Herodotus and Plutarch say that Eschylus was the only one who mentions her as Ceres, in imitation of the Egyptians. Aroeris and even Hor-Hat were also supposed by the Greeks to answer to Apollo, from their having a hawk's head like Horus. They therefore called the city of Hor-Hat Apollinopolis Magna (Edfoo), and that of Aroeris Apollinopolis Parva (Koos).— [G. W.] 9 Pausanias reports this also (VIII. Xxxvii. § 3), but seems to be merely following Herodotus. It is not a happy conjecture of Bähr's (not. ad loc.) that it was for revealing this secret (?) that Eschylus was accused of violating the mysteries. The mention of Eschylus is important, as showing that Herodotus was acquainted with his writings. 1 Azotus is Ashdod or Ashdoodeh of sacred scripture. This shows how much the Egyptian power had declined when Psammetichus was obliged to CHAP. 156-158. ACCESSION OF NECOS. 239 intermission, till finally he took the place. Azótus is a great town in Syria. Of all the cities that we know, none ever stood so long a siege. 158. Psammetichus left a son called Necôs, who succeeded him upon the throne. This prince was the first to attempt the construction of the canal to the Red Sea 2-a work completed besiege a city near the confines of Egypt for so long a time as twentynine years, the armies of the Pharaohs in the glorious days of the 18th and 19th dynasties being in the constant habit of traversing the whole country from the Nile to the Euphrates. Diodorus says it was in the Syrian campaign that the Egyptian troops deserted from Psammetichus. The capture of Azotus facilitated the advance of his son Neco when he continued the war. The duration of the siege of Azotus was probably owing to its having received an Assyrian garrison, being an important advanced point to keep the Egyptians in check; and the king of Nineveh was perhaps prevented by circumstances at that time from sending to succour it. For Tartan had been sent by "Sargôn, king of Assyria," and had taken Ashdod (Isaiah xx. 1). Tartan is thought not to be the name of an individual, but the title "general." The mention of Ethiopians and Egyptians taken pri soners by the Assyrians (Is. xx. 4) doubtless refers to the previous cap. ture of Azotus, when it held a mixed garrison (Egypt having then an Ethiopian dynasty) which was compelled to surrender to the Assyrians. Ashdod was the strong city of the Philistines, where they took the ark "into the house of Dagon" (1 Sam. v. 2); and that it was always a fortified place is shown by the name, which signi. fies, like the Arabic shedeed, "strong." In the wars between the Egyptians and Assyrians it was at one time in the possession of one, at another of the rival power. Psammetichus reigned according to Herodotus fifty-four years, and his 54th year occurs on the Apis Stela (see Historical Notice of Egypt in Appendix, сH. viii. § 33). -[G.W.] Herodotus says Neco (or Necôs) began the canal, and Strabo attributes it to "Psammetichus his son; but the ruins on its banks show that it already existed in the time of Remeses II., and that the statement of Aristotle, Strabo, and Pliny, who ascribe its commencement at least to Sesostris, is founded on fact. That from its sandy site it would require frequent re-excavating is very evident, and these successive operations may have given to the different kings by whom they were performed the credit of commencing the canal. It is certainly inconsistent to suppose that the Egyptians (who of all people had the greatest experience in making canals, and who even to the late time of Nero were the people consulted about cutting through the Isthmus of Corinth-Lucian) should have been obliged to wait for its completion till the accession of the Ptolemies. The authority of Herodotus suffices to prove that it was completed in his time to the Red Sea; and the monuments of Remeses at a town on its banks prove that it existed in his reign. Neco may have discontinued the re-opening of it; Darius may have completed it, as Herodotus states, both here and in Book iv. ch. 39; and it may have been re-opened and improved by the Ptolemies, and again by the Arabs. In like manner, though the Alexandrian canal is attributed entirely to Mohammed Ali, this does not prove that it was not the successor of an older canal, which left the Nile at another point. The trade of Egypt was very great with other countries, to which she exported corn at a re 240 CANAL TO THE RED SEA. Book II. afterwards by Darius the Persian -the length of which is four days' journey, and the width such as to admit of two triremes being rowed along it abreast. The water is derived from the Nile, which the canal leaves a little above the city of Bubastis,* mote period; and we find from Athenæus (ii. c. 3) that Bacchylides, who lived about the time of Pindar, speaks of corn going to Greece in ships from Egypt, when he says, "all men when drunk fancy they are kings, their houses are resplendent with gold and ivory, and corn-bearing ships bring over the bright sea the abundant wealth of Egypt." Wheat is represented as its staple commodity, at the coronation of the early Egyptian kings. The trade with Arabia by sea appears to have been opened as early as the 12th dynasty, and afterwards trade extended to India. But even under the Ptolemies and Cæsars it was confined to the western coast and the islands; and in Strabo's time "few merchants went from Egypt to the Ganges" (xv. p. 472). The first Egyptian port on the Red Sea was probably Ænnum, afterwards Philotera, so called from the youngest sister of Ptolemy Philadel phus (now old Kossayr), at the watering-place near which are the monu. ments of Amun-m-he II. and Osirtasen II.-[G. W.] An inscription of Darius in the Persian Cuneiform character is engraved upon the Suez stone near the embouchure of the ancient canal. It reads: "Daryavush naqa wazarka,” "Darius the Great King." (Behistun Memoir, vol. i. p. 313.) The commencement of the Red Sea canal was in different places at various periods. In the time of Herodotus it left the Pelusiac branch a little above Bubastis; it was afterwards supplied with water by the Amnis Trajanus, which left the Nile at Babylon (near old Cairo); and the portion of it that remains now begins a short distance from Belbays, which is about 11 miles south of Bubastis. Strabo must be wrong in saying it was at Phacusa, which is too low down . were the stream. The difference of 13 feet between the levels of the Red Sea and Mediterranean is now proved to be an error. Pliny says that Ptolemy desisted from the work, finding the Red Sea was 3 cubits (4 feet) higher than the land of Egypt; but, independent of our knowing that it was already finished in Herodotus' time, it is obvious that a people accustomed to sluices, and every contrivance necessary for water of various levels, would not be deterred by this, or a far greater, difference in the height of the sea and the Nile, and Diodorus expressly states that sluices were constructed at its mouth. If so, these on account of the different levels, which varied materially at high and low Nile, and at each tide, of 5 to 6 feet, in the Red Sea, and to prevent the sea-water from tainting that of the canal. The city of the Eels, Phagroriopolis, was evidently founded on its banks to ensure the maintenance of the canal. The place of the sluices appears to be traceable near Suez, where a channel in the rock has been cut to form the mouth of the canal. It is probable that the merchandise was transhipped from the boats in the canal to those in the harbour, on the other side of the quay, and that sluices were not opened except during the inundation, when the stream ran from the Nile to the Red Sea. In the time of the Romans it was still used, but afterwards fell into disuse, and was choked up until the caliph Omar reopened it, in order to send supplies to Arabia, in record of which benefit he received the title of "Prince of the Faithful," Emeer el Momeneen, which was continued to or assumed by his successors. It was closed 134 years afterwards by El Munsoor Aboo Gáfer, the 2nd Abbaside Caliph, to prevent supplies going to Medeeneh, then in |