174 
DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
been devoted to the united worship of Osiris and 
the Crocodile, still displayed the faded aspect of 
ancient grandeur. * 
In the temples of Ombos, the malignant Ty- 
phon is represented with the head of a crocodile 
and the body of a bear, and offerings are present- 
ed to the figure of a man with the head of a cro- 
codile. As the banks of the Nile are in this dis- 
trict almost deserted, the crocodiles which swarm 
on the isles of sand, and swim in long lines along 
the river, seem to have fixed their residence, in a 
peculiar manner, in the vicinity of a town in which 
they were formerly venerated. Ascending be- 
yond Ombos, we arrive at Syene or Assuan, Ele- 
phantine, and Philse, by Tacitus denominated the 
barrier of the Roman empire. Syene has thrice 
varied its position. The present town is built on 
the banks of the river, according to the observa- 
tions of Bruce, in N. L. 24° C W and E. long. 
33° 30'. t The Syene of the ancient Egyptians, of 
the Greeks, and of the Romans, appears to have 
been situated on the heights which command the 
modern town. It was taken and destroyed by 
Caled, named by Mahomet " The Sword of God." 
The Arabian Syene, though it occupied a part of 
* Ripaud's Report on the Antiquities of Upper Egypt, 
p. 22. 
f Bruce's Travels, Vol. I. p. 160. 
