42 Mr Nash on the Geology of Egypt. 



formation of Egypt, which extends on each side of the river as 

 far as Cairo, where the two limestone ridges diverge, the eastern 

 branch, running off nearly at right angles towards Suez, the west- 

 ern branch taking a north-west direction towards Alexandria, and 

 leaving between them the triangular space called the Delta. 



Just at the commencement of the calcareous formation, the 

 hills which had closed in on the river recede on each side, leav-, 

 ing between them and the river on either bank an extensive level 

 area, the great plain of Thebes. On this alluvial plain, so re- 

 markable for its local advantages, was erected the capital of An- 

 cient Egypt, the hundred-gated Thebes, now known under the 

 various names of Luxor, Carnac, Medinet, Abon, and Gournon. 

 It is in this limestone rock that have been excavated those re- 

 ceptacles for the dead, called collectively the Necropolis of 

 Thebes, and those still more magnificent abodes for the mum- 

 mies of her ancient monarchs, styled the Tombs of the Kings. 

 Excavations of the same kind, and for the same purposes, but 

 on a less imposing scale, may be observed at intervals through- 

 out the whole of this formation, and especially at Benihassen in 

 Middle Egypt. 



One feature in this part of the Valley of the Nile is, that, on 

 the western side, the limestone ascends from the plain by a gra- 

 dual and gentle slope, while on the eastern bank it forms lofty 

 and sometimes precipitous escarpments, the bases of which are 

 washed by the river. Both the eastern and western ridges are 

 traversed by transverse valleys, of which the most important 

 are, that leading to Cosseir on the Red Sea, and the one which 

 opens into the plain of Fayoum. Partaking of the nature of 

 these transverse valleys are those on the west of Cairo in the de- 

 sert, running nearly east and west ; these are two valleys sepa- 

 rated by a ridge, the northern one is called the Natron Valley, 

 and contains six small salt-lakes, the waters of which hold in so- 

 lution a large quantity of the muriate and carbonate of soda, 

 the surface of the valley and the central ridge are encrusted with 

 these salts. The southern valley, called the Bahr b'ul Mah, or 

 sea without water, contains no lakes or saline deposits, but has 

 a sandy surface, covered with innumerable fragments of quartz, 

 agate, and jasper, in these respects resembling the transverse 

 valley of Cosseir on the eastern side of the Nile. 



