Cliap. 11.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 417 



ter\ After this comes Tentyris', below which is Abydus', the 

 royal abode of Memnon, and famous for a temple of Osiris^, 

 which is situate in Libya*, at a distance from the river of 

 seven miles and a half. Next to it comes Ptolemais**, then 

 Panopolis', and then another towTi of Venus*, and, on the 

 Libyan side, Lycon', where the mountains form the boun- 

 dary of the province of Thebais. On passing these, we come 

 to the towns of Mercury^", Alabastron", the town of 



the place, the ruins of which are called Aftyeh, on the east side of the 

 Nile, and the capital of the nome of AphroditopoUtes. In Upper Egypt 

 or the Thebais there was the present Tachta, oil the west side of the Nile, 

 between Ptoleraais and Panopolis, capital of another nome of Aphrodito- 

 poUtes, and that one the ruins of which are now called Deir, on the west 

 bank of the Nile, higher up than the former, and, like it, some distance 

 from the river. It was situate in the nome Hermonthites. 



* Another Diospolis. Great DiospoHs is mentioned in the preceding 

 page. ' Or Teutyra. The modem Dendera of the 

 Arabs, called Dend6ri or Hidenddri by the ancient Egyptians. 



3 In ancient times called This, and in Coptic Eb6t, the ruins of which 

 are now known as Arabat-el-Matfoon. It was the chief town of tlie 

 Nomos Thinites, and was situate in lat. 26° 10' north and long. 32° 3' 

 east. In the Thebaid it ranked next to Thebes itself. Here according 

 to general belief was the burial-place of Osiris. In the time of Strabo it 

 had sunk into a mere village. Its ruins, though nearly buried in the 

 sand, are very extensive. There is, however, some uncertainty as to the 

 exact identity of This with Abydus. 



* The ruins of these places are still to be seen at Abydus. 



s He calls the whole of the country on the western bank of the Nile 

 by this name. * Called Absou or Absai by the Arabs, and Psoe by 



the ancient Egyptians. It has been suggested that it was the same place 

 as This, more generally identified with Abydus. 



7 Its site is now called Ekhmin or Akhmia by the Arabs, Khmim being 

 its ancient Egyptian name. It was the chief town of the nome of Pano- 

 poUtes, and the deity Phthah was worshipped there under the form of 

 Priapus. 



** Another Aphroditopolis, the present Tachta, mentioned above, in 

 Note ^ in the last page. Pliny distinguishes it from that now called 

 Deir, mentioned above. » Now known as Es-Siout. 



^° Or HermopoHs — the modem Esh-moon or Ash-mounion, on the 

 eastern bank of the NDe, in lat. 27° 54' north. It was the capital of 

 the Hermopohte nome in the Heptanomis. It was a place of great 

 opulence and densely populated. The deities Typhon and Thoth were 

 principally worshipped at this place. The latter, the inventor of the 

 pen and letters, nearly corresponded with the Hermes of the Greeks (the 

 Mercury of the Romans), from which the Hellenized name of the place. 

 Its ruins are very extensive. 



" This town ^ras no doubt connected with the alabaster quarries of 

 VOL. I. 2 E 



