Some of the chapters in this book have appeared as articles in ‘Blackwood’s Magazine.’ The various journeys here recorded have been made in the ordinary course of the work of inspection, and have been reported in the usual official manner. These less technical descriptions have been written in leisure hours, and the illustrations here published are selected from a large number of photographs and drawings rapidly made by the wayside. The journey to Wady Hammamât and Kossair was made in the company of three painters, Mr Charles Whymper, Mr Walter Tyndale, and Mr Erskine Nicol, to whom my thanks are due, as also they are to Mr John Wells, with whom I travelled to Gebel Dukhân. I am indebted to Prof. Sayce and Mr Seymour de Ricci for several notes on the Greek inscriptions at Wady Abâd. On some of the journeys I was accompanied by Mahmoud Effendi Rushdy and Mahmoud Effendi Muhammed, Inspectors of the Department of Antiquities, whose assistance was valuable.

ARTHUR E. P. WEIGALL.

Luxor,
Upper Egypt.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
I.THE EASTERN DESERT AND ITS INTERESTS[1]
II.TO THE QUARRIES OF WADY HAMMAMÂT[28]
III.THE RED SEA HIGHROAD[56]
IV.THE IMPERIAL PORPHYRY QUARRIES[90]
V.THE QUARRIES OF MONS CLAUDIANUS[115]
VI.THE TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD[141]
VII.A NUBIAN HIGHWAY[169]

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATE PAGE
THE HEAD OF WADY GATÂR[Frontispiece]
I.IN THE DESERT. THE AUTHOR IS SEEN ON THE NEAR CAMEL[10]
ON THE EDGE OF THE EASTERN DESERT[10]
II.DESERT VEGETATION. THE COLOQUINTIDA PLANT[16]
A NEAR VIEW OF THE COLOQUINTIDA PLANT. PHOTO­GRAPHED IN THE WADY ABÂD[16]
III.ONE OF THE RIDING CAMELS[20]
ONE OF THE CAMELS[20]
IV.MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS ON ROCKS[30]
V.UNDER THE TAMARISKS OF THE OASIS OF LAGÊTA[36]
BIR HAMMAMÂT, LOOKING SOUTH[36]
VI.CARTOUCHES OF SETY II. ON THE ROCKS BETWEEN BIR HAMMAMÂT AND WADY FOWAKHÎEH[40]
INSCRIPTIONS ON THE ROCKS BETWEEN BIR HAMMAMÂT AND WADY FOWAKHÎEH[40]
VII.INSCRIPTIONS AND MARKS[46]
VIII.THE CAMP IN WADY FOWAKHÎEH, LOOKING DOWN FROM THE HILLS ON THE NORTH SIDE. THE CAMEL TRACKS ARE SEEN PASSING ALONG THE VALLEY[50]
WADY FOWAKHÎEH, LOOKING EAST. THE CAMEL TRACKS WILL BE NOTICED AGAIN[50]
IX.ABANDONED SARCOPHAGUS ON THE HILLSIDE IN WADY FOWAKHÎEH[54]
A TYPICAL VALLEY NEAR WADY FOWAKHÎEH[54]
X.ROCK INSCRIPTIONS AT WADY FOWAKHÎEH AND KOSSAIR[60]
XI.BIR ES SID, THE WELL AT THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE RED SEA HIGHROAD[66]
THE ROMAN FORTRESS OF ABU ZERAH, LOOKING SOUTH­-EAST[66]
XII.DESERT PANORAMA FROM A HILL-TOP TWO HOURS’ RIDE EAST OF BIR ES SID, LOOKING EAST. THE ROAD IS SEEN PASSING TO NORTH AND SOUTH OF THIS HILL AND JOINING UP FURTHER TO THE EAST[74]
XIII.KOSSAIR. ARABIAN BOATS ON THE BEACH[80]
A STREET IN KOSSAIR[80]
XIV.THE INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE AT KOSSAIR[86]
THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE FORTRESS AT KOSSAIR[86]
XV.THE START FROM KENEH. NATIVE POLICE LOADING THE CAMELS[90]
MIDDAY REST AT EL GHAITEH. CAMELS FEEDING FROM THE BUSHES[90]
XVI.THE ROMAN STATION AT EL GHAITEH, LOOKING DOWN FROM THE OFFICERS’ QUARTERS ON THE HILL. A DRY RIVER-BED BORDERED BY BUSHES RUNS ACROSS THE PLAIN[96]
A TANK FOR STORING WATER INSIDE THE STATION OF EL GHAITEH[96]
XVII.THE EXCAVATION INSIDE THE ENCLOSURE OF EL SARGIEH[104]
THE ROMAN STATION AT EL GREIYEH. THE ANIMAL LINES. THE BRICK PILLARS SUPPORTED THE ROOF UNDER WHICH WERE THE NIGHT-STALLS[104]
XVIII.GRANITE HILLS TO THE SOUTH OF WADY BILEH. THE GEBEL DUKHÂN RANGE IS TO THE NORTH OF THIS WADY[108]
RUINS OF THE ROMAN TEMPLE AT GEBEL DUKHÂN, SHOWING THE HILLSIDE FROM WHICH THE POR­PHYRY WAS TAKEN[108]
XIX.THE RUINS OF THE TOWN OF GEBEL DUKHÂN. THE UPRIGHT PILLARS OF GRANITE SUPPORTED A ROOF[114]
THE ROMAN TOWN OF MONS CLAUDIANUS, LOOKING SOUTH FROM THE CAUSEWAY LEADING TO THE MAIN QUARRY. THE ROUND PILES OF STONE IN THE FOREGROUND ARE BUILT AT INTERVALS ALONG THE CAUSEWAY[114]
XX.MONS CLAUDIANUS. THE TOWN[120]
MONS CLAUDIANUS. CHAMBERS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE FORECOURT OF THE TEMPLE. THE THRESHOLD AND BASE OF A COLUMN OF THE GRANITE PORTICO ARE SEEN ON THE RIGHT[120]
XXI.MONS CLAUDIANUS. EAST END OF THE TEMPLE[124]
MONS CLAUDIANUS, LOOKING OVER THE TOWN TO THE TEMPLE ON THE HILLSIDE[124]
XXII.MONS CLAUDIANUS. DOORWAY LEADING FROM THE HALL OF THE BATH-HOUSE INTO THE ROOM IN WHICH WAS THE PLUNGE-BATH. ORIGINALLY THE WALLS WERE PLASTERED[128]
MONS CLAUDIANUS. PEDESTAL OF THE ALTAR IN THE FORECOURT OF THE TEMPLE. THE ALTAR ITSELF IS SEEN BROKEN IN THE FOREGROUND[128]
XXIII.MONS CLAUDIANUS. THE FIRST HEATED ROOM OF THE BATH-HOUSE. THE DOORWAY ON THE LEFT LEADS INTO THE WARMER ROOM. THE PERPENDICULAR CUT IN THE LEFT WALL NEAR THE CORNER IS ONE OF THE RECESSES IN WHICH THE HOT-AIR PIPES WERE FIXED[132]
MONS CLAUDIANUS. THE SAME DOORWAY—NEARER VIEW[132]
XXIV.MONS CLAUDIANUS. A LARGE GRANITE COLUMN LYING TO THE NORTH-EAST OF THE TOWN. THE BACK WALL OF THE TOWN IS SEEN BEHIND THE COLUMN, ABOVE WHICH THE TEMPLE BUILDINGS ARE SEEN AT THE FOOT OF THE GRANITE HILLS[138]
MONS CLAUDIANUS. LARGE GRANITE COLUMNS LYING AT THE FOOT OF A QUARRY WEST OF THE TOWN[138]
XXV.THE ROMAN STATION OF ABU GEHÂD. SOME OF THE ROOMS AS SEEN FROM THE COURT, LOOKING WEST[142]
FRONT VIEW OF THE TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD[142]
XXVI.THE TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD. THE EAST END OF THE PORTICO. THE SQUARE PILLAR WAS BUILT IN GRÆCO-ROMAN TIMES TO SUPPORT THE BROKEN ARCHITRAVE[146]
THE TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD. THE EAST WALL OF THE PORTICO. THE KING IS SEEN SMITING A GROUP OF NEGROES[146]
XXVII.THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE ROMAN STATION OF WADY ABÂD, LOOKING WEST FROM INSIDE THE ENCLOSURE[150]
THE PILES OF STONE ERECTED OPPOSITE THE TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD[150]
XXVIII.INSCRIPTIONS AND DRAWINGS IN AND NEAR THE TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD[154]
XXIX.ARCHAIC DRAWINGS OF SACRED BOATS ON ROCKS NEAR TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD[156]
XXX.ARCHAIC DRAWINGS OF SACRED BOATS, ANIMALS, ETC., ON ROCKS NEAR TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD[162]
XXXI.GREEK INSCRIPTION RELATING TO AN ELEPHANT HUNT. ON A ROCK TO THE EAST OF THE TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD[166]
SKETCH-PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF WADY ABÂD[166]
XXXII.THE INSCRIBED ROCK, FROM THE NORTH-WEST[174]
THE INSCRIBED ROCK, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST[174]
XXXIII.THE ELEPHANTINE ROAD, LOOKING ALONG IT TOWARDS ASWÂN[184]
VIEW OF THE ISLANDS IN THE RIVER, ETC., FROM NEAR THE INSCRIBED ROCK AT THE HEAD OF THE ELEPHANTINE ROAD[184]