Appendix IV. Archæological Excursions In The Delta.

(1) Tel el-Yehudîyeh or Onion.—Take the train from Cairo at 10 a.m., reaching Shibîn el-Qanâter at 12.25. Leave Shibîn el-Qanâter at 5.57 p.m., reaching Cairo at 6.50. Donkeys can be procured at Shibîn, but it is a pleasant walk of a mile and a half through the fields (towards the south-east) to the Tel. There is a café at Shibîn adjoining the station, but it is advisable to take lunch from Cairo.

(2) Kôm el-Atrib or Athribis.—The mounds lie close to the station of Benha el-´Asal, north-east of the town, and can easily be explored between two trains. All trains between Cairo and Alexandria stop at Benha.

(3) Naukratis.—The mounds of Naukratis (Kôm Qa´if) lie nearly five miles due west of the station of Teh el-Barûd on the line between Cairo and Alexandria, where all trains stop except the express. The first half of the walk is along a good road under an avenue of trees, but after a village is reached it leads through fields. Donkeys are not always to be had at Teh el-Barûd. The low mounds west of the station are not earlier than the Roman period.

(4) Kanôpos or Aboukir.—A train leaves the Ramleh station at Alexandria at 7.40 a.m., and reaches Aboukir at 10.42 a.m., returning from Aboukir at 4.42 p.m. It is a short walk northwards from the station to the temple of Zephyrion discovered by Daninos Pasha in 1891. Then [pg 332] walk eastward along the shore, where the rocks have been cut into baths and numerous relics of antiquity lie half-covered by the waves.

(5) The Monument of Darius, near Suez.—A ride of rather more than five miles through the desert north of Suez along the line of the Freshwater Canal brings us to the fragments of one of the granite stelæ erected by Darius to commemorate his re-opening of the Canal between the Red Sea and the Nile. Traces of the cuneiform and hieroglyphic inscriptions can still be detected upon some of them. The stelæ were erected at certain intervals along the line of the Canal, and the remains of three others of them have been found, on a mound one kilometre south of Tel el-Maskhûtah or Pithom, a little to the east of the station of the Serapeum on the Suez Canal, and on the side of a mound between the 61st kilometre of the Canal and the telegraphic station of Kabret. From Ismailîyeh to Tel el-Maskhûtah is a ride across the desert of eleven miles.

(6) Tanis or Zoan.—The easiest way of visiting Tanis or Sân is to sleep at Mansûrah, where there is a very tolerable hotel, and go by the morning train (at 9.15) to the station of Abu ´l-Shekûk, arriving there at 10.55 a.m. One of the small dahabiyehs which ply on the Mo'izz canal, which passes the station and runs to Sân, should have been previously engaged, and a servant sent with food the day before from Mansûrah to get it ready. It is advisable also to send cantine and bedding. A few hours (8 to 10) will take the traveller to Sân, where he can remain as long as he wishes. There is sufficient water in the canal all the year round to float the dahabiyeh. On the way to Abu ´l-Shekûk the station of Baqlîyeh is passed (at 9.41 a.m.), close to which (to the east) is Tel el-Baqlîyeh or Hermopolis Parva. The twin mounds of Tmei el-Amdîd (Mendes and Thmuis) are not far to the east of the station of [pg 333] Simbellauên, which is reached at 10.11 a.m. (or by the 6.45 a.m. train from Mansûrah at 7.30 a.m.). Donkeys should be telegraphed for beforehand. The great monolithic granite shrine of Amasis still stands on the mounds. Tel en-Nebêsheh is only eight miles south-east of Sân.

(7) Horbêt or Pharbaithos.—Leaving Mansûrah at 9.15 a.m., the train reaches Abu-Kebir at 11.55, where donkeys can be easily procured. It is a pleasant ride of three miles through the fields to Horbeit and the gigantic monoliths of Nektanebo. The train leaves Abu-Kebir for Zagazig and Cairo at 4 p.m., reaching Zagazig at 4.32 and Cairo at 6.50 p.m.

(8) Behbit (Egyptian Hebit, Roman Iseum).—The granite ruins of the temple of Isis, built by Ptolemy ii., lie eight miles by river north of Mansûrah, and are less than half-an-hour's walk from the eastern bank of the river. Delicate bas-reliefs have been carved on the granite blocks. The ruins are a favourite object of picnic parties from Mansûrah.

(9) Bubastis or Tel Bast.—The ruins of the ancient city are a few minutes' walk from the railway station and can be visited between two trains. The site of the temple is in the middle of the mounds, the ruins of the old houses rising up on all sides of it. There is a poor hotel in Zagazig, kept by a Greek.

(10) Sais or Sâ el-Hagar.—This has become difficult of access since the construction of the railway from Alexandria to Cairo. The nearest railway station is Kafr ez-Zaiyât, from which it is distant (by donkey) about five hours. The voyage by river involves the passage of several bridges.

(11) Tel ed-Deffeneh.—Tents and camels are necessary, as well as drinking water, for that of the canal and Lake Menzaleh is brackish. Either go by train to Salahîyeh [pg 334] (leaving Cairo at 5 p.m., arriving at 9.35 p.m.), or, better, sleep at Ismailîyeh, and go thence by tramway to Kantara. The distance across the desert to Tel ed-Deffeneh from Salahîyeh and Kantara is about the same (eleven miles), but donkeys are more easily procurable at Kantara than camels. At Kantara (on the east side of the canal) are monuments and a Tel (perhaps that of Zaru). The excursion may be combined with one to Pelusium, passing Tel el-Hir on the way. From Kantara to Pelusium is rather more than half-a-day's journey. Encamp at the edge of the sand-dunes, one-and-a-half miles from the mounds of Pelusium, walking to them over the mud, which sometimes will not bear the weight of a camel. No fresh water is procurable there.

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