ESNEH— THEBES— LUXOR— IvARNAK. 379 



also not tlie smallest spot is bare of inscriptions and pictures, including the 

 ' calendar of festivals,' and others that have essentially contributed to our know- 

 ledge of ancient Egyptian geography." * 



ESNEH. 



Below Edfu a gorge opens eastwards, through which formerly descended the 

 Herusha marauders, ancestors of the present Ababdeh tribe. Against their incur- 

 sions ramparts had been constructed across the gorge, the entrance of which was 

 commanded by a fort. The village of El-Kah now occupies the site of this strong- 

 hold, which was the Nekhah of the ancient Egyptians, and the EUethia of the 

 Greeks. Amongst the numerous sepulchral caves excavated in the neighbouring 

 rocks, one has been discovered in which are represented the victories of Ahmes, or 

 Amosis, over the Shepherd Kings and the Ethiopian tribes. 



Lower down, the valley of the Nile broadens out as it approaches the modern 

 Esneh, whose fields and gardens occupy a considerable space on the left bank of 

 the stream. The Latojjolis of the Greeks, Esneh still preserves its ancient name 

 of Sni. ' Capital of a province and an industrial centre, producing blue cottons, 

 shawls, and various kinds of pottery, it ranks as one of the chief trading places in 

 Upper Egypt. A portion of the surrounding plain is covered with sugar-cane 

 plantations ; a few dum -palms are also still seen, but farther down the vegetation 

 along the river banks is almost entirely restricted to date-trees. 



The jDopulation of Esneh is of a very mixed character, comprising besides 

 Coptic Christians and Mussulman fellahîn, Nubians, various tribes of Bejas, and 

 others from the oases. It was to Esneh that the Almeh of Cairo had been banished 

 by Mohammed Ali, and here they are still more numerous than elsewhere. The 

 ancient temple of Sni, dedicated to Kneph, " Soul of the World," was partially 

 freed in 1842 from the heaps of sand and refuse encumbering it ; but it still 

 resembles a shrine in one of the Roman catacombs rather than an edifice erected 

 above ground. The style of its architecture is much inferior to that of Edfu. 



Thebes — Luxor — Karnak. 



After describing a great bend below Esneh, and passing the pleasant village 

 and sugar plantations of Erment, the Nile emerges on the plain where are seen 

 scattered over both banks the still perfect or ruined monuments of mighty Thebes — 

 a world of palaces, of colonnades, temples, and underground buildings. Nowhere 

 else is such a splendid display of religious edifices presented to the view. Yet but 

 a very small portion of Thebes of the " hundred gates " has been preserved. The 

 four chief groups of ruins still standing enclose a space of not more than five square 

 miles. But in the days when No, the " City," in a pre-eminent sense, better known 

 under the name of Pa- Amen, or " Abode of Ammon," was the centre of Egyptian 

 trade and power, it stretched much farther north along the plains skirting the 

 * G. Ebers, "Egypt, Descriptive, Historical, and Picturesque," ii., p. 326. 



