128 Observations on Sculptured Marks on 



18th dynasty, about 1600 years before Christ; but the fortresses in 

 which they stand are of a more ancient date. The foundations of these 

 are granite blocks of Cyclop ian dimensions, resting on the rock, and 

 scarcely inferior to the rock itself in durability. They were erected by 

 the first conqueror of the country, King Sesuatesen III., of the 12th 

 dynasty, in order to command the river, so easily done in so narrow a 

 gorge. The immediate successor of this king was Amenemha III., the 

 Moeris of the Greeks : he who accomplished the gigantic work of forming 

 the artificial lake of Moeris, in the Fayoum, and from whose time — the 

 most flourishing of the whole of the old Egyptian kingdom — the risings 

 of the Nile in successive years, doubtless by means of regular markings, 

 as indeed Diodorus tells, remained so well known, that, according to 

 Herodotus, they were recorded in distinct numbers from the time of Moeris. 

 It appears that this provident king, occupied with great schemes for the 

 welfare of his country, considered it of great importance that the rising 

 of the Nile on the most southern border of his kingdom should be ob- 

 served, and the results forthwith communicated widely in other parts of 

 the land, to prepare the people for the inundations. The gorge at Semne 

 offered greater advantages for this object than any other point ; because 

 the river was there securely confined by precipitous rocky cliffs on each 

 side. With the same view he had doubtless caused Nilometers to be 

 fixed at Assuan and other suitable places ; for without a comparison 

 with these, the observations at Semne could be of little use. 



" The highest rise of the Nile in each year at Semne, was registered 

 by a mark, indicating the year of the king's reign, cut in the granite, 

 either on one of the blocks forming the foundation of the fortress, or on 

 the cliff, and particularly on the east or right bank, as best adapted for 

 the purpose. Of these markings eighteen still remain, thirteen of them, 

 having been made in the reign of Moeris, and five in the time of his twa 

 next successors. These last kings discontinued the observations ; for, in 

 the meantime, the irruption of the Asiatic pastoral tribes into Lower 

 Egypt took place, and wellnigh brought the whole kingdom to ruin. 

 The record is almost always in the same terms, short and simple : Ra 

 en Hapi em renpe . . . mouth or gate of the Nile in the year . 

 And then follows the year of the reign, and the name of the king. It 

 is written in a horizontal row of hieroglyphics, included within two linea 

 — the upper line indicating the particular height of the water, as is often/ 

 specially stated — 





Mif 



'Jiii^ 



" The earliest date preserved is that of the sixth year of the kingV 

 reign, and he reigned 42 years and some months. The next following 

 dates are, the years 9, 14, 15, 20, 22, 23, 24, 30, 32, 37, 40, 41, and 

 43 ; and include, therefore, under this king, a period of 37 years. Of the 

 remaining dates, that only of the 4th year of his two successors is avail- 

 able ; all the others, which are on the west or left bank of the river, 

 have been moved from their original place by the rapid floods which 

 have overthrown and carried forward vast masses of rock. One single 



