MEMPHIS — FEIUM, 
153 
g^iidria was the first incident fatp,l to its greatness, 
and the capital of Middle Egypt began to experi- 
ence the fate of Thebes. In the reign of Augus- 
tus, Memphis, though deserted by many of its 
inhabitants, still continued the second city of 
Egypt, a rank which it seems to have maintained 
till its final destruction by the Arabs under Am- 
rpu. After a long and obstinate defence, it was 
taken by storm, rased to the ground, and the 
name of Misr, by which it was known to the 
Arabs, trai|sferred to Fostat.* At some distance 
above, tjie province of Feium, the ancient Croco- 
dilopolis, afterwards denominated Arsinoe, com- 
mences. Here the western mountainous ridge, 
which accompanies the course of the Nile from the 
cataracts, suddenly bends towards the desert, and 
returning, forms in its bosom an immense basin, 
containing the lake Moeris, which Strabo des- 
cribes with a degree of enthusiasm, as resembling 
the sea in its extent, in its colour, and in the 
shores by which it is surrounded, t This province 
is celebrated by the ancients as surpassing the 
rest of Egypt in beauty, in riches, and in the va- 
riety of its productions. It was the only district 
which produced the olive. Feium still displays 
traces of its ancient fertility, though, by the ne- 
* Abulfedse Descript. -^gypt. p. 23. 
f Strabo a Casaub. p. 1163, 
