THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS. 



285 



The Central Highlands. 



To the west of tlie border chain which skirts the Red Sea, the mountainous 

 ridges run transversely either from the east to the west, or from the north-east to 

 the south-west, in the same direction as the portion of the Nile comprised between 

 Abu-Hamed and Dabbeh. Some of these ridges are continuous ; such, for instance, 

 as that of the " Cataracts," which forms the natural barrier between Nubia and 



Fiir. 90.— NvBiAX Gold Mines 



]-iom the i'urin Papyrus, reproduced by Chabas. 



A. The Auriferous hills are coloured 



red on the plan. 



B. Gold Mounfciin. 



C. Shrine of Ammon on the Holy 



Mountain. 



D. Road to Ta Menat-ti. 



£. Face of the Mountain. 



F. Abode of Ammon. 



H Houses for Storing the Gold. 



I. King Ramanem's Stele. 



K. Cistern. 



L. Wells. 



M. Road to the Coast. 



N. Another Road to the Coast. 



0. Road to Tapimat. 



Egypt, west of Assuan ; such also is the range whose culminating point is the 

 Jebel-Shikr, north-east of Abu-Hamed. 



Other ridges are intersected at intervals by broad breaches, and from a distance 

 present the appearance of walls partially crumbling away. Like the mountains of 

 the border chain, those of the highest transversal chains consist of crystalline 

 rocks, granites, gneiss, porphyries, syenites, diorites, and volcanic formations. In 

 many parts of the desert occur metamorphic sandstones, which have overflowed into 

 the crevasses in the soil. But between the mountains, which form the backbone of 

 Eastern Nubia, are other projections of less height, nearly all isolated, although 



