DENDERA KE^t. 
i57 
sculptures in these temples exhibits a degree of 
purity and delicacy which the Egyptians seldoni 
attained. The principal subjects represented iri 
the porticos are of an astronorticar nature. The 
inhabitants of ancient Tentyra are famous for 
their enmity to the crocodile, over which they 
exhibited a power similar to that of the PsyHi oVer 
serpents. Opposite to Dendera, on the eastern 
bank of the Nile, lies Kene or Giene, the ancient 
Coene or Coenopolis, situated on an eminence. 
Since the decline of Coptos or Keft, the Sanscrit 
Gupta, its ruins lie about four leagues above Kene, 
on the same bank of the river. The ruins of this 
city, which occupy an eminence of two miles in cir- 
cumference, are marked only by a few fragments 
of granite and mutilated sarcophagi, sunk in the 
elevated soil. In the reign of the Ptolemies, this 
city was the mart of Indian commerce ; it was 
watered by a canal of the Nile, and inhabited by 
Egyptians and Arabs. By this route the produce 
of Arabia, Ethiopia, and India, was introduced 
into Egypt from the port of Cosseir, which lies 
at the distance of three days' journey. The city 
retained the opulence it derived from this trade 
till the reign of Dioclesian, by whom it Was rased, 
and the inhabitants extirpated on account of their 
adherence to Christianity. In the time of Abul- 
feda it was reduced to a hamlet. Cous, the Apol- 
linopolis Parva of the ancients, succeeded to the 
