Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/449

 NILUS.

slime have, in the course of ages, converted into Lower Aegypt. In all historical periods, however, the river has discharged itself into the sea by two main arms, forming the sides of an isosceles triangle, the boundaries of the Delta proper, and by a number of branches, some of which ran down to the sea, while others discharged their waters into the principal arms of the main stream. The Delta is, indeed, a net-work of rivers, primary and secondary ; and is further intersected by numerous canals. The pri- mary channels were usually accounted by the an- tients seven in number (Herod. ii. 17; Scylax, p. 43; Strab. xvii. p. 801, seq.; Diodor. i. 33; Ptol. iv. 5. § 10; Plin. v. 10. s. 11; Mela, i. 9. § 9; Ammianus, xxii. 15, 16; Wilkinson, If. ¢ C., Mod. Egypt and Thebes, &c.), and may be taken in the order following. They are denominated from some principal city seated on their banks, and are enume- rated from E. to W.

1. Beginning from the E.. was the Pelusian arm (7b WeAovotandy ordua, Strab. xvii. p. 801; Ostium Pelusiacum, Plin. v. 9. s. 9). This has now become dry; and even when Strabo wrote a little before the first century A.D., Pelusium, which stood on its banks, and from which it derived its name, was nearly 23 miles from the sea (xvii. p. 806). The remains of the city are now more than four times that distance. Upon the banks of the Pelusian arm stood, on the eastern side, and near the apex of the Delta, Heliopolis, the On of Scrip- lure; and 20 miles lower down, Bubastus (Yel Basta).

2. ‘The Tanitic arm (7) Tamrindy ordua, or 7d Zaitinxdy, Herod. ii. 17; comp. Strab. xvii. p. 802; Mela, i. 9. § 9. Catapystum). The present canal of Moueys probably coincides nearly with the Tanitic branch; which, however, together with the Ostium Bucolicum, has been absorbed in the lower portion of its course by the lake Afenzaleh. It derived its name from Tanis, the Zoan of Scripture, the modern San, in lat. 319, one of the oldest cities of the Delta.

3. The Mendesian arm (70 Mevijorov o7dua, Strab., &c.) was a channel running from the Seben- nytic Nile-arm. It is now lost in the lake Alen- zaleh,

4. The Phatnitic or Pathmetic arm (7d ¢a7- wirikdy oTopa, Strab.; bartiudy, Diod. i. 33 ; Nabuntindy, Ptol. iv. 5. §§ 10, 40; Pathmeticum, Mela, i.9.§ 9.) This was the BouroAinby o7épe of Herodotus (ii. 17); but it seems doubtful whether it were an original channel, and not rather a canal. It corresponds with the lower portion of the present Damietta branch of the Nile.

5. The Sebennytic arm (7d SeGervuTindv orduc) derived its name from the city of Sebennytus, the present Semenhoud. As far as this city the Dami- etta branch represents the ancient Sebennytic; but northward of this point, lat. 31°, the earlier channel is lost in the marshes or sands, which separate the present Delta from the Mediterranean; and its mouth, which was nearly due N. of Memphis, is now covered by the Jake of Bourlos. The Sebennytic arm, con- tinuing in the direction of the Nile before its divi- sion, i. €. running nearly in a straight course from N., has some claims to be regarded not so much as one of the diverging branches as the main stream itself. This channel, together with the most easterly, the Pelusian, and" the most westerly, the Canopic, were the three main arms of the Nile, and carried

down to the sea by far the greater volumes of Water.

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6. The Bolbitic or Bolbitine arm (7d BoAGrrindy orépe, Strab. xvii. p. 803; Scyl. p. 43; or BoA€rritov, Herod. it. 17; Diodor. i. 33; BoAGitivoyv, Ptol. iv, 5. §§ 10, 43; Bolbiticum, Mela, i. 9. § 9; Am- mian. xxii. 15), was, like the Phatnitic, originally an artificial canal, and seems in the time of Hero- dotus to have been a branch connecting the Seben- nytic with the Canopic channels (ii. 17), having, however, an outlet of its own, probably as a back~- water during the inundation, to the Mediterranean. The Bolbitic arm is now represented by so much of the Rosetta branch of the Nile as runs between the sea and the ancient course of the Ostium Cano- picum.

7. The Canopic arm (7d Kavw6indy otdéua, Strab. 1. c.; comp. Aristot. Afeteorol. i. 14; Ostium Cano- picum, Mela, i. 9. § 9; Plin. v. 10. s. 11) was also termed the Naucratic arm of the Nile, Ostium Nau- eraticum (Plin. 2. c.), from the city of Naucratis, which was seated on its left bank. This was the most westerly, and one of the three great branches of the Nile (see Pelusian, Scbennytic). In the first portion of its descent from the point of the Delta the Canopic arm skirted the Libyan desert. At the city of Tere- nuthis (Teranieh), a road, about 38 miles in lensth, through the calcareous ridge of hills, connected it with the Natron Lakes. On its right bank, below this point, stood the ancient city of Sais, and a few miles lower down, Naucratis. From its vicinity, at first, to this city, the Cauton of Aegypt, and after- wards, by means of the canal which connected it with the lake Mareotis on the one hand, and Alex- andreia on the other, the Canopic branch retained its importance; and its embankments were the care of the government of Aegypt long after its rival branches, the Sebennytic anid Pelusian, were deserted or had been suffered to flow uselessly into the marshes. It is now represented in the upper por- tion of its channel by the Hosetta branch of the Nile. But they diverge from cach other at lat. 31°, where the elder arm turned off to the W., and discharged itself into the Mediterranean near the present bay and foreland of Aboukwr. Its mouthis now covered by a shallow lagoon, intersected by strips of sand and allu- vial deposit, called the lake of Afadieh. ‘The Ca- nopic arm of the Nile, although not actually the western boundary of Aegypt, was, at least, in the Pharaonic era, the limit of its commerce on the NW. base of the Delta, since beyond it, until the building of Alexandreia, there was no town of any iniportance.

The canals which were derived from the Nile for the convenience of local intercourse and irrigation, were very numerous; and the prosperity of Aegypt, especially on the Arabian side of the river, depended in great measure upon their being kept in good re- pair, and conveying to the arid waste a sufficient supply of water. Hence the condition of the canals was almost synonymous with the good or bad admi- nistration of Aegypt; and we find that among the first cares of Augustus, after adding this kingdom to his provinces, in B.c. 24, was to repair and rehabi- litate the canals, which had fallen into decay under the misrule of the later Ptolemies. (Suet. Aug. 18; Dion. li. 68; Aurel. Vict. pit. i. 5.) bor national commerce, however, there were only two of these artificial channels upon a large scale between Syene and the sea. (1.) The canal called, in different ages, the river of Ptolemy (TroAcuatos ToTapds, Diodor. i. 33; Plin. v. 29. s. 23), and the river of Tra- jan (Tpaiavds rorapes, Ptol. iv. 5. § 54). ‘This had been commenced by Pharaoh Necho II. (n. c.480), was

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