[3548] They were probably made of papyrus, or else of hides, like the British coracles.
[3549] The last king of the line of Psammetichus, B.C. 569. He succeeded Apries, whom the Egyptians put to death. He died just before the invasion by Cambyses, having displayed great abilities as a ruler.
[3550] There was the Greater Apollinopolis, the modern Edfoo, in the Thebaid, on the western bank of the Nile, in lat. 25° north, about thirteen miles below the lesser Cataract: its inhabitants were enemies of the crocodile and its worshippers. The remains of two temples there are considered second only to the temple of Denderah as specimens of the sacred structures of Egypt. A Lesser Apollinopolis was in Upper Egypt, on the western bank of the Nile, in lat. 27° north. Another Lesser Apollinopolis was a town of the Thebaid in the Coptite Nome, in lat. 26° north, situate between Thebes and Coptos. It was situate at the present Kuss.
[3551] Its site is unknown. Hardouin suggests that it is the Eilethuia of Ptolemy, the modern El-Kab.
[3552] “City of Jupiter,” the Greek name for Thebes, the No or No Ammon of Scripture. It stood in the centre of the Thebaid, on both banks of the Nile, above Coptos, and in the Nomos Coptites. Its ruins, which are the most magnificent in the world, enclose within their site the four villages of Carnac, Luxor, Medinet Abou, and Gournou.
[3553] Its hieroglyphical name was Kobto, and its site is now occupied by the modern town of Kouft or Keft. It was situate in lat. 26° north, on the right bank of the Nile, about a mile from its banks. As a halting place or rather watering-place for the caravans, it was enriched by the commerce between Libya and Egypt on the one hand, and Arabia and India and Egypt on the other, the latter being carried on through the port of Berenice on the Red Sea, founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, B.C. 266. In the seventh century of the Christian era, it bore for some time the name of Justinianopolis. There are a few remains of Roman buildings to be seen on its site.
[3554] Also called Aphrodite or Aphroditopolis. Of this name there were several towns or cities in ancient Egypt. In Lower Egypt there was Atarbechis, thus named, and a town mentioned by Strabo in the nome of Leontopolites. In the Heptanomis or Middle Egypt there was the place, the ruins of which are called Aftyeh, on the east side of the Nile, and the capital of the nome of Aphroditopolites. In Upper Egypt or the Thebais there was the present Tachta, on the west side of the Nile, between Ptolemais and Panopolis, capital of another nome of Aphroditopolites, and that one the ruins of which are now called Deir, on the west bank of the Nile, higher up than the former, and, like it, some distance from the river. It was situate in the nome Hermonthites.
[3555] Another Diospolis. Great Diospolis is mentioned in the preceding page.
[3556] Or Tentyra. The modern Dendera of the Arabs, called Dendôri or Hidendôri by the ancient Egyptians.
[3557] In ancient times called This, and in Coptic Ebôt, the ruins of which are now known as Arábat-el-Matfoon. It was the chief town of the Nomos Thinites, and was situate in lat. 26° 10′ north and long. 32° 3′ east. In the Thebaid it ranked next to Thebes itself. Here according to general belief was the burial-place of Osiris. In the time of Strabo it had sunk into a mere village. Its ruins, though nearly buried in the sand, are very extensive. There is, however, some uncertainty as to the exact identity of This with Abydus.