376 NOETÏÏ-EAST APRIOA. 



determined the dimensions of the planet. He did not take the direct measurement 

 of the distance between Syene and Alexandria. But the Egyptian people, who 

 knew so well how to turn their edifices towards the rising sun, must have also 

 known not only the distance, but also the exact position of these places. Hence the 

 common estimate accepted by the Greek astronomer must have come very close 

 to the truth. If the measurement of the meridian made by him was in Egyptian 

 feet, as is probable, his calculation was wrong by scarcely a sixty-fifth. The real 

 length of the arc of the meridian, between Alexandria and the parallel of Syenc, is 

 exactly 787,760 metres, while the measurement of Eratosthenes gave 810,000 

 metres.* 



Elephantine Island, which faces Assuan on the other side of a channel 500 feet 

 wide, was also the site of a famous city. Here stood Abu, the " City of the 

 Elephant," which afterwards, during the Greek and Roman periods, appears to have 

 been the great emporium for the ivory brought down from the Upper Nile. But 

 scarcely any of its ancient monuments have survived to the present day. Its 

 temples were demolished in 1822, to supply building materials, and little is now to 

 be seen except a Nilometer restored in 1870, and some heaps of ancient pottery on 

 which the custom-house officers of the Roman epoch used to scratch their receipts. 

 On the ruins now stand two villages of Barâbra Nubians. But Elephantine, the 

 " Verdant " Isle of the Arabs, still possesses its magnificent date groves, whose 

 brilliant foliage presents a striking contrast to the black rocks commanding the 

 issue of the cataract. • 



Ombos — Edfu. 



The site of the ancient city of Ombos is now indicated only by the hamlet of 

 Kôm-Ombo, situated on the west bank, and by the ruins of two temples dedicated 

 to two rival dietics, Ilorus, god of light, and Sebek, the genius of darkness. But 

 the stream is continually eating away this bank, with its sanctuaries and the sand 

 encumbering them. The defile of Silsileh, or the " chain," below Kôm-Ombo, 

 would be the most convenient point for constructing a barrage to raise the level 

 of the river and divert a portion of the current to the irrigation canals. According 

 to the proposed plan, the main channel would skirt the foot of the'Libyan range, 

 watering all the now barren tracts which stretch west of the Bahr-Yusef. But, as 

 elsewhere pointed out, there arc many serious objections to this scheme, which, if 

 carried out, would probably have the effect of throwing out of cultivation some 

 extensive districts along both banks of the Nile. 



The Silsfloh defile, formed of sandstone rocks, is one of the most remarkable 

 places in Egypt. On the east side the cliffs have been cut by the aricient quarry- 

 men into avenues and cirques, affording an opportunity of admiring the rare skill 

 with which they made choice of the finest-grained stone and the care with which 

 they extracted it. In this respect the Silsileh quarries might still serve as models 

 for our modern contractors. It might almost seem, remarks Mariette, as if the 



* Faye, "Journal Oflicicl do la llépiibliqno Française," April 29, 1881. 



