THE GREAT AND LITTLE OASES. 891 



The Great and Little Oases. 



Siut, more than any other Egyptian town, maintains direct relations with the 

 oases, which are developed in a vast crescent parallel with the bend of the Nile 

 sweeping round from the south to the west and north-west. The " Great " or 

 " Southern " Oasis, known also as that of Khargeh, although the laro-est is no 

 longer the most populous, but still enjoys some importance as a station for the 

 caravans from Dar-For. Its capital, whose site has never been shifted throughout 

 historic times, has preserved a temple of Ammon built during the reign of Darius 



Fig lis. — Red Pottery of Siut. 



" Son of Isis and Osiris." An avenue of pylons leads to the sanctuary, whose 

 bas-reliefs present an extraordinary variety of historical and other figures. In this 

 respect the temple of Darius is altogether unique.* 



All the surrounding cliffs are pierced with sepulchral chambers, in which 

 Christian tombs are very numerous. The oasis of Beris, more to the south, has 

 also preserved an Egyptian temple dating from the Roman period. Round about 

 the present oasis are scattered many ruins, showing that the cultivated lands 

 formerly covered a far greater extent than is now the case. All these tracts 

 might be reclaimed by clearing out the choked-up wells, and draining the soil 

 where the water used in irrigating the rice-fields in some places forms unhealthy 

 * Hoskins' " Visit to the Great Oasis of the Libyan Desert." 



