Note 12 — MEMOIR, &c. (continued 3)

Pococke has led travellers into error by calling this place Medinet Abou, “the city of the father.” If such had been the meaning of the name, it would have been Medinet el Ab. But, in fact, Habou was, according to tradition, an ancient king, of whom many wonderful stories are told; and it is the firm belief of the natives, that the object of the French expedition was to find out the treasures of Habou. The Arabs, who inhabit Thebes and the adjacent country, are originally Moggrebyns.