CHAPTER I.
THE COUNTRY OF EGYPT AND ITS LIMITS. THE DELTA. OASES. LAKES. THE NILE. INUNDATION. NILE FESTIVALS. FAMINES. ANCIENT AND MODERN DIVISIONS OF EGYPT AND THE SÛDÂN.
The =Land of Egypt= is situated in the north-east shoulder of the continent of Africa, and in the earliest times it consisted of that portion of the Nile Valley which lay between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern end of the First Cataract; the Island of Ābu, or Elephantine, and the town of Sunnu, or Sunt, the Syene of classical writers and the Sewênêh of the Bible (Ezekiel xxix, 10), forming the southern boundary of the country. The northern limit of Egypt has, in historic times, always been the Mediterranean Sea, but its southern limit varied considerably at different periods. Under the Vth dynasty, about B.C. 3600, it was marked by Elephantine and Syene. Under the XIIth dynasty, about B.C. 2500, it was extended to Semnah and Kummah, about 250 miles to the south of Syene. Under the XVIIIth dynasty, about B.C. 1600, the southern frontier town was probably Napata, the modern Merawi, about 600 miles, by river, from Syene. A century later the Egyptians took possession of the Island of Meroë, and they appear to have built a town at a place about 930 miles from Syene, by river, to mark their southern frontier. Between B.C. 1200 and 600 the frontier was withdrawn to Syene, where it remained practically for several centuries. Under the Arabs, the southern frontier was fixed at Dongola (A.D. 1275), the old Nubian capital, which lay about 570 miles from Syene. In 1873, Sir Samuel Baker extended it to Gondókoro, about 2,823 miles, by river, from Cairo. In 1895, the frontier town of Egypt in the south was Wâdî Ḥalfah, and it continued to be so until the capture of Umm Darmân (Omdurmân) in 1898. At the present time, the southern limit of Egypt is marked by the 22nd parallel of N. latitude, which crosses the Nile at Gebel Sahaba, about eight miles north of the Camp at Wâdî Ḥalfah, and its northern limit is the northernmost point of the Delta. The distance, by river, from the Camp to the Mediterranean Sea, is about 960 miles. The boundary of Egypt on the east is marked by a line drawn from Ar-Rafah, which lies a little to the east of Al-Arîsh, the Rhinocolura of classical writers, to Tabah, at the head of the Gulf of Akabah, by the eastern coast of the Peninsula of Sinai,[1] and by the Red Sea. On the west, the boundary is marked by a line drawn from the Gulf of Solum due south to a point a little to the south-west of the Oasis of Sîwah, and then proceeding in a south-easterly direction to the 22nd parallel of N. latitude, near Wâdî Ḥalfah.
[Illustration: MAP OF EGYPT.]
The =name “Egypt,”= which has come to us through the Latin “Aegyptus” and the Greek “Aiguptos,” is derived from one of the ancient Egyptian names of Memphis, viz., “Ḥet-ka-Ptaḥ,” meaning “Temple of the Ka, or Double, of Ptaḥ” 𓉗𓏏𓉐𓂓𓏤𓊪𓏏𓎛𓀭 or 𓉘𓂓𓏤𓊪𓏏𓎛𓀭𓉜. The common name for Egypt among the Egyptians was “Qem,” or “Qemt,” _i.e._, the “Black Land,” 𓆎𓏏𓊖, in allusion to the brownish-black mud of which the soil chiefly consists. Another name of frequent occurrence in the literature is “Ta-Merȧ,” the “Land of the Inundation,” 𓇾𓏤𓈇𓌻𓇋𓆳𓊖.
The =soil= of Egypt is formed of a layer of sedimentary deposits, which has been laid down by the Nile, and varies in depth from about 40 to 110 feet; the rate at which this layer is being added to at the present time in the bed of the river is said to be about =four inches in a century=. In prehistoric times the sea ran up as far as Esna, and deposited thick layers of sand and gravel; upon these the rivers and streams flowing from the south spread the mud and stony matter which they brought down with them, and thus the soil of Egypt was gradually built up. Near Esna begins the layer of sandstone, which extends southward, and covers nearly the whole of Nubia, and rests ultimately on crystalline rock.
[Illustration: The Delta of Egypt.]
The part of Egypt which lies to the north of the point where the Nile divides itself into two branches resembles in shape a lotus flower, or a triangle standing on its apex, and because of its similarity to the fourth letter of their alphabet, the Greeks called it =Delta=, Δ.
The Delta is formed of a deep layer of mud and sand, which rests upon the yellow quartz sands, and gravels and stiff clay, which were laid down by the sea in prehistoric times. The area of the Delta is about 14,500 square miles.
The =Oases= of Egypt are seven in number, and all are situated in the Western Desert. Their names are: 1. Oasis of =Sîwah= or =Jupiter Ammon=; 2. Oasis of =Baḥarîyah=, _i.e._, the Northern Oasis; 3. The Oasis of =Farâfrah=, the Ta-ȧḥet of the Egyptians; 4. The Oasis of =Dâkhlah=, _i.e._, the “Inner” Oasis, the =Tchesti= of the Egyptians; 5. The Oasis of =Khârgah=, _i.e._, the “Outer Oasis,” the Uaḥt-rest or “Southern Oasis” of the Egyptians; 6. The Oasis of =Dailah=, to the west of Farâfrah; 7. The Oasis of =Kûrkûr=, to the west of Aswân.
The principal =Lakes= of Egypt are: 1. =Birkat al-Ḳurûn=, a long, narrow lake lying to the north-west of the Province of the Fayyûm, and formerly believed to be a part of the Lake Moeris described by Herodotus; 2. The =Natron Lakes=, which lie in the Natron Valley, to the north-west of Cairo; from these the Egyptians obtained salt and various forms of soda, which were used for making incense, and in embalming the dead; 3. Lake =Menzâlah=, Lake =Bûrlûs=, Lake =Edkû=, Lake =Abukîr=, now almost reclaimed, and Lake =Mareotis=; all these are in the Delta. Lake =Timsaḥ= (_i.e._, Crocodile Lake) and the Bitter Lakes, which were originally mere swamps, came into existence with the making of the Suez Canal.
The =Fayyûm= which was in ancient times regarded as one of the Oases, is nothing more than a deep depression scooped out of the limestone, on which are layers of loams and marls covered over by Nile mud. The district was called by the Egyptians “Ta-she,” or “Land of the Lake”; at the present time it has an area of about 850 square miles, and is watered by a branch of the Nile called the “Baḥr Yûsuf,” which flows into it through an opening in the mountains on the west bank of the Nile. The Baḥr Yûsuf, or “River of Joseph,” is not called after the name of the patriarch Joseph, but that of some Muḥammadan ruler. It is not a canal as was once supposed, but an arm of the Nile, which, however, needs clearing out periodically. In the Fayyûm lay the large body of water to which Herodotus gave the name of =Lake Moeris=. He believed that this Lake had been constructed artificially, but modern irrigation authorities in Egypt have come to the conclusion that the mass of water which he saw and thought was a lake was merely the result of the Nile flood, or inundation, and that there never was a Lake Moeris.
[Illustration: The Entrance to the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes.]
=Deserts.= On each side of the Valley of the Nile lies a vast desert. That on the east is called the Arabian Desert, or Red Sea Desert, and that on the west the Libyan Desert. The influence of the latter on the climate of Egypt is very great, as for six months of the year the prevailing wind blows from the west. At many places in the Eastern and Western Deserts there are long stretches of sand scores of miles in length, and immense tracts covered with layers of loose pebbles and stone, and the general effect is desolate in the extreme. The hills which skirt the deserts along the Valley of the Nile are usually quite low, but at certain points they rise to the height of a few hundred feet. Nothing grows on them, and more bare and inhospitable places cannot be imagined. The accompanying illustration gives a good idea of the general appearance of the stone hills on the Nile. In the fore-ground are masses of broken stone, sand, rocks, etc., and these stretch back to a gap in the range of hills just below the letter A, whence, between steep rocks, a rough road winds in and out along the dreary valley which contains the sepulchres of the great kings of the XVIIIth, XIXth and later dynasties. Under the light of a full moon the Valley is full of weird beauty, but in the day-time the heat in it resembles that of a furnace.
The chief characteristic of Egypt is the great =river Nile=, which has in all ages been the source of the life and prosperity of its inhabitants, and the principal highway of the country. The Egyptians of the early Dynastic Period had no exact knowledge about the true source of the river. In their hymns to the Nile-god they described him as the “hidden one,” and “unseen,” and his “secret places” are said to be “unknown.” The river over which he presided formed a part of the great celestial river, or ocean, upon which sailed the boats of the Sun-god daily. This river surrounded the whole earth, from which, however, it was separated by a range of mountains. On one portion of this river was placed the throne of Osiris, according to a legend, and close by was the opening in the range of mountains through which an arm of the celestial river flowed into the earth. The place where the Nile appeared on earth was believed to be situated in the First Cataract, and in late times the Nile was said to rise there, between two mountains which were near the Island of Elephantine and the Island of Philae. Herodotus gives the names of these mountains as “Krôphi” and “Môphi,” and their originals have probably been found in the old Egyptian “Qer-Ḥāpi” and “Mu-Ḥāpi”; these names mean “Cavern of Ḥāpi” and “Water of Ḥāpi” respectively.
[Illustration: The two Nile-gods and their Cavern, and the hippopotamus goddess, who is armed with a huge knife, their protectress.]
[Illustration: The Nile-god in his cavern, under the rocks at Philae, pouring out the waters which formed the two Niles.]
The underground caverns, or “storehouses of the Nile,” from which the river welled up, are depicted in the illustrations here given. In the first the cavern is guarded by a hippopotamus-headed goddess, who is armed with a large knife and wears a feather on her head. Above are seated two gods, one wearing a cluster of papyrus plants on his head, and the other a cluster of lotus flowers; the former represents the Nile of the South, and the other the Nile of the North. Each god holds water-plants in one hand. In the second illustration the god is depicted kneeling in his cavern, which is enclosed by the body of a serpent; he wears a cluster of water-plants on his head, and is pouring out from two vases the streams of water which became the South and North Niles.
The Egyptians called both their river and the river-god “=Ḥāp=” or “=Ḥāpi=” 𓎛𓂝𓊪, 𓎛𓂝𓊪𓏭𓈘𓈗𓀭, a name of which the meaning is unknown; in very early dynastic times the god was called “Ḥep-ur” 𓎛𓊪𓈘𓅨, _i.e._, the “great Ḥep.” The name “Nile,” by which the “River of Egypt” is generally known, is not of Egyptian origin, but is probably derived from the Semitic word _nakhal_ “river”; this the Greeks turned into “Neilos,” and the Latins into “Nilus,” whence comes the common form “Nile.” The river appears in the form of a man wearing a cluster of water-plants on his head, and his fertility is indicated by a large pendent breast. In the accompanying illustration the gods of the South and North Niles are seen tying stems of the lotus and papyrus plants round the symbol of “union”; the scene represents the union of Upper and Lower Egypt.
[Illustration: The Nile-god bearing offerings of bread, wine, fruit, flowers, etc.]
[Illustration: The Nile-gods of the South and North tying the stems of a lily and a papyrus plant round the symbol of “union,” symbolizing the union of Upper and Lower Egypt.]
The ideas held by the Egyptians concerning the power of the Nile-god are well illustrated by a lengthy Hymn to the Nile preserved on papyrus in the British Museum (Sallier II, No. 10,182). “Homage to thee, O Ḥāpi, thou appearest in this land, and thou comest in peace to make Egypt to live. Thou waterest the fields which Rā hath created, thou givest life unto all animals, and as thou descendest on thy way from heaven thou makest the land to drink without ceasing. Thou art the friend of bread and drink, thou givest strength to the grain and makest it to increase, and thou fillest every place of work with work.... Thou art the lord of fish ... thou art the creator of barley, and thou makest the temples to endure for millions of years.... Thou art the lord of the poor and needy. If thou wert overthrown in the heavens, the gods would fall upon their faces, and men would perish. When thou appearest upon the earth, shouts of joy rise up and all people are glad; every man of might receiveth food, and every tooth is provided with meat.... Thou fillest the storehouses, thou makest the granaries to overflow and thou hast regard to the condition of the poor and needy. Thou makest herbs and grain to grow that the desires of all may be satisfied, and thou art not impoverished thereby. Thou makest thy strength to be a shield for man.” Elsewhere he is called the “father of the gods of the company of the gods who dwell in the celestial ocean,” and he was declared to be self-begotten, and “One,” and in nature inscrutable.
In another passage of the same hymn it is said that the god is not sculptured in stone, that images of him are not seen, “he is not to be seen in inscribed shrines, there is no habitation large enough to contain him, and thou canst not make images of him in thy heart.” These statements suggest that statues or figures of the Nile-god were not commonly made, and it is a fact that figures of the god, large or small, are rare. In the fine collection of figures of Egyptian gods exhibited in the Third Egyptian Room, which is certainly one of the largest in the world, there is only one figure of Ḥāpi (No. 108, Wall-case 125). In this the god wears on his head a cluster of papyrus plants 𓇇, before which is the Utchat, or Eye of Horus, 𓂀, and he holds an altar from which he pours out water. The only other figure of the god in the British Museum collection is the fine quartzite sandstone statue (Southern Egyptian Gallery, No. 766) which was dedicated to Ȧmen-Rā by Shashanq, the son of Uasarken and his queen Maāt-ka-Rā. Here the god bears on his out-stretched hands an altar, from which hang down bunches of grain, green herbs, flowers, waterfowl, etc. The statue was dedicated to Ȧmen-Rā, who included the attributes of Ḥāp among his own.
[Illustration: The NILE from SEA to SOURCE]
The true =source of the Nile= is Victoria Nyanza, or =Lake Victoria=, which lies between the parallels of latitude 0° 20′ N. and 3° S., and the meridians of 31° 40′ and 35° E. of Greenwich; the lake is 250 miles in length and 200 in breadth, and was discovered in modern times by Speke, on August 3rd, 1858. Other contributory sources are Albert Nyanza, or =Lake Albert=, discovered by Sir Samuel Baker on March 16th, 1864, and =Lake Albert Edward=, discovered by Sir H. M. Stanley in 1875; the connecting channel between these lakes is the Semliki River. The portion of the Nile between Lake Victoria and Lake Albert is called the “=Victoria Nile=” (or the “Somerset River”); that between Lake Albert and Lake Nô is called the “Baḥr al-Gebel” or “=Upper Nile=”; and that between Lake Nô and Kharṭûm is called “Baḥr al-Abyaḍ,” or “=White Nile=.” The total length of these three portions of the Nile is about 1,560 miles. At Kharṭûm the White Nile is joined by the “=Blue Nile=” (or Abâî, the Astapos of Strabo, which rises in Lake Ṣânâ and is about 1,000 miles long), and their united streams form that portion of the river which is commonly known as the “Nile.” The distance from Kharṭûm to the Mediterranean Sea is about 1,913 miles, and thus the =total length of the Niles= is about =3,473 miles=. Between Kharṭûm and the sea the Nile receives but one tributary, viz., the =Atbara=, the Astaboras of Strabo, a torrential stream which brings into the Nile an immense quantity of dirty red water containing valuable deposits of mud. The =Cataracts=, or series of rapids, on the Nile are six in number: the =first= is between Aswân and Philae, the =second= is a little to the south of Wâdî Ḥalfah, the =third= is at Ḥannek, the =fourth= is at Adramîya, the =fifth= is at Wâdî al-Ḥamâr, and the =sixth= is at Shablûkah. On the White Nile is a series of cataracts known as the “Fôla Falls,” and on the Blue Nile there are cataracts from Rusêres southwards for a distance of 40 miles.
[Illustration: Statue of Ḥāpi the Nile-god.
[No. 766.]]
The most important characteristic of the Nile is its annual flooding or =Inundation=. By the end of May, in Egypt, the river is at its lowest level. During the month of June the Nile, between Cairo and Aswân, begins to rise, and a quantity of “green water” appears at this time. The cause of the colour is said to be myriads of minute algae, which subsequently putrefy and disappear. During August the river rises rapidly, and its waters assume a red, muddy colour, which is due to the presence of the rich red earth which is brought into the Nile by the Blue Nile and the Atbara. The rising of the waters continues until the middle of September, when they remain stationary for about a fortnight or three weeks. In October a further slight rise occurs, and then they begin to fall; the fall continues gradually until, in the May following, they are at their lowest level once more. The cause of the Inundation is, as Aristotle (who lived in the fourth century B.C.) first showed, the spring and early summer rains in the mountains of Ethiopia and the Southern Sûdân; these are brought down in torrents by the great tributaries of the Nile, viz., the Gazelle River, the Sobat (the Astasobas of Strabo), the Giraffe River, the Blue Nile, and the Atbara. The Sobat rises about April 15, the Gazelle River and the Giraffe River about the 15th of May, the Blue Nile at the end of May, and the Atbara a little later. The united waters of these tributaries, with the water of the Upper Nile, reach Egypt about the end of August, and cause the Inundation to reach its highest level. The Nile rises from 21 feet to 28 feet, and deposits a thin layer of fertilizing mud over every part of the country reached by its waters. Formerly, when the rise was about 26 feet, there was sufficient water to cover the whole country; when it was less, scarcity prevailed; and when it was more, ruin and misery appeared through over-flooding. In recent years, the British irrigation engineers in Egypt have regulated, by means of the Aswân Dam, the Barrage at Asyûṭ, and the Barrage near Al-Manâshî, a little to the north of Cairo,[2] the supply of water during the winter, or dry season, with such success, that, in spite of “low” Niles, the principal crops have been saved, and the people protected from want.
In connection with the adoration of the Nile, two important =festivals= were observed. The first of these took place in June and was called the “Night of the Tear,” 𓈖𓇉𓄿𓏏𓏲𓏭𓇌𓁻, _Qerḥ en Ḥatui_, because it was believed that at this time of the year the goddess Isis shed tears in commemoration of her first great lamentation over the dead body of her husband Osiris. Her tears fell into the river, and as they fell they multiplied and filled the river, and in this way caused the Inundation. This belief exists in Egypt, in a modified form, at the present time, and, up to the middle of last century the Muḥammadans celebrated, with great solemnity, a festival on the 11th day of Paoni (June 17th), which was called the “Night of the Drop,” _Lêlat al-Nuḳtah_. On the night of this day a miraculous drop of water was supposed to fall into the Nile and cause it to rise. The second ancient Nile-festival was observed about the middle of August, and has its equivalent in the modern Muḥammadan festival of the “Cutting of the Dam.” A dam of earth about 23 feet high was built in the Khalîg Canal, and when the level of the Nile nearly reached this height, a party of workmen thinned the upper portion of the dam at sunrise on the day following the “completion of the Nile,” and immediately afterwards a boat was rowed against it, and, breaking the dam, passed through it with the current.
The history of Egypt shows that in all periods the country has suffered from severe =famines=, which have been caused by successions of “low” Niles. Thus a terrible seven years’ famine began in A.D. 1066, and lasted till 1072. Dogs, cats, horses, mules, vermin fetched extravagant prices, and the people of Cairo killed and ate each other, and human flesh was sold in the public markets. In Genesis xli, we have another example of a seven years’ famine, and still an older one is mentioned in an inscription cut upon a rock on the Island of Sâḥal in the First Cataract. According to the text, this famine took place in the reign of Tcheser, a king of the IIIrd dynasty, about B.C. 4000, because there had been no satisfactory inundation of the Nile for seven years. The king says that by reason of this, grain was very scarce, vegetables and garden produce of every description could not be obtained, the people had nothing to eat, and men were everywhere robbing their neighbours. Children wailed for food, young men had no strength to move, strong men collapsed for want of sustenance, and the aged lay in despair on the ground waiting for death. The king wrote to Matar, the Governor of the First Cataract, where the Nile was believed to rise, and asked him to enquire of Khnemu, the god of the Cataract, why such calamities were allowed to fall on the country. Subsequently the king visited Elephantine, and was received by Khnemu, the god of the Cataract, who told him that the Nile had failed to rise because the worship of the gods of the Cataract had been neglected. The king promised to dedicate offerings regularly to their temples in future, and, having kept his promise, the Nile rose and covered the land, and filled the country with prosperity.
=Egyptian Geography.=—From time immemorial Egypt has been divided into two parts, viz., the =Land of the South=, _Ta-Resu_, 𓇾𓏤𓈇𓇖𓊖, and the =Land of the North=, _Ta-Meḥt_, 𓇾𓏤𓈇𓇉𓏏𓊖. The Land of the South is Upper Egypt, and its northern limit in modern times is Cairo; the Land of the North is Lower Egypt, _i.e._, the Delta, and its southern limit is Cairo. The ancient Egyptians divided the Land of the South into twenty-two parts, and the Land of the North into twenty parts; each such part was called _Ḥesp_ 𓎛𓊃𓊪𓈈, a word which the Greeks rendered by =nome=. Each nome was to all intents and purposes a little complete kingdom. It was governed by a _ḥeq_, 𓋾𓈎, or chief man, and it contained a capital town in which was the seat of the god of the nome and the priesthood, and every _ḥeq_ administered his _ḥesp_ as he pleased. The number of the nomes given by Greek and Roman writers varies between thirty-six and forty-four. In late times Egypt was divided into three parts, Upper, Central, and Lower Egypt; Central Egypt consisted of seven nomes, and was therefore called Heptanomis. The nomes were:
UPPER EGYPT.
Nome. Capital. God or Goddess.
1. =Ta-Kens.= =Ābu.=[3] ELEPHANTINE. Khnemu. _Aswân._
2. =Tes-Ḥeru.= =Ṭeb.= APOLLINOPOLIS MAGNA. Ḥeru-Beḥuṭet. _Edfû._
3. =Ten.= =Nekheb.= EILEITHYIASPOLIS. Nekhebit. _Al-Kâb._
4. =Uast.= =Uast.= THEBES (or HERMONTHIS). Ȧmen-Rā. _Luxor_, _Karnak_.
5. =Ḥerui.= =Ḳebti.= COPTOS. Ȧmsu, or Menu. _Ḳuft._
6. =Ȧati.= =Taenterert.= TENTYRIS. Hathor. _Denderah._
7. =Seshesh.= =Ḥa.= DIOSPOLIS PARVA. Hathor. _Ḥau._
8. =Ȧbt.= =Teni.= THIS. Ȧn-Ḥer.
9. =...= =Ȧpu.= PANOPOLIS. Ȧmsu or Menu. _Ahkmîm._
10. =Uatchet.= =Ṭebu.= APHRODITOPOLIS. Hathor.
11. =Set.= =Shas-ḥetep.= HYPSELIS. Khnemu. _Shutb._
12. =Ṭu-...= =Nut-ent-bȧk.= HIERAKONPOLIS. Horus.
13. =Ȧm-f-khent.= =Saut.= LYKOPOLIS. Ȧp-uat. _Asyûṭ._
14. =Ȧm-f-peḥ.= =Kesi.= KUSAE. Hathor. _Al-Kusîyah._
15. =Unt.= =Khemennu.= HERMOPOLIS. Thoth. _Ashmnûnên._
16. =Maḥetch.= =Ḥebennu.= Horus.
17. =Ȧnpu(?).= =Kasa.= KYNONPOLIS. Anubis. _Al-Kês._
18. =Sepṭ.= =Ḥet-suten.= AL-HÎBAH. Anubis.
19. =Bu-tchamui.= =Pa-Mātchet.= OXYRRHYNCHUS. Set. _Bahnassâ._
20. =Ȧm-Khent.= =Suten-ḥenen.= HERAKLEOPOLIS Ḥeru-shefit. MAGNA. _Ahnâs._ (The Hânês of the Bible.)
21. =Ȧm-peḥ.= =Smen-Ḥeru.= Khnemu.
22. =Maten.= =Ṭep-Ȧḥet.= APHRODITOPOLIS. Hathor. _Atfîḥ._
LOWER EGYPT.
Nome. Capital. God or Goddess.
1. =Ȧneb-ḥetch.= =Men-nefert.= MEMPHIS. Ptaḥ. _Mît-Rahînah._
2. =Ȧa.= =Sekhem.= LETOPOLIS. Ḥeru-ur.
3. =Ȧment.= =Pa-neb-Ȧmt.= APIS. Hathor.
4. =Sȧpi-Rest.= =Tchekā.= Ȧmen-Rā.
5. =Sȧpi-Meḥt.= =Saut.= SAÏS. Neith. _Ṣâ._
6. =Ka-semt.= =Khasut.= XOÏS. Ȧmen-Rā.
7. =Nefer-Ȧment.= =Pa-Aḥu-neb-Ȧment.= Ḥu. _Metelis (?)._
8. =Nefer-Ȧbt.= =Thekaut= (=Succoth=), Atem, or Temu. =Pa-Tem= (=Pithom=). PATUMOS. _Tall al-Maskhûṭah._
9. =Ȧthi(?).= =Pa-Ȧsȧr.= BUSIRIS. Osiris. _Abû-Ṣîr._
10. =Ka-Qam.= =Ḥet-ta-ḥer-ȧbt.= ATHRIBIS. Ḥeru-Khenti-Khati.
11. =Ka-ḥeseb.= =Ḥesbet(?)=, =Ka-Ḥebset(?).= Isis, or Sebek. KABASOS.
12. =Theb-...= =Theb-neter(?).= SEBENNYTOS. Ȧn-Ḥer. _Sammanûd._
13. =Ḥeq-āṭ.= =Ȧnnu= (The On of the Bible). Temu. HELIOPOLIS. _Maṭarîyah._
14. =Khent-ȧbt.= =Tchal.= TANIS. Horus. _Ṣân._
15. =Teḥuti.= =Pa-Teḥuti.= HERMOPOLIS MINOR. Thoth.
16. =Ḥātmeḥit.= =Pa-Ba-neb Ṭeṭ.= MENDES. Osiris. _Tmai al-Amdîd._
17. =Sam-Beḥuṭet.= =Pa-Khen-en-Ȧmen.= DIOSPOLIS. Ȧmen-Rā.
18. =Ȧm-Khent.= =Pa-Bast.= PIBESETH BUBASTIS. Bast. _Tall Basṭah._
19. =Ȧm-peḥ.= =Pa-Uatchet.= BUTO. Uatchet.
20. =Sepṭ.= =Kesem.= PHAKUSSA. Sepṭ. _Fakûs._
The =Sûdân= was divided into =13 nomes=:
1. =Peḥ-Qennes.= The region south of Meroë. 2. =Maruat.= Meroë. Bagrawîr. Ȧmen. 3. =Napt.= Napata. Ȧmen. 4. =Peten-Ḥeru.= Pontyris. Horus. 5. =Pa-Nebset.= Pnups. Thoth. 6. =Ta-Uatchet.= Autoba (?). 7. =Behent.= Boôn. Wâdî Ḥalfah. Horus. 8. =Ȧtefthit.= Tasitia (?). 9. =Nehȧu.= Noa. 10. =Meḥit.= Meae. Horus. 11. =Maamet.= Ibrîm. Horus. 12. =Bekt.= Bok. Kubbân. Horus. 13. =Ḥet-Khent.= P-ȧlek. Philae. Bilâk. Isis.
Under the Ptolemies, the district between Elephantine and Philae was called =Dodekaschoinos=, because it contained twelve schoinoi, or measures of land, but later this term was applied to the whole region between Elephantine and Hiera Sykaminos.
Under the late Roman emperors many of the nomes were subdivided, probably for convenience in levying taxes, and in still later times the governor of a nome, or province, bore the title of Duke (Δουξ).
=Modern Egypt= is divided into =14 provinces=:
LOWER EGYPT.
Province. Capital.
1. Baḥêrah. Damanhûr. 2. Ḳalyûbîyah. Benha. 3. Sharkîyah. Zaḳâzîḳ. 4. Dakhâlîyah. Manṣûrah. 5. Manûfîyah. Menûf. 6. Gharbîyah. Ṭanṭa.
UPPER EGYPT.
Province. Capital.
1. Gîzah. Gîzah. 2. Beni-Suwêf. Beni-Suwêf. 3. Minyah. Minyah. 4. Asyûṭ. Asyûṭ. 5. Girgah. Ṣûhâḳ. 6. Ḳena. Ḳena. 7. Nûba. Aswân. 8. Fayyûm. Madînat al-Fayyûm.
The towns of Cairo, Alexandria, Port Sa’îd, Suez, Damietta, etc., are generally governed each by a native ruler.
The provinces of the Sûdân are as follows:
1. Baḥr al-Ghazâl. 2. Berber. 3. Blue Nile Province. 4. Dongola. 5. Ḥalfah. 6. Kassala. 7. Kharṭûm Province. 8. Kordofân. 9. Mongalla. 10. Red Sea Province. 11. Sennaar. 12. Upper Nile Province. 13. White Nile Province.