MARAWI— BAEKAL. 299 



their goods ; they deposit their bales in the sand, under the protection of the shrine 

 consecrated to " Saint Abû-Hamed," and when they return, after an absence of 

 months, or years, they always find their property just as they left it under the 

 shadow of this venerated tomb. 



Marawi — Barkal. 



Some ruins are found on the banks of the Nile between Abû-Hamed and the 

 Fourth Cataract, but it is below these rapids that, next to those of Meroë, the most 

 remarkable ruins of Upper Nubia are met with. Marawi, the village which at 

 present stands in this part of the valley, is a name which seems to be derived from 

 that of the ancient capital ; nevertheless, archaeologists, relying on the statements 

 of authors, are certain that Marawi is the Napata of Herodotus, and the inscriptions 

 deciphered are unanimous on this point. 



Marawi, situated at the foot of white rocks, occupies an important geographical 

 situation, being the place where navigation recommences below the Fourth Cataract, 

 and the converging point of the two routes from Berber and Shendi, across the 

 Bayuda steppe. The Wady-Dum, one of the most fertile and least dried-up 

 valleys of this region, forms a confluence with the Nile valley precisely opposite 

 Marawi. Large heaps of rubbish mark the site of the destroyed monuments, and, 

 not far above, the remains of great buildings are still to be seen at the base of the 

 superb Mount Barkal, an enormous quadrangular sandstone mass, poised in the 

 middle of the plain like a pedestal awaiting its statue. The hieroglyphic name of 

 Barkal was " Holy Mountain," and its principal temple was dedicated to the glory 

 of Ammon-Ra. Of this building but few ruins remain, sufiicient, however, to leave 

 no doubt as to the Egyptian origin of the monument attributed to Ramses the Great. 

 Nevertheless, the name of Amenemha III. is also found on the granite rams and 

 lions of natural size. In 1863, Mariette discovered amongst the monuments of 

 Barkal five columns of the highest importance, proving that Ethiopia had a very 

 important position among the Egyptian dynasties. For a period of fifty -one years, 

 three Ethiopian kings, residing in Nubia, ruled over the greater part of Egypt. 

 One of these conquerors, Tahraka by name, carried his expeditions even into Asia. 

 The European museums possess several of these monuments from Mount Barkal. 



Groups of pyramids are found near the temple. But the most remarkable 

 structures of this description are those which, to the number of twenty-five, stand 

 on the left bank of the Nile, near the village of Nuri. These latter, larger than 

 the pyramids of Meroë, are not so well preserved, owing to the less durable 

 qualities of the sandstone, and nearly all have lost their exterior coating of 

 polished stones. In the interior are found vaults, a method of support which was 

 till recently believed to be an Etruscan invention, but which, nevertheless, occurs 

 in various Oriental countries, notably at Saqqarah in the tombs of the sixth dynasty. 



In the wady of Abu-Dum, south of Nuri, are seen the ruins of a fine church 

 and of a convent in the Byzantine style ; but nowhere, on the left bank of the river, 

 are to be found the traces of such an important town as Najiata must have been, 

 which stood on the northern bank. The whole of this country formerly possessed 



