LIST OF PLATES.

PLATE			PAGE
	Old Lahûn Regulator. From aPhotograph taken by the Author.	[Frontispiece]
I.	The Bahr Yûsuf skirting the LibyanDesert. From a Photograph taken by the Author	To face	[9]
II.	Bazar Street Bridge, Medinet-el-Fayûm.From a Photograph taken by the Author	To face	[11]
III.	Tunnel on Bahr Yûsuf. From aPhotograph taken by the Author.	To face	[13]
IV.	Water-wheels on Canal Tamîyah. From aPhotograph taken by the Author	To face	[15]
V.	Diagrams of two kinds ofWater-wheels		[15]
VI.	Nasbah Mitertaris. From a Photographtaken by the Author	To face	[17]
VII.	Map showing the “Linant” LakeMœris		[29]
VIII.	Section of the Fayûm throughthe Linant Lake		[31]
IX.	Diagram to scale showingOutline of Linant Lake		[33]
X.	Cross sections of Minia Walland Edwah Bank		[35]
XI.	Linant’s and actual Sectionsof the Fayûm		[36]
XII.	Part of Egypt from Map of Cl.Ptolemy		[45]
XIII.	Proposed Wadi RaiânReservoir		[46]
XIV.	Exterior, Schweinfurth’s “Temple.”From a Photograph taken by the Author	To face	[51]
XV.	Interior, Ditto. From a Photographtaken by the Author	To face	[53]
XVI.	Ground plan, Ditto		[53]
XVII.	Medinet-el-Fayûm. From a Photographtaken by the Author	To face	[57]
XVIII.	Cross section of 50 miles onlat. 30°		[63]
XIX.	Contoured Diagram of theFayûm Depression		[65]
XX.	Map of Lake Mœris		[73]
XXI.	Map to show position of EdwahBank and supposed Lake Mœris Regulators		[75]
XXII.	Biahmu Ruins. From a Photograph takenby the Author	To face	[77]
XXIII.	Restoration of Biahmu Ruinsby Petrie		[84]
XXIV.	Modified representation ofBiahmu Ruins Restored		[86]
XXV.	Sections of Bahr Yûsuf Valleyand Ravine behind Hawârat-el-Maqta		[98]
XXVI.	Sketch Map of the groundbetween Hawârat-el-Maqta and Hawârah Pyramid		[100]
XXVII.	Sections of Lahûn Banks		[103]
	Map of the Fayûm Province	[End of Book]

THE FAYÛM
AND LAKE MŒRIS.

INTRODUCTION.

I commenced this paper with the sole object of giving a technical description of irrigation in the Fayûm Province as practised to-day, for the information of my brother officers in the Royal Engineers.

But let any one turn his face towards the Fayûm, he is sure to see the speculator’s will-o’-the-wisp of Lake Mœris, which must needs be followed over the marshy borders through a tangle of theories left high and dry, until the pursuer is submerged deep beneath the waters of the lake, and has to find his way out again as best he can with a theory of his own begetting or adopting.

The question of where and what Lake Mœris was has been guessed at by many, and some of the guesses have been rather wild and regardless of the attributes which the lake of the theory must be demonstrated to have, before it can be recognised as Lake Mœris.

In the time of the early Nile tourist and historian Herodotus, about 450 B.C., there existed in Egypt an extensive lake, known as Lake Mœris, of such dimensions, levels, and geographical position, that it absorbed the surplus waters of the overflowing Nile, and afterwards gave back to the dwindling river the water it had received from it, thus becoming a regulator to diminish the excesses of the Nile floods, and to supply the shortcomings of the shrunken summer flow. The benefits resulting to the land of Egypt from such a moderator of high and low Niles were supposed to have been great, and the idea of the possibility of restoring the boon to Egypt by the discovery of the true position of the ancient Lake Mœris has helped to increase the interest in the subject, which curiosity about one of the lost wonders of the world in the once glorious kingdom of the Pharaohs would alone have been sufficient to excite.

At the end of a long letter to Mr. Paul Ascherson about a journey in the Fayûm, Dr. Schweinfurth writes:—“It must have already occurred to you, that I, in these already much too comprehensive remarks, have kept going round about the Mœris question, like a cat round hot broth. I must guard myself from pulling unripe fruit, which in a not far future will be ripe for judgment.” This was written in January 1886. Dr. Schweinfurth seemed to expect that discoveries of papyri in the ruins of Arsinoë would be made, and the riddle by them be solved. We are still waiting for the papyri.

Though the fear of picking unripe fruit may produce an unfavourable state of mind for assisting to promote discussion, it is far preferable to M. Linant’s attitude with reference to this question, when he stated that “J’ai retrouvé la véritable situation de cet ancien lac ou réservoir d’eau,” and caused or allowed to be printed on the “Carte Hydrographique de la moyenne Égypte, par M. Linant de Bellefonds, Paris, 1854,” the following presumptuous and decidedly untrue statement: “Le mémoire publié par M. Linant, sur le lac Mœris, donne tous les éclaircissements désirables sur ce point de l’histoire ancienne de l’Égypte”!

Though more illumination has been thrown on the subject since this unfounded claim to finality was made, there still remains much information to collect about doubtful points of levels, identification of old ruined towns, and so forth, but I do not on that account consider that the fear of “too hastily confusing” the question should forbid the publication of fresh facts and speculations thereon, so long as the door is not slammed in the face of those who prefer to give their support to other theories.

I will briefly state the order, and reasons for the order, in which I have arranged the different parts into which this paper is divided.

I have described the “Fayûm of To-day” first, as a conception of its condition in the past must of necessity be founded on a knowledge of its condition in the present.

Next I give the statements made by the ancient travellers, as it is upon them that the ideas, of what Lake Mœris was, are based.

I then proceed to try and dispose of theories which I consider erroneous, so as to clear the way for a more correct view; or at least to expose some of the errors of statement which might mislead others into accepting or forming wrong notions on the subject. Next I give the views that I have adopted, and point out what support they have from others, and discuss M. Linant’s objections to the views favoured.

Then I have endeavoured to sketch the history of the Fayûm—

(1)	Before it became Lake Mœris.
(2)	As Lake Mœris.
(3)	While it was undergoing the process of being transformed from Lake Mœris to what it is to-day.

And lastly, I have added a few remarks about the possible future of the Wadi Raiân, and the effect upon the Fayûm of a more abundant supply of water in consequence of the construction of storage reservoirs now under consideration.

I have made use of all previous writings on the subject that I could lay hands on. Mr. Cope Whitehouse kindly lent me his papers and showed me where to get others. Mr. Flinders Petrie has also given me what information I applied to him for. The maps and levelling of the Fayûm, made under the direction of Lieut.-Col. J. C. Ross, C.M.G., late Inspector-General of Irrigation in Egypt, have naturally been invaluable aids to the study of the subject. Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff, late Under-Secretary of State for Public Works, Egypt, has also given me his views on some points raised in this paper, and I have taken advantage of them. Miss M. Brodrick has most kindly assisted me in the correction of the proofs, and in other matters connected with the publication of this paper. Ali Bey Borhan, Chief Engineer of the Fayûm, and Monsieur A. Pini, in charge of works, have assisted me by collecting information and obtaining levels that were wanting.

Finally, I wish to lay claim to no originality in the views adopted. What I have aimed at in this paper is to work those views out, and to go more thoroughly into them than has hitherto been done, thereby making a contribution to the discussion of an unsolved problem, interesting alike to Engineers, Archæologists, and Classical Scholars.

As the metrical system is in use in Egypt, all dimensions and quantities are given throughout this paper in metres and cubic metres, and distances in kilometres.

1 metre	= 3·2809 feet.
1 square metre	= 10·7643 square feet.
1 cubic metre	= 35·3166 cubic feet.
	= 220·097 gallons.
8 kilometres	= 5 miles (approximately).

Discharges are given as so many cubic metres per day of 24 hours.

1,000,000 cubic metres a day	= 11·5741 cubic metres per second.
	= 408·9775 cubic feet per second.

Areas are given in feddans, which is the Egyptian acre.

1 feddan	= 4200·8333 square metres.
	= 1·038 acre.

R.L. signifies “reduced level,” or the level referred to mean sea-level:—e.g. “at R.L. 25·00” means that the spot, to which the figure relates, is 25 metres above mean sea-level; and “R.L. - 40·00” means 40 metres below mean sea-level.

A contour is the line running through all the points which are at the same level above or below mean sea-level.

An Egyptian pound, L.E., = 1¹⁄₃₉ English pound, £.

CHAPTER I.

THE FAYÛM OF TO-DAY.

Position of the Fayûm with reference to the Nile Valley.—About 50 miles south of Cairo, a branch line leaves the Upper Egypt line of railway and goes west. After crossing the Basin land of the Nile Valley, it enters the western desert, and after a short ascent and somewhat longer descent, it reaches the station of Edwah in the Province of The Fayûm.

This province is the most remarkable and interesting of all the provinces of Egypt. It is an oasis surrounded by desert, being separated from the Nile Valley by four to twelve kilometres width of the Libyan Desert, and being connected with it by a narrow neck of cultivation marking the gap in the Libyan Hills, by which the Bahr Yûsuf enters the Fayûm.

Depressions connected with the Fayûm.—Forming part of this province, and included in it administratively, is the Gharaq Basin or depression, which is partly cultivated, but surrounded by desert lands above the present limits of irrigation, and in communication with the Fayûm by a narrow neck at R.L. 16·00 (16 metres above mean sea-level).

Adjacent to the Gharaq Basin is another more considerable depression with an area of about one-quarter that of the Fayûm (at contour R.L. 25·00). This depression, known as the Wadi Raiân, had attention drawn to it by Mr. Cope Whitehouse, who proposed its utilisation as a reservoir for controlling the Nile floods, and supplementing the low summer Nile. This Wadi is now bare desert. Its lowest point is 40 metres below sea-level, and the depression thus corresponds, as a geological formation, with the Fayûm depression, the lowest point of which (the bed of Lake Qurûn), is known to be not less than 48, and is perhaps as much as 60 metres below mean sea-level, but soundings are required to establish the actuality of the greater depth.

The Wadi Raiân is surrounded by hills, on all sides rising above the level of + 36, except at two gaps in the hills separating it from the Gharaq Basin, which have their sills at R.L. 27·00 and 26·00 respectively.

The Fayûm Depression.—The Fayûm Province has the shape of a leaf, (see [Plate XIX.]) of which the Bahr Yûsuf, from its entrance at Lahûn to its end at Medineh, forms the stalk, and the different canals, branching from Medineh, the veins. The province is generally described as being formed of three plateaux, but this description can only properly be applied to that part of the Fayûm, most rich in Nile deposit, which lies between the main south drain (Wadi Nezlah) and the main north-east drain (the Bahr Bilamâ or Wadi Tamîyah).

The lower section given on [Plate XI.,] which is typical of this part of the Fayûm, shows the three plateaux, and gives the different surface inclinations. The contoured diagram, [Plate XIX.,] also shows the conformation of the Fayûm Province.

The two strips of land outside the main drainage lines have a different character, and considerably less Nile deposit (see [Map]).

Medineh, the chief town of the Fayûm, from which most of its canals and roads radiate, stands on ground (R.L. 22·50) three to four metres lower than the land of the Nile Valley in the neighbourhood of Lahûn, where the Bahr Yûsuf turns westward to enter the Fayûm.

From Medineh for 8 kilometres the country surface slope is 1 in 1400, for the next 4 kilometres 1 in 666, and then 1 in 150, till the Birket-el-Qurûn (Lake of the Horns) is reached. This lake occupies the lowest part of the Fayûm, and at the beginning of 1892 its water surface level was 43·30 metres below mean sea; while the bed of the lake is 5 metres lower at least.[1]

The Fayûm and Wadi Raiân together are everywhere encircled by a continuous range of hills, except where the Bahr Yûsuf enters through the gap in the Libyan Hills, and also towards the north of the Fayûm, where the height of the hills becomes less, but where there is probably no gap lower than R.L. 30, though this has not been actually established by levelling.

The Birket-el-Qurûn and Evaporation.—Such being the physical features of the Fayûm, it is evident that there is no outflow for the drainage of the province. All the drainage (except that of the Gharaq Basin) finds its way into the Birket-el-Qurûn and there evaporates. The present surface area of the lake is not accurately known, but being about 40 kilometres long by 5 broad, the area is about 200 square kilometres (78 square miles).

Notwithstanding the considerable quantity of water that drains into the lake during the twelve months of the year, its level has fallen steadily of late years. The following table gives the measure of the fall from the first of March of one year to the first of March of the next.

Level on 1st March.

Year.	Metres below Sea.	Fall.
1885	39·80
1886	40·00	·20
1887	40·38	·38
1888	40·73	·35
1889	41·17	·44
1890	42·00	·83
1891	42·78	·78
1892	43·32	·54
Total fall from 1stMarch, 1885, to 1st March, 1892		3·52	metres
Yearly average		·50	nearly.

There are no records of the level of the lake previous to 1885. Linant Pasha states in his ‘Mémoires’ that Vansleb, who was in the Fayûm in 1673, said that one embarked at Sanhûr to pass to the other side of the lake. Dead tamarisk bushes standing in the water seem to prove that the lake has in the past been lower by a metre or more than it is at present, for these tamarisks grow along the margin of the lake above the water edge, but not in it.

The fall of the lake is not continuous throughout the year, but generally takes place from the 1st March to the 31st October; the level rises from the 1st November to the end of January, and remains stationary during February.

If the area of the lake were more accurately determined, there are several problems of interest connected with evaporation and the “duty” of water which might be calculated out from the facts known about the fall of this lake, the level of which is recorded daily. The discharge entering the Fayûm throughout the year is known, as also approximately the areas under crop; but while the area of the lake remains so vaguely guessed at, the results of the calculation would be of little value, as the figure representing the lake area is an important factor in the calculations.

But the following figures give a measure of what the daily evaporation is in June and July, at least approximately:—

In 1889 and 1890, when there were exceptionally short summer supplies, and the drainage into Lake Qurûn must have been as little as it ever is, the lake levels were as follow:—

Date.	Level of Lake. R.L.	Fall in 30 Days.	Daily Average.
1st June, 1889	- 41·63
1st July „	- 41·87	·24	·008
31st July „	- 42·11	·24	·008
1st June, 1890	- 42·38
1st July „	- 42·66	·28	·0093
31st July „	- 42·89	·24	·008

The evaporation, then, could not have been less than ·0093 of a metre per diem in June 1890; or less than ·008 per diem in June and July 1889 and July 1890.

Allowing for a slight amount of drainage finding its way into the lake, an estimate of 1 centimetre a day for evaporation during the three hottest months of the summer would seem to be nearly correct.

We have also the following figures:—

	R.L.
On 14th March, 1890, the lake level was	- 42·00
On 18th September, 1890 „	- 43·13
The fall in 188 days was therefore	1·13
Giving a daily average of	·006

As, for half this period, the flow of water into the lake must have been considerable, the average fall per diem due to evaporation for these six months must have been certainly over 6 millimetres.

Observations on evaporation made in the Abassieh Observatory in Cairo give the following figures as the measure of the average evaporation for each month of the year:—

	Metres.
January	·071
February	·074
March	·172
April	·193
May	·252
June	·299	⎫ ⎬ ⎭	Average per diem for threehottest months, ·0107.
July	·370
August	·310
September	·226
October	·179
November	·120
December	·098
Total	2·364	metres per annum.

The average per diem for the three hottest months of the year, according to these observations, is ·0107, as against ·01 deduced from observations of the levels of Lake Qurûn. The figure given for July in the above list is higher than I should have expected, as the evaporation of that month I should estimate to be very slightly in excess of that of June or August; that is, about 1 centimetre a day.

Plate I.

THE BAHR YÛSUF, SKIRTING THE LIBYAN DESERT, IN THE NILE VALLEY.

The Bahr Yûsuf outside the Fayûm.—The Bahr Yûsuf (Canal of Joseph) is the watercourse that carries the Fayûm supply. It is not an artificial canal, but a naturally formed sinuous channel, resulting from the Nile flood water draining off the lands and following the line of least resistance along the low-lying part of the Nile Valley on the side of the Libyan Desert. [Plate I.] shows where the Bahr Yûsuf touches the desert and forms a line of separation between the fertile land of the Nile Valley with its grateful shade of trees and the barren desert sands under a scorching sun.

As is usual in the case of rivers which periodically overflow their banks, the land is highest alongside the Nile, and slopes away from it to the hills on either side. The high margins of the Nile are known in Egypt as the “Sahel.” As the Bahr Yûsuf has for a great many years been given an artificial connection with the Nile, and been used as a channel to carry flood water to inundate the lands along its course on both sides, it has imitated the Nile in its action on its borders, and raised a “Sahel” of its own on a smaller scale. The cross-section of the Nile Valley is thus roughly represented in the following diagram.

A former artificial connection of the Bahr Yûsuf with the Nile is plainly visible at Derût, 200 kilometres farther up the Nile Valley than Lahûn, the point at which the Bahr Yûsuf turns westward into the Fayûm. The artificial part is easily distinguished from the natural channel, as the former is straight with high spoil banks, resulting from the earth excavated to form the channel, whereas the latter is sinuous without any signs of spoil banks. The length of the channel from Derût to Lahûn, measured along its windings, is 270 kilometres, as against 200 kilometres measured as the crow flies.

A second artificial connection with the Nile farther south was made at Manfalût by the excavation of a channel 30 kilometres in length. The part of this that remains now is called the “Manfalûtîyah” or “old Bahr Yûsuf.” About twenty years ago a large canal, called the Ibrahimîyah, was made for the irrigation of the Khedive Ismail Pasha’s large sugar-cane plantations. It was made to take off from the Nile at Asyût, 30 kilometres above Manfalût and 61 kilometres above Derût. It absorbed part of the Manfalûtîyah Canal from Beni Qora to Derût. At Derût, regulators of a fine description were constructed for the distribution of the water, and a regulator of five openings of three metres’ span, with a lock 8·50 metres wide, was made as the head work of the Bahr Yûsuf, which under the new nomenclature became a branch of the Ibrahimîyah Canal. When the Ibrahimîyah Canal was first opened, it appears from the Mémoires on Public Works, published by Linant de Bellefonds Bey in 1872-73, that its discharge was small compared with its present discharge, and the Fayûm summer irrigation must have been limited. M. Linant states that the bed width of the main Ibrahimîyah was 35 metres, and its reputed depth in summer 1·50 metres; but, in consequence of the inefficient means of dredging, a depth of one metre at most was all that could be obtained at the lowest level of the Nile; and he calculates that the minimum discharge, which theoretically should have reached Derût, was 666,840 cubic metres per 24 hours (273 cubic feet a second), but, in consequence of the inefficient dredging, no more than 369,624 cubic metres per 24 hours (151 cubic feet a second) were delivered. Under present conditions in the worst years the minimum has never fallen below two million cubic metres per 24 hours (818 cubic feet a second) since, at any rate, 1883.

Plate II.

BRIDGE CARRYING THE BAZAAR STREET, MEDINET EL FAYÛM, OVER THE BAHR YÛSUF.

Of the Bahr Yûsuf before the Ibrahimîyah Canal was made, M. Linant remarks in the same Mémoires, that “it is the only canal in Egypt which, without receiving water from the river during the summer, nevertheless has enough to serve for the irrigation of the Fayûm from the springs in its bed.” These springs still supplement the summer supply of the Fayûm by adding to the discharge, which is apportioned to the Bahr Yûsuf at Derût, about a quarter of a million cubic metres a day (102 cubic feet a second).

During the summer and winter the water of the Bahr Yûsuf is (with the exception of an insignificant quantity lifted for the irrigation of small areas at different points along its course) reserved for the Fayûm, but during the flood season its channel is used to carry water for the inundation of the lands on both sides of it, and later it is made use of as the channel of discharge for the basins which it has filled, or helped to fill.

At Lahûn, where the Bahr Yûsuf turns into the Fayûm, the quantity of water admitted is controlled by two regulators. The lower bridge is a very ancient one ([frontispiece]), of what date is unknown. Its floor in Linant Pasha’s time had already partly given way, but from his description it would seem to be now in the same state in which it was more than twenty years ago. The upstream half has evidently been added to the downstream half, as there is a clean line of separation in the middle of the length of the present archway. This is only to be seen by entering the passage below the arches, as the junction is not visible from above.

In 1838 Linant Pasha caused the second regulator of three openings (two of three metres’ and one of four metres’ span) to be constructed as a precaution 80 metres above the old one, and it was a very wise precaution to take. The head of water is now divided between the two bridges so that the action is less severe than it was before the second bridge was constructed.

The present discharges passed by these regulators into the Fayûm are:—

During the flood season 6½ to 7 million cubic metres per day (2658 to 2863 cubic feet per second).

During the winter season 3 million cubic metres per day (1227 cubic feet per second).

During the summer season 1½ to 1 million cubic metres per day (713 to 409 cubic feet per second).

The ordinary and maximum and minimum levels of the Bahr Yûsuf are given in the list below:—

	Below Derût.	Above New Bridge, Lahûn.	Below Old Bridge on Fayûm Side.
Flood season	46·75	26·50	23·90
Winter	43·00	24·14	23·15
Summer	42·15	22·90	22·50
Maximum	46·95	27·80	23·90
Minimum	41·67	22·50	22·27

The Bahr Yûsuf inside the Fayûm.—At the end of the Bahr Yûsuf at Medineh the water-level is now kept constantly at R.L. 21·70 to 21·80. In Nile time any increase on this tail level is forbidden by the effect of the heading-up caused by the obstructions met with by the large flood discharge in its passage through the town between the houses which line its edges. The Bahr Yûsuf is bridged in this length twice, first by a three-arched bridge, [Plate II.,] which carries the main street and bazaar of Medineh; and again by a two-tubed tunnel, over which the mosque of Kait Bey is built, [Plate III.]

In passing through the bazaar with shops on either side the Bahr Yûsuf is crossed without its being noticed, and a stranger to the town is presently surprised to find himself on the other side of the canal to which he imagined himself to be.

Plate III.

TUNNEL ON BAHR YÛSUF,

OVER WHICH THE KAIT BEY MOSQUE IN MEDINET EL FAYÛM IS BUILT.

The waterways of these two constructions are sufficient to pass the winter discharge with but slight heading-up, but when the flood supply is flowing, they (assisted perhaps by old blocks of masonry and débris of fallen houses in the channel) cause a backing-up of the water of from 50 to 60 centimetres and thereby (with the level at the tail below the town fixed at R.L. 21·80) produce the maximum level above the town, which it is safe to allow.

The distance from Lahûn to the end of the Bahr Yûsuf at Medineh along the canal is 24 kilometres (15 miles). Between kilometre 11 and 14 the bed is rock, the highest point of the bed being at R.L. 21·00 and between kilometre 12 and 13. The bed elsewhere is generally between R.L. 17 and 19.

At kilometre 10·130, the Bahr (canal) Sêlah takes off on the right, and after flowing by the Hawârah pyramid and passing under the Fayûm railway, its water surface comes level with the soil and irrigates the strip of land bordering the Fayûm depression on the right of the main drainage line on this side.

Similarly at kilometre 15·5 the Bahr Gharaq takes off on the left of the Bahr Yûsuf, and, aided by the Bahr Qalamshah, irrigates the east slope of the Fayûm and the whole of the Gharaq Basin. The strip on the left of the south main drainage line, forming the sloping side of the Fayûm Basin on the south, is irrigated by the Bahr Nezlah, which takes off from the main canal at kilometre 16·370.

With the exception of the Bahr Tamîyah, which flows in the channel of the north-east main drain itself and irrigates the distant north corner of the province on the right of the drain, all the other canals irrigate the central part of the Fayûm, which lies between the two main drainage lines. These canals may be divided into three classes corresponding to the three plateaux:—

1. The short and high level canals irrigating the high land on both sides of the Bahr Yûsuf and round Medineh, roughly speaking all lands down to contour R.L. 18·00.

2. The medium canals, which irrigate between R.L. 18·00 and 10·00 or thereabouts.

3. The long ravine canals, which carry water to the distant parts of the Fayûm below contour R.L. 10·00.

In a lawless province like the Fayûm, such an arrangement of canals is of great assistance in the equal distribution of water to all parts of the province. The long canals of class 3 are, in their upper reaches, so far below the cultivated surface of the soil, that no crop-owner of the first and second plateaux would attempt to irrigate from them except by means of water-wheels, which have to be regularly licensed. The canals of the 2nd class are intermediate in level and length between the first and third, and do not conveniently irrigate, except at some considerable distance from their heads.

There is a further advantage gained by the water of the long canals falling at once to low levels at their commencement. Along the margins of the Bahr Yûsuf and round about Medineh is a considerable area of valuable land above the highest level reached by the water in the parent canal. To irrigate this, water is lifted in pitchers fastened to the side of the outer edge of undershot wheels, which are turned by the force of the water descending to the low-level beds of the ravine canals. These wheels turn day and night without ceasing, so long as there is sufficient water. A head of 25 centimetres is sufficient to turn an ordinary wheel which lifts the water about 2 metres, but when greater heads are obtainable, water is lifted in this way as much as from 4 to 6 metres ([Plate IV.]) A fall of 80 centimetres will work two wheels, one behind the other, which lift the water 5 metres.

The channel, carried by the imposing looking aqueduct of [Plate IV.,] is only 40 centimetres wide by 30 centimetres high, the whole thickness of the aqueduct being only 85 centimetres. The expense, incurred in building it, points to the value of a constant stream of water raised in this manner.

There are two kinds of wheels used, one in which the water lifted is contained in earthenware jars fastened to the side of the wheel near its outer edge, the arrangement of which is shown by the drawing, reproduced from Willcocks’ ‘Egyptian Irrigation’ ([Plate V.]) The other kind of wheel, called a tabût, has a hollow chambered tube of square cross-section forming its circumference, the holes to admit water into each chamber being made in such a position that the water, which enters the chamber when submerged, does not commence to flow out again, till the chamber approaches the highest point of its path. Below the point, at which the flow out commences, a trough is placed to catch the water.

It will be seen that in both these arrangements there is a loss of work in lifting the greater part of the water rather higher than the level at which it is utilised. The principle of the tabût will be understood from the drawing given on the same [plate No. V.,] as the other arrangement with pitchers. Either kind is known as a saqya hedêr.

Plate IV.

HIGH-LIFT WATER-WHEELS ON THE TAMÎYAH CANAL.

The pair of wheels shown on this Plate raise the water 4·50 metres, and are worked by a total fall of water of 0·55 metres.
As a means of estimating the heights and widths in the Plate, the widths of the arches are given.
Left-hand arch, 3 metres span; next arch on its right, 2½ metres span.

Plate V.

UNDERSHOT WHEEL FOR RAISING WATER.

Scale ¹⁄₅₀. From Willcocks’ ‘Egyptian Irrigation.’

SKETCH DIAGRAM OF TABÛT.

Drawn with side as if transparent, to show water in compartment, and principle.

The saqya mawâshi (saqya worked by cattle) and the shadûf are also employed to a small extent, as elsewhere in Egypt, but only for small areas.

There are 205 saqya hedêrs in the province. To obtain a license to erect one, the applicant has to pay L.E. 1 to get his application accepted, and L.E. 5 more, if the license is granted.

Water-mills.—The fall of the water is also used to turn mills for grinding corn, of which there are 243 in the province, which paid as tax in 1891 a total of 810l. (L.E. 791).

[Plate VI.] is from a photograph of one of the falls, below which are first a pair of tabût wheels, one behind the other, for lifting water to high-level lands, and, below these in the same mill-race, an undershot wheel working a mill for grinding corn.

The mills are worked either by turbines (panchakkis) of a pattern introduced from India thirty years ago, according to Mr. Willcocks, or by undershot wheels. The latter method is used, where the fall available to work the mill is small, but not less than 60 centimetres. The former system requires a fall of at least 1·60 metres.

Falls and Regulators.—For purposes of irrigation the fall of the country surface is excessive, and works have to be built at intervals along a canal, after the point where it begins to irrigate, to hold up the water-surface to a sufficient height to flow over the fields. These works are generally placed where the canal splits up into branches, and they take the form of a collection of small weirs. Where the maximum water-levels below all the weirs of such a group never rise above the level of their weir-sills we have a “free fall” in the case of each weir, and the discharge over each sill is directly proportional at all seasons to the length of the sill, which in each weir is made proportional to the area irrigated from the canal below the weir. Thus the collection of weirs not only holds up the water for the irrigation from the canal above it, but acts automatically as a just distributor of water to the canals below it. Such a group of weirs is called a nasbah, an Arabic word signifying “proportion.” The arrangement is thoroughly understood and appreciated by the Fayûm cultivators, and is useful in rendering unnecessary the employment of a numerous establishment of low-paid agents—a great end to gain in a country where the inferior employés are so easily corrupted.

There are, besides the nasbahs, a large number of small masonry works, as head regulators, sluice heads to branch canals, syphons, aqueducts, and pipe heads scattered all over the province, but there is nothing peculiar in them as irrigation works.

Plate VI.

NASBAH MITERTARIS.

The upper bridge at Lahûn has hitherto been closed by vertical needles, but in 1892 it has been altered, and will in future be regulated by horizontal planks. The openings have also all been made one width, namely, 3 metres.

Crops.—The area on which land tax was paid in 1891 was

Ushuri lands	131,155	feddans.
Kharagi „	102,146	„
Total	233,301	„

The total amount received into the Government treasury on this area was L.E. 132,668, which gives an average of 57 piastres a feddan, or 11s. 2¾d. an acre.

The actually cultivated area of the Fayûm is said to be about 280,000 feddans. Almost the whole of this area is under crop during the flood season and winter, and about 50,000 to 60,000 feddans are planted with summer crops, chiefly cotton.

If cotton is grown, it is followed by a winter crop of wheat, clover, or beans, and this is followed by a flood crop of millet. The cotton is sown in March of one year, and the flood millet is harvested in November of the following year, so that three crops are obtained in twenty months. After the flood millet, clover will be sown, and this will be cleared off the ground in time to plant cotton, which will be picked and finished with in October. This makes five crops in thirty-one months. I believe that sometimes even this record is beaten, and three crops are got out of fifteen months.

Everything which is sent out of the Fayûm, with the exception of an insignificant quantity which is carried out by camels, is shown in the railway books, from which the following figures, in kantars, have been obtained. (A kantar = 98·09 lbs.)

Exports from the Fayûm Province.

	1889.	1890.	1891.
Cotton	39,433	56,334	86,638
Cotton-seed	82,010	104,608	185,917
Cereals	418,935	797,363	1,109,070

The value of the exports in 1891 was not less than that given in the following calculation:—

	Kantars.		Piastres.		L.E.
Cotton	86,638	at	170	=	147,284
Cotton-seed	185,917	at	55	=	102,254
Cereals	1,109,070	at	70	=	776,349
		Total		=	1,025,887

The area on which an average land tax of 57 piastres a feddan was paid has been given before as 233,301 feddans (242,166 acres). Hence the value of cotton, cotton-seed, and cereals exported from the Fayûm in 1891 was at the rate of L.E. 4·397 a feddan (4l. 6s. 10d. an acre).

Clover, which is extensively cultivated, is all consumed in the province.

Besides the above, the Fayûm exports also figs, grapes, olives, quail, fish, mats, baskets, and a few other things.

The province is justly famed for its excellent figs, but the grapes are not of superior quality to those of other parts of Egypt, though they have the reputation of being so.

In 1891 Government farmed out the fisheries for a sum of L.E. 2000. Every day large numbers of fish, chiefly bulti (Nile carp) are sent in crates to Cairo. The bulti is excellent eating. Another common fish is the armûd, or Nile shad-fish alias sheath-fish or cat-fish (Silurus). It is considered by the natives to be good to eat, but according to others it is not fit for food.

Another handsome fish, called by the fishermen lâl, and also a fine species of the perch family, known to them as lafâsh, both from their appearance good table fish, are not uncommon, except by comparison with the abundant carp. The lafâsh grows to a great size, one that I photographed, measured, and weighed being 1·32 metres long, of 1 metre girth, and 92 lbs. weight.

The fishermen move about the lake in the most primitive kind of boats, propelled by the clumsiest possible oars, and without any sails. How long they will continue to be satisfied with their craft it is hard to say, but they show no signs of desiring anything better.

CHAPTER II.

ANCIENT TESTIMONY ABOUT LAKE MŒRIS.

Evidence concerning the existence of Lake Mœris, which has been briefly referred to in the Introduction, is to be gained from the following sources:—

The Egyptian monuments, in which are found inscriptions on stone and records on papyri.

The writings of Herodotus, who visited Egypt B.C. 450.

The writings of Diodorus Siculus, a Sicilian, and of Strabo, a Greek geographer and contemporary with Diodorus, about B.C. 25.

Lastly Pliny, A.D. 50 to 70.

It must be borne in mind, while reading their accounts, that, in attempting to give information as to the origin of Lake Mœris, they were undertaking a task beyond their powers, since, according to the scanty revelations of the monuments, which on this point are the only witnesses worthy of credence, the Lake Mœris existed 2000 years before Herodotus visited Egypt, and therefore must have been formed at a more remote date. What then these ancients may have been told as to the origin of Lake Mœris may well be classed with tradition, and be assigned its true value as such, but what they state, that they themselves saw, is as worthy of belief as statements found in the descriptions of any other sober historian’s personal experiences.

I am indebted to the Rev. Edwin Meyrick, M.A., for the translations of the passages from Herodotus, and to Mr. Edward Meyrick, of Marlborough College, for those from the other classics.

Translations from Ancient Authors, who have referred to Lake Mœris, and Arabic Tradition.

Herodotus, Book II. (B.C. 454).

“These twelve kings (who were governing Egypt at the time of which Herodotus was writing) agreed to leave a work which should make their names remembered, and, uniting all their powers, they built the Labyrinth, a little above the Lake Mœris, and situated as nearly as possible opposite the city called Crocodilopolis. (Here follows a description of the Labyrinth, in which it is stated to surpass the pyramids as a wonder of construction.)

“Adjoining the angle where the Labyrinth ends, is a pyramid, 240 feet high, on which large figures of animals are engraved. The entrance into this is subterranean.

“Now, the Labyrinth being such as I have described, the lake, named that of Mœris, causes still greater astonishment, on the bank of which this Labyrinth was built. The perimeter of this lake measures 3600 stadii, which is the same thing as 60 schœni. This measure is nearly equal to the entire seaboard of the whole of Egypt.

“This lake lies oblong north and south, being in its deepest part 50 fathoms deep. It tells its own story that it is artificially made, for about the middle of the lake stand two pyramids, out-topping the water 50 fathoms each, and that part of them which is built under water is as much more. On the top of each is a colossal figure in stone, seated on a throne. So these pyramids are 100 fathoms high. Now, 100 fathoms are exactly equal to a stadius, consisting of six plethra, seeing that the fathom is equal to 6 feet, or four cubits, a foot measuring four palms, a cubit six palms.

“The water in the lake is not derived from local sources, for the earth in that part is naturally excessively dry and waterless, but it is brought in from the Nile by a canal. It takes six months filling and six months flowing back. During the six months of the return flow, it yields a talent of silver each day to the Treasury, and during the flow in, twenty minæ from the fish.

“The people of the country also told me that this lake on its western face, inland along the mountain which is over Memphis, has an underground outlet into the Syrtis, which is in Libya. But when I nowhere saw the earth-mounds which came from this excavation (for this was much upon my mind) I questioned those who lived in the neighbourhood of the lake as to where the excavated material could be. They told me that it had been carried out, and without difficulty they led me to believe it. For I knew by report that a similar thing had taken place in Nineveh, the city of the Assyrians. For burglars contrived a plan to carry off the treasures of King Sardanapalus, son of Ninus, which were valuable and guarded in subterranean treasuries. These burglars then, starting from their own dwellings, and calculating the distance, tunnelled to the palace. And when night came on they carried out the material, which was removed from the excavation into the river Tigris, which flows past Nineveh, until they accomplished what they wished. In a similar way to this I heard that the excavation also of the lake in Egypt had been carried out (except that it was done by daylight, not by night), inasmuch as the excavators carried the material to the Nile, and the Nile, receiving it, would disperse it. In this way the lake is said to have been excavated.”

Strabo, Book XVII. (B.C. 24).

Writing of the Arsinoïte Nome he says, “This province is the most remarkable of all in appearance, natural properties, and embellishment. It grows olive-trees which bear fruit. It produces wine in abundance, corn, pulse, and a great variety of other grains. . . .

“It has also a remarkable lake called the Lake of Mœris, large enough to be called a sea, and resembling the open sea in colour; its shores are also similar in appearance to sea-beaches, whence we may suspect a community of nature between them and the district about Ammon. For they are in fact not far distant from one another or from Parætonium, and as there is good reason to suppose that the latter temple formerly stood on the sea-shore, so also this district must formerly have been littoral. Lower Egypt and the parts towards the Serbonian Lake were then covered by the sea, perhaps connected with the Red Sea by Heroöpolis and the Elanitic Gulf. . . .

“Thus, the Lake of Mœris is, from its size and depth, capable of receiving the overflow of the Nile at its rising, and preventing the flooding of houses and gardens; when the river falls, the lake again discharges the water by a canal at both orifices, and it is available for irrigation. There are regulators at both ends of the canal for controlling the inflow and outflow. Near these is an immense stone Labyrinth, a work comparable with the Pyramids; and the tomb of the king who constructed it. . . .

“Sailing 100 furlongs further one comes to the city Arsinoë, formerly called Crocodilopolis.”

Diodorus Siculus, Book I. Chap. LI. (about B.C. 20).

“He (King Mœris) dug a lake 600 furlongs above the city (Memphis), which is amazingly useful and incredibly large. Its circumference is said to be 3600 furlongs, and its depth in most parts 50 fathoms. . . . For as the rising of the Nile is irregular, and the fertility of the country depends on its uniformity, he dug the lake for the reception of the superfluous water. And he constructed a canal from the river to the lake 80 furlongs in length and 300 feet in breadth. Through this he admitted or let out water as required, the mouth being opened or closed by an elaborate and costly process (for it cost not less than 50 talents whenever any one wished to open or close the mechanism). This lake has continued to serve the Egyptians for this purpose down to our own times, and is called the Lake of Mœris after its constructor. When the king dug it he left in the centre a place on which he built a tomb and two pyramids, one for himself and the other for his wife, a furlong in height, expecting thus to leave an immortal reputation for his benefactions. The revenue of the fisheries in the lake he gave to his wife for her allowance for perfumes and cosmetics generally; they brought in a sum of a talent of silver daily; for there are said to be twenty-two kinds of fish in it, and the quantity taken is so large that the numerous hands engaged in the salt-curing industry can hardly keep pace with the work.”

Pliny, Nat. Hist., Book V. Chap. 9 (A.D. 50-70).

“Between the nomes of Arsinoë and Memphis was a lake, 250 miles (i.e. Roman miles) in circumference; or, as Mucianus tells us, 450 miles in circumference and 50 paces in depth, artificially constructed, called the Lake of Mœris, from the king who made it. Seventy-two miles distant from this is Memphis, formerly the capital of Egypt.”

Pliny, Nat. Hist., Book XXXVI. Chap. 16.

“There were two other pyramids near the Lake of Mœris, which is a large excavation.”

Arabic Tradition,

as given by Mr. Cope Whitehouse in his article entitled “The Expansion of Egypt” in the Contemporary Review, September 1887, translated from an Arabic manuscript which once belonged to Cardinal Mazarin:—

“Joseph, to whom may Allah show mercy and grant peace, when he was Prime Minister of Egypt and high in favour with Raiyan, his sovereign, after that he was more than a hundred years old, became an object of envy to the favourites of the king and the puissant seigneurs of the Court of Memphis, on account of the great power which he wielded and the affection entertained for him by his monarch. They accordingly thus addressed the king: ‘Great king, Joseph is now very old; his knowledge has diminished; his beauty has faded; his judgment is unsound; his sagacity has failed.’ The king said: ‘Set him a task which shall serve as a test.’ At that time el-Fayoum was called el-Hun, or the Marsh. It served as a waste basin for the waters of Upper Egypt, which flowed in and out unrestrained. The courtiers having taken counsel together what to propose to the king, gave this reply to Pharaoh: ‘Lay the royal commands upon Joseph that he shall divert the water of the Nile from el-Hun and drain it, so as to give you a new province and an additional source of revenue.’ The king assented, and summoning Joseph to his presence, said: ‘You know how dearly I love my daughter, and you see that the time has arrived in which I ought to carve out an estate for her out of the crown lands, and give her a separate establishment, of which she would be the mistress. I have, however, no territory available for this purpose except the submerged land of el-Hun. It is in many respects favourably situated. It is a convenient distance from my capital. It is surrounded by desert. My daughter will thus be independent and protected.’ ‘Quite true, great king,’ responded Joseph, ‘when would you wish it done? for accomplished it shall be by the aid of Allah, the all-powerful.’ ‘The sooner, the better,’ said the king. Then Allah inspired Joseph with a plan. He directed him to make three canals; one from Upper Egypt, a canal on the east, and a canal on the west. Joseph collected workmen and dug the canal of Menhi from Ashmunîn to el-Lahûn. Then he excavated the canal of el-Fayoum, and the eastern canal, with another canal near it called Ben-Hamed to the west. In this way the water was drained from el-Hun; then he set an army of labourers at work. They cut down the tamarisks and bushes which grew there and carried them away. At the season when the Nile begins to rise the marsh had been converted into good cultivable land. The Nile rose; the water entered the mouth of the Menhi canal and flowed down the Nile Valley to el-Lahûn; thence it turned towards el-Fayoum, and entered that canal in such volume that it filled it, and converted the land into a region irrigated by the Nile. King Raiyan thereupon came to see his new province with the courtiers who had advised him to set Joseph this task. When they saw the result they greatly marvelled at the skill and inventive genius of Joseph, and exclaimed: ‘We do not know which most to admire, the draining of the marsh and the destruction of the noxious plants, or the conversion of its surface into fertile and well-watered fields.’ Then the King said to Joseph, ‘How long did it take you to bring this district into the excellent state in which I find it?’ ‘Seventy days,’ responded Joseph. Then Pharaoh turned to his courtiers and said: ‘Apparently one could not have done it in a thousand days.’ Thus the name was changed from el-Hun, or the Marsh, to el-Fayoum, ‘the land of a thousand days.’”

This pun is not to be appreciated in the translation without a knowledge of Arabic. Elf is the Arabic for a thousand, and yôm for a day; elf-yôm being a thousand days. As the work took seventy days to complete, according to the tradition, it does not appear clear why it should have been called “the land of a thousand days” instead of “the land of seventy days.” But the tradition must not be criticised, as it will not stand it.

The name Fayûm is derived from an old Coptic word phiûm signifying a sea or lake; el is simply the definite article.

CHAPTER III.

THEORIES AS TO WHERE AND WHAT LAKE MŒRIS WAS.

Postulates.—There seems to be a general agreement that Lake Mœris was in the Fayûm, the evidence being conclusive. There is, further, no disposition shown to question the fact, that the Labyrinth and the pyramid alongside it, were on the borders of Lake Mœris, and that the present capital of the Fayûm, Medineh or Medinet-el-Fayûm, occupies part of the site of the ancient town of Crocodilopolis, or, as it was called afterwards, Arsinoë.

There seems also to be sufficient evidence for accepting the conclusion, that the site of the Labyrinth was at the foot of the Hawârah pyramid.

It also seems to be agreed to accept the testimony of Herodotus, Strabo, and Diodorus, when they describe the uses which Lake Mœris served, namely, to receive part of the Nile waters when the river was in flood, and so to moderate its excesses, and also to return the stored-up water to the Nile, when its discharge had fallen low in summer, and so to supplement its deficiencies.

Statements not accepted as postulates.—These same witnesses made other statements, which have been accepted or rejected according to the individual views of different theorists. If Herodotus and others after him are rightly interpreted as stating that the Lake Mœris was artificially dug out by human labour, I too must claim the privilege of assuming that they were mistaken. As pointed out at the commencement of Chapter II. of this paper, Herodotus was trying to give an account of what took place more than, at least, 2000 years before, with no records to help him. Under such circumstances, accuracy as to the origin of Lake Mœris was not to be expected in his accounts. Being no engineer, and having a large belief in the marvellous, he might well have supposed the whole oasis artificially dug out. The absence of all signs of the earth resulting from this immense excavation puzzled him, and he asked what had become of it. He was told that it had been carried to the Nile, whose waters dispersed it, and this he readily believed, because he had heard of a similar proceeding in another country, where some thieves excavated an underground passage to a king’s treasury, and got rid of the earth resulting from the excavation by throwing it into a river at the outer end of their shaft. This is comparing small and great with a vengeance. The distance of the centre of the Lake Mœris excavation to the Nile would have been 50 kilometres (31 miles), and the quantity of earth to be carried and dispersed by the Nile would have been at least 50,000 million cubic metres. Such a task can scarcely be called similar to a simple mining operation.

The Egyptian of to-day, if asked to account for any assumed fact, will not pause to consider whether the assumed fact is really fact, but will at once invent some more or less plausible explanation to account for it. I will give a remarkable instance of a very generally believed explanation of an annual Egyptian phenomenon, though it has nothing to do with the Fayûm or Lake Mœris. In the summer the land surface of the inundation basins of Upper Egypt is split up into mazes of deep cracks, into which innumerable rats are seen to disappear when disturbed. On the waters entering the basins all this cracked area becomes submerged, and the question is, what becomes of the rats? Again, when the water is discharged from the basins after remaining in them two months, the rats are found (or appear) to be in as great numbers as before. Again the question is, where have the rats come from? The accepted explanation is that when the water comes the rats turn into mud, and when it retires the mud changes back again into rats. I could scarcely credit that so childish a belief was general, so I submitted the question to a large Assembly of Notables (collected for a different purpose), and several members came forward and declared they had seen the rats in the state of semi-transition, when half mud and half rat, and offered to catch and deliver one to me. I accepted the offer, but the matter has not yet gone any further.

Returning to the discussion of the statement that Lake Mœris was artificially excavated, it strikes one as being a senseless operation to dig out a basin to the depth given as being that of the deepest part of Lake Mœris, viz. 92 metres, as all the water lying below half the depth stated could have served no useful purpose, except from the point of view of aquatic animals that have a liking for deep water.

Theorists lay stress on some features testified to by the ancients, and explain away or discredit other points of their testimony according as they support or are hostile to their adopted theories; or else they give strained interpretations to other statements from the same motives. Such statements, for instance, as the following are subject to this varied treatment.

Herodotus, and others after him, state that the circumference of Lake Mœris was 720 kilometres (450 miles), or, as some interpret, 360 kilometres, according to the value of the stadius adopted. Depth, 92 metres.

The length of the lake lies north and south. It was artificially made. There were two pyramids, crowned by colossal statues, centrally situated in the lake, as viewed from the Labyrinth or Arsinoë.

The water in the lake was not derived from local sources, but was brought in from the Nile by a canal. The lake was between the Arsinoïte and Memphite nomes.

Crocodilopolis was on or near the borders of the lake, and 9400 metres from the Labyrinth.

Lake Mœris formed an elbow to the west, was oblong, and situate in the middle of the lands along the mountains above Memphis.

These statements are not in the original language in which they were made, and may be inaccurately translated, where accurate rendering is important. I have found for instance in different publications the two following translations of the same passage in Diodorus:—

(a) “A little south of Memphis a canal was cut for a lake, brought down in length from the city 40 miles.”

(b) “And a little above the city he cut a dyke for a pond, bringing it down in length from the city 320 furlongs.” (Translation by G. Booth.)

A canal and dyke are not synonymous terms, in all parts of England at any rate; nor are lake and pond.

Some of the statements are founded also on hearsay when they were first made, and the ancestors of the present inhabitants of the Fayûm may, for all that is known, have had as great a tendency to the widest possible departure from scientific accuracy of statement in their verbal representation of facts, as it is notorious that their modern successors have. Hence it is not surprising that human nature, which has a parental prejudice in favour of any theory to which it may have given birth, should take advantage of these weak points to the benefit of its offspring.

We will then proceed to discuss the present generation of theories, which exemplify this principle.