4^5 Thecal and MifceUaneous 



main Channel, but we could pafs over, by thrufting our Boat 

 The dayh i«- forward with a Pole of eight Cubits in Length. Each Days In- 

 Zthtffx-cre^^e afterwards, 'till the Middle of Jul}', was two, three 

 teen Cubits. ^^ ξ^^^ Digits, aud then it would be fometimes ten, fometimes 

 twenty or thirty, 'till it rofe {^ug. ly. 1711. ) to fixteen Cubits ; 

 which (with the artful Introduftion, no Doubt, at fome proper 

 Jundure, of a larger Meafure of the fame Denomination ' ) 

 feems to have been received as the Standard, that portended 

 Plenty, and the Condition whereupon the EgjYtians were to 

 pay their Tribute, for many Generations. 

 Thecutthgof For no Addition appears to have been made, during the 

 )t.^ur^;vi Space of five hundred Years, to the Number of Cubits, that 

 are taken Notice of by Herodoms. This, we learn, not only 

 from the fixteen Children that attend the Statue of the Nile ' 

 above-mentioned; but from a Medal alfo of Trajan, where, 

 we fee the Figure of the Nile, with a Boy ftanding upon it, 

 who points to the Number «^ (16.). This Account we have 

 likewife confirmed hy Tlin/\ though, in the fourth Century, 

 fifteen Cubits only are recorded by the Emperor Julian\ as 

 the Height of the Nile^s Inundation. About three hundred 

 Years afterwards, when Egypt was fubdued by the Saracens^ 

 Itill the Amount^ was no more than fixteen or feventeen : and, 

 at prefent, notwithftanding the great Accumulation of Soil, 

 that hath been made, fince thofe Times, yet, when the River 

 rifeth to fixteen Cubits, (though nineteen or twenty are re- 

 quired to prepare the whole Land for Cultivation , ) the 



I Something of this Kind is probably implied in the following Remark of Kalkdfendas. 

 Obferva quod noflro tempore faila ejl corrupt'io fluviorum & mminutto flutus rcrttm ; cujus Argumen- 

 tum efty quod Nilometra antiqua regionis Al Said a pr'imo ad ult'imum confl. inter b.ibuerunt v'tginti 

 quatuor digitos pro unoquoque ctibito [me uUa add'tt'tone ad hutic numerttm. The fame Author 

 mentions the changing and pulling down feveral oi ihzk Nilometra, {ϊοϊ the more eafy Intro- 

 dudion perhaps of another Meafure;) the Particulars whereof are inferred after the 

 Excerpta. 2 Vid. Not. y. p. 433. Nunquam hie major repertus ell, quam in Tcmplo 

 Pacis ab Imperatore Vefpafiano Auguflo dicatus : Argumento Nili xvi libcris circa ludentibus, 

 per quos totidem cubita fummi increment! augentis fe amnis intelliguntur. Plin. de bafalte. 

 1.35. cap. 7. 3 Incipit crefcere {Ni/wj^ Luna nova, quscunque poll Iblftitium eft, fenfim 

 modiceque, Cancrum folc tranfeunte, abundantiifime autem Leonem. Et rcfidit iu Virgine, 

 ijfdem, quibus accrevit, modis. In totum autem revocatur intra ripas in Libra, ut tradic 

 Herodotus, centefimo die. Cum crefcit, reges aut prasfcdos navigare co, nefas judicatura 

 eft. Audus ejus per puteos menfurs notis deprehenduntur. Jullum incrementum eft cu- 

 bitorum xvl. Minores aquae non omnia rigent : ampliores detinent, tardius recedendo. 

 ** In duodecim cubitis famem fentit, in trcdecim etiamnum efurit: quatuordecim cubita 

 hilaritatem afferunt: quindecim fecuritatem : fexdecim dclicias. Maximum incrementum 

 ad hoc aevi fuit cubitorum decern & odo ; Claudio Principe ; minimumque (quinque MS. 

 V. Ch. ) Pharfalic. bello, veluti necem Magni prodigio quodam fluminc avertente. Plin. 

 Nat. Hift. I. f. cap. p. 4 Πολί? φχιην, I Νπλ®" ίζ^(ϊ{ jtMTwp®' τοίί -ττήχίο-ιν, IvK'nfan tmjiu 7>ir 

 Αιγ/ήίοϊ. Ε/ Λ' n^ τβι» άε/θμ*)» exo"(w< 7τοθ«<•, «V tw «ι;*/» τ» ητϋίμζεΐι Jtit τήγτι, jfulian. Epill. l. 

 Ecdicio Praefedo ^gjfpti. f Vid. Kalkaftndas as above. 



Egyptians 



