of the City Memphis. 41 



We may obferve further, and it will point out to us perhaps t''c Reafon 



-' ■" '- i I why wc have 



the Reafon, why we find no Remains of the ancient Memphis \ "^ Remains 



/ _ ■' ' ot the anci- 



that the Situation of it was very low, in the very Bed of the ^m ^£/»i>Wy. 

 old River. For Herodotits ' acquaints us, that the River ran 

 formerly along the Side of the fandy Hills of Libya ; hut that 

 this old Channel was dried up, hy bending off the River with 

 a Rampart y (ay/a^vd ^zsfja^acujla.) a hundred Furlongs higher up the 

 Stream, (or, to the Southward, according to the parallel Account 

 in Diodorus Sicidus'',) and thereby making it flow in a new 

 Channel, more at equal Di fiances, (where it was turned off,) 

 beiipixt the {Uvhy^in and Ax'2ih'\2in) Mountains. This Bending 

 of the Nile, where the River is forced to flow, is kept up, lays 

 he, and repaired every Tear, with ftrong Ramparts, by the 

 Perlians', for if it was fufferedto be broken down, all Mem- 

 phis would be in ^Danger (x-arctJcAuaS^vctj) of being [wallowed up 

 hy the Strea'm. In this manner Menes is faid (^ye^i/pSsoj Tw.TheMean- 

 Mi^?)iv) to have ?nade Land, (::^'p'n)v) of what was before JVater ; <f«1"'^ "»' 

 or to have dryed up, fo as to pafs over dry-flood, that Spot of 

 Ground upon which Memphis was built. Or perhaps, '^yt<pv- 

 p^aq may have a contrary Meaning to ystpt/pScjq (as, among other 

 Compound Words, '^fcMXi'.a is contrary to %i^AXilco) and may here 

 iignify the fame as Tnm'm i^n yi<pvfe^ -a Mi/up^y i.e. to contrive it fo that 

 Memphis yZ)<?z//^ not be raifed upon yirches. ViQC^M^Q funxijfe 

 pontibus Memphin, as soTiys^-jpaoy^ is rendered in the Latin Yqv- 

 lion of Valla, conveys no proper Idea of this Undertaking; 

 and aggeffijffe Memphin, as it is in the Margin, (though it be 

 agreeable indeed to the Alterations ' that have been made in 

 fome other Cities,) could not here be a Matter of Fatt. 



Foi' Memphis, at this Time, down to the Age of i^(?r£'<^!?//Ar, The original 



^ . . '-^ ■'Situation ot 



had no higher Situation, than the ancient Bed of the River : ^emphisvery 



*-' , low and dc- 



and we may prefume, that it continued the fame, at leaft the funded with 



. Ramparts. 



greateft Part of it % in after Ages : it's Safety and Preferva- 



I Vid. Not. 3. p. 39. 



2. PeovT®' -^ tS NciAa «fe< tw inhiv, ij i(g.-m 7af ivn^isiif ^jaJ^oi/lof) ^ /xir 7« Nora •ntnZi.Mn ;^^,«« 

 ■Trnfiuiy.'^'tf <aCj( [J.iv tjiv ^iipoin)' tk imafxt itsfoChi/MiT^^ is!(}s Ji -wui 'im -ns yAi 7n>\i[Aoi/f, ixfOTdMai i^r 



X, mvTvi, liv 1!^ Tjjv ■mAiv tittov Tj^nptsaa, oTTii 75 ^ya ng/nrxjiia.^ ^auyasyiv Imiei tw ly^u^^vna. Dioi. Sic. 

 Bibl. 1. I. p. 46. 



3 Vid. Trav. p. 439- Not. 2. 



4 Strabo indeed, by acquainting us that the Royal Edifices were built upon a rifing 

 Ground, Iccms to infinuate, that the City itfelf was low. "iSfu-m Bunf^fit, k fit jusk r^T.cmA^ 

 K^ \<nv tfufM, lif ij-^uf ii3.biMvm f-e^" t« ns-'m t^s TnMaf iJil^o-jf, p. j jy. Ed. C^jaub. 



L tion 



