1 138 The Cave Temples and Emerald Mines of Saheyt. [Nov. 



Notice of the Cave Temples and Emerald Mines of Saheyt, in the 

 eastern desert of Egypt. By Hekekyan Bey. — Communicated by 

 Captain Newbold, M. N. I. 



The following notice of the temples and emerald mines of Sakeyt, 

 was communicated to me by my friend Hekekyan Bey, late president 

 of the Ecole Poly technique at Cairo, and brother-in-law to the Pasha's 

 minister — Artim Bey. 



Hekekyan Bey was educated in England, is an accomplished English, 

 French, and Italian scholar ; and well acquainted with the Turkish, 

 Persian, Greek and Arabic tongues. His attainments in Geology, 

 Mineralogy, Mechanics and Natural Philosophy are very considerable, 

 and he has lately been employed by the Pasha in superintending the 

 researches for coal in Egypt. He is one of the Presidents of the 

 Egyptian Society in Cairo, and distinguished as being the most zealous 

 and influential patron of literature and science in the land of the 

 Pharoahs and Ptolemies. 



It is with much pleasure that I embrace the present opportunity of 

 thanking him for the gratification and instruction derived in the many 

 agreeable hours I had the good fortune to pass in his society during 

 my residence in Cairo. The following notes are nearly literal extracts 

 from his rough journal, which were kept in English and French ; and 

 daily written out with his own hand. He proceeded in June 1844, 

 from the emerald, or rather chrysolite mines, of Zubara, described by 

 other writers, to those of Saheyt, distant about 12 hours' travelling by 

 the Rieh ul Allawi, Oum Gemil, and the Rich id Talik. About seven 

 hours from Zubara up a Rhawdi, on the right side of Wadi Gemil, he 

 found the ruins of an ancient station, with cisterns, mills and old 

 gold mines excavated in veins of quartz in mica slate. 



The ruins of the ancient mining town of Sakeyt are scattered on the 

 brows of hills of mica slate walling the valley, which is about 500 ft. 

 broad, and runs N. N. W. — distant from the summit of Gebel Sakeyt 

 about 2\ miles. There are here several rock cut temples ; the princi- 

 pal of which is excavated in the schistose rock on the left side of the 

 Wadi, and runs E. S. E., having a central altar at that extremity, on 

 which is inscribed a triangle. The interior is whitewashed, and an 

 illegible Greek inscription in red ochre is seen on the wall on the right 



