Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/71

 819 ELEPHANTINE. Boeotia, mentioned by Homer in the same line with Hyle and Peteon, is said by Strabo to have been one of the smaller places in the territory of Tanagra, and to have derived its name from its marshy sicuation. Its site is uncertain : Leake places it on the shore of the lake Paralimni [see p. 41 1], but Hiiller and Kiepert near Tanagra on the right bank of the Asopos. (Horn. IL ii. 500 ; Strab. iz. pp. 404 — 406 ; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12 ; Steph. B. t. v. ; Leake, Norihem Greece, voL ii. pp. 822, 468.) ELEPHANTI'NE ('EAf^WKrfni i^KToj, PtoL iv. 5. § 70 ; ir6a Aiy^wrov, Steph. B. «. 9. ; 'EAc- ^drrttv T^Air, Joseph. B, Jud. v. 11 ; 'EA^i^oi^if, id. ib. : Eth, 'EAc^oKfivlT^s and *£A.c^arr<n9y ; Strab. zvii. p. 817 ; Elephantis, Plin. N.H. v. 10. B. 59.) The original appellation of this island was XBO; BB being in the language of hieroglyphics the symbol of Uie elephant and of ivory. (RoselUni, Mon. Star. 4, 204.) It was seated ^in lat. 24^ N., just below the lesser cataract, directly opposite Syene, and near the western bank of the Nile. At this point the river becomes navigable downward to its mouths, and the traveller from MeroS and Aethiopia enters Egypt Proper. Its frontier position and its oonmiand of the river, no longer impeded by rapids, caused Elephantine to be regarded in all ages as the key of the Thebaid, and it was accordingly occupied by strong garrisons of native Egyptian troops, Per^ •]ans,Mac^onians, and Romans successively. (Herod. iL 17, 29, 30; Agatharch. de Rub, Mar. p. 22 ; Mela, i. 9 ; Tac Ann. ii. 61 ; Notit. Imp. Orient, c. 28.) Under the later Caesars, Diocletian, &c., it formed the southern limit of the Roman empire, and its gar* zison was engaged in continual wars with the Blem- myes and other barbarous tribes of Nubia. (Procop. BeU. Per*. L 19.) The surrounding region is gene- rally barren, consisting of lofty shelves of granite separated by bars of sand. But Elephantine itself, like the oases of the neighbouring Libyan desert was remarkable for its fertility and verdure. Its vines and fig- trees retained their leaves throughout the year (Theophmst. Hist Plant, i. 6 ; Varro, R. JSmuL i. 7): and the Arabs of the present day designate the island as Ljenret el Sag, the Blooming. The dty of Elephantis was long the capital of a little kingdom separate from Egypt, which probably, MB well as the kingdom of This or Abydos, declined as Thebes rose into importance. The names of nine of its kings are all that is known of the political history of Elephantine. Its successive possessors have left tokens of their occupation in the ruins which cover its area. Yet these are far less striking than the monuments of Philae at the opposite /Bouthem extremity of the cataracts. The most jemarkable structures on the island were a temple of Kneph, built or at least completed by Amenouph JI., a king of the eighteenth dynasty; another temple dedicated to Ammon; and the Nilometer, mentioned by Strabo (xvii. p. 817 ; oomp. Plutarch, Jnf et Osir. c. 43 ; Heliod. Aethiop. ix. 22 ; Euseb. Praepar. Evang. ill. 11); and thus described by Sir Gardner Wilkinson {Mannere and Customs, 2nd series, i. p* 47) : '* The Nilometer in the island of Elephantine is a sturcase between two walls descending to the Nile, on one of which is a suc- cession of graduated scales containing one or two cubits, accompanied by inscriptions recording the rise of the river at various periods during the rule of the Caesars.** The numerab in these inscriptions are Roman. [W. B. D.] ELEPHANTO'PHAGI, ELEPHANTCMAGI ELEUSIS. QtXt^aafra^yoit ^EXt^ayroftdyoi, IMod. iiL 26 ; Strabo, zvi. p. 771 ; Plin. N. H. vi. 35, viiL 13 ; Solin. c. 25), one of the numerous tribes which roamed over the plains north of the Abyssinian highlands, and derived their names from their pe- culiar diet or occupation. The elephant eaters and hunters, who seem also to liave been denominatad Asachaei or Asachae (Agatharch. de Jittb. Mar» p. 39), employed, according to Diodoms (JL c), two methods of killing the elephant The hunter singled out individuals from the herd, and ham-strung them with a sharp-pointed knife, — a feat which often terminated in the destruction of both the hunter and his prey; or, sawing nearly through the trees against which the elephants were accustomed to lean, watched for their felling with the sawn tnmk, and as their unwieldy uze prevented the animals from. rising, destroyed the elephants at leisure. The Ele- phantophagi brought the hides and tusks of their game to the markets of Upper Egypt, — the hides being employed in covering bucklers, and the ivoiy for inlaid work in architecture, and for many of the ornaments of luxury. [W. B. D.] ' E'LEPHAS, the name of a mountain and a river of Aethio|ua on the western coast of the Red Sea. The promontory of Elephss ('EX^oy hpos, it. 7. §§ 10, 26, 27; Strab. xvi. p. 774) was the easteni extremity of Mount Garbata, and situated between the headland Aromata (^Cape Guardafm) and the entrance of the Red Sea, in kt 1 1^ N. The modem appellation of Elephas is Dsjibel-Fil (Cope FeUx). The position of the river Elephas b uncertain. (Herad. PeripL Mar. Eryth. p. 7.) It was, how- ever, near the foreland of Elephas uid in the Itegio Ginnamomifera. Strabo {I. c.) mentions a canal (SMifwl), apparently part of the river, or an artificial direction of its current. [W.B.D.] ELEUSA. 1. ('EAco^o, 'EXo^^iy), a small island off the coast of Caria (Strab. pp. 651, 652; StadianMui), between Rhodua and the mainland, op- posite to the mountain promontoij Phoenix [Caria, p. 519, b.], 4 stadia from Phoenix, and 120 stadia from Rhodes. It was 8 stadia in circuit (Strabo.) This seems to be the small island marked Aleua in the latest maps. 2. Eleusa (*EAcotf<ra, Stnb. p. 671) or Elax- vssA ('EAcuov0-aa : Eth.*Zatoiaa-io5j Steph. B. #. e.), an island dose to the shore of Cilicia, aftenrards called Sebaste [Cilicia, p. 622, a.]. (Leake, Asia Minor, p. 213.) The name is written Eleus ('EAcoSf ) in the Stadiasmus. Stephanus, after mentioning the Eb^ussa of Caria, says that there are also seven other islands, — of the same name, we must infer. The writing of the wcmd, as it has been shown, varies; but perhaps the fonn 'EAaiovo-o-a b the best [G. L.] ELEU'SA or ELEUSSA (*EAcoixr<ra). 1. An island opposite cape Astypalaea, off the western coast of Attica. (Strab. ix. p. 398.) 2. An island named by Pliny, dong with eight others, as lying opposite the promontory Spirsenm, which separated Uie territories of Corinth and Epi- dauros. There are several small islands opposite this promontory, one of which is now called Laoussa, probably a corruption of Eleussa. (Plin. iv. 12.8. 19; Boblaye, Recherches, &c. p. 65.) ELEUSIS {*Etv<rU, or '£Acv0-(r: Etk. 'EXev- aipios). 1. {Lepshta), a demus of Attica, belong- ing to the tribe Hippothoontis. It owed its oelebri^ to its being the chief seat of the worship of Demeter and Persephone, and to the mysteries oelehnted in