Note 122 — Chapter XVII · THE SECOND CATARACT.

“A castle, resembling in size and form that of Ibrim; it bears the name of Kalat Adda; it has been abandoned many years, being entirely surrounded by barren rocks. Part of its ancient wall, similar in construction to that of Ibrim, still remains. The habitations are built partly of stone and partly of brick. On the most elevated spot in the small town, eight or ten gray granite columns of small dimensions lie on the ground, with a few capitals near them of clumsy Greek architecture.”—Burckhardt’s “Travels in Nubia,” 1819, p. 38.

In a curious Arabic history of Nubia written in the tenth century A.D. by one Abdallah Ben Ahmed Ben Solaïm of Assûan, fragments of which are preserved in the great work of Makrizy, quoted by Burckhardt and E. Quatremere (see foot note, p. 202), there occurs the following remarkable passage: “In this province (Nubia) is situated the city of Bedjrasch, capital of Maris, the fortress of Ibrim, and another place called Adwa, which has a port, and is, they say, the birthplace of the sage Lokman and of Dhoul Noun. There is to be seen there a magnificent Birbeh.” (“On y voit un Berba magnifique.”)—“Mémoires Géographiques sur l’Égypte,” etc. E. Quatremere, Paris, 1811; vol. ii, p. 8.

If Adwa and Adda are one and the same, it is possible that in this passage we find preserved the only comparatively modern indication of some great rock-cut temple, the entrance to which is now entirely covered by the sand. It is clear that neither Abou Simbel (which is on the opposite bank, and some three or four miles north of Adda) nor Ferayg (which is also some way off, and quite a small place) can here be intended. That another temple exists somewhere between Abou Simbel and Wady Halfeh, and is yet to be discovered, seems absolutely certain from the tenor of a large stela sculptured on the rock a few paces north of the smaller temple at Abou Simbel. This stela, which is one of the most striking and elaborate there, represents an Egyptian gateway surmounted by the winged globe, and shows Rameses II enthroned and receiving the homage of a certain prince whose name, as translated by Rosellini, is Rameses-Neniseti-Habai. The inscription, which is in sixteen columns and perfectly preserved, records the titles and praises of the king, and states how “he had made a monumental abode for Horus, his father, Lord of Ha’m, excavating in the bowels of the Rock of Ha’m to make him a habitation of many ages.” We know nothing of the Rock of Ha’m (rendered Sciam by Rosellini), but it should no doubt be sought somewhere between Abou Simbel and Wady Halfeh. “Qual sito precisamente dinotisi in questo nome di Sciam, io non saprei nel presente stato delle cose determinare: credo peraltro secondo varie loughi delle iscrizioni che lo ricordano, che fosse situato sull’ una o l’altra sponda del Nilo, nel paese compreso tra Wadi-halfa e Ibsambul, o poco oltre. E qui dovrebbe trovarsi il nominato speco di Horus, fino al presente occulto a noi.”—Rosellini Letterpress to “Monumenti Storici,” vol. iii, part ii, p. 184. It would hence appear that the Rock of Ha’m is mentioned in other inscriptions.

The distance between Abou Simbel and Wady Halfeh is only forty miles, and the likely places along the banks are but few. Would not the discovery of this lost temple be an enterprise worthier the ambition of tourists, than the extermination of such few crocodiles as yet linger north of the second cataract