PLATEPAGE
Old Lahûn Regulator. From aPhotograph taken by the Author.[Frontispiece]
I.The Bahr Yûsuf skirting the LibyanDesert. From a Photograph taken by the AuthorTo face[9]
II.Bazar Street Bridge, Medinet-el-Fayûm.From a Photograph taken by the AuthorTo 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 AuthorTo face[15]
V.Diagrams of two kinds ofWater-wheels[15]
VI.Nasbah Mitertaris. From a Photographtaken by the AuthorTo 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 AuthorTo face[51]
XV.Interior, Ditto. From a Photographtaken by the AuthorTo face[53]
XVI.Ground plan, Ditto[53]
XVII.Medinet-el-Fayûm. From a Photographtaken by the AuthorTo 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 AuthorTo 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.