It is said that several ruins are to be found at El-wah-el-Ghurbi. Of the Oasis Magna, now El-wah, I shall speak at large in treating of my journey to Dar-Fûr; but must observe that the distance between this Oasis and that styled Parva is erroneously laid down in the most recent maps. I was informed by the Muggrebîns at El-wah, that Charjé, the most northern village of that district, was but two days journey from the nearest part of El-wah-el-Ghurbi; that is, about forty miles. Oasis Magna seems rightly to correspond with the latitude of Dendera, and of course that of the southern extremity of Oasis Parva should be a little to the South of that of Assiût, and not far North of Tinodes Mons, in D’Anville’s map; apparently the chain on the East of both the Oases, or الواحات. On the West I observed no mountains, nor on the South. The most northern Oasis known near Egypt is that of Siwa, already described.
CHAP. IX.
UPPER EGYPT.
Thebes — Site and antiquities — Painted caverns — Their discovery and plan — Manners of the people at Thebes — Isna — Fugitive Beys — Antiquities — Rain — Assûan or Syene — Obstacles to farther progress — Return to Ghenné.
I found the inhabitants of the Thebaic district had been recently in open rebellion against the Mamlûks, but they were now somewhat more quiet. The Troglodytes of the caverns remained tumultuous, and sometimes opposed the troops of the Bey, by firing from their recesses; at other times they would retreat to the mountains, and leave all pursuit behind.
The massy and magnificent forms of the ruins that remain of antient Thebes, the capital of Egypt, the city of Jove, the city with a hundred gates, must inspire every intelligent spectator with awe and admiration. Diffused on both sides of the Nile, their extent confirms the classical observations, and Homer’s animated description rushes into the memory:
“Egyptian Thebes, in whose palaces vast wealth is stored; from each of whose hundred gates issue two hundred warriors, with their horses and chariots.”
These venerable ruins, probably the most antient in the world, extend for about three leagues in length along the Nile. East and West they reach to the mountains, a breadth of about two leagues and a half. The river is here about three hundred yards broad. The circumference of the antient city must therefore have been about twenty-seven miles.
In sailing up the Nile, the first village you come to within the precincts is Kourna, on the West, where there are few houses, the people living mostly in the caverns. Next is Abuhadjadj, a village, and Karnak, a small district, both on the East. Far the largest portion of the city stood on the Eastern side of the river. On the South-west Medinet-Abu marks the extremity of the ruins; for Arment, which is about two leagues to the South, cannot be considered as a part.