Online Encyclopedia

Arabs Lower Egypt is called Er-Rif, the cultivated or fertile; Upper Egypt Es Said, the happy or fortunate . Another division of the country is into Lower, See also:

MIDDLE

Middle and Upper Egypt, Middle Egypt in this See also:

CLASSIFICATION (Lat. classis, a class, probably from the root cal-, cla-, as in Gr. icaMce, clamor)

classification being the See also:

DISTRICT

district between Cairo and See also:

ASSIUT, or SLUT

Assiut . See also:

General See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

Character.—The distinguishing features of Egypt are the Nile and the desert . But for the See also:

RIVER

river there would be nothing to differentiate the country from other parts of the Sahara . The Nile, however, has transformed the land through which it passes . Piercing the desert, and at its See also:

ANNUAL

annual overflow depositing See also:

rich sediment brought from the Abyssinian See also:

HIGHLANDS, THE

highlands, the river has created the Delta and the fertile See also:

STRIP

strip in Upper Egypt . This cultivable land is Egypt proper ; to it alone is applicable the ancient name—" the See also:

black land." The Misr of the Arabs is restricted to the same territory . Beyond the Nile valley See also:

east and See also:

west stretch great deserts, containing here and there fertile oases .

The general See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance of the country is remarkably See also:

UNIFORM

uniform . The Delta is a level See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain, richly cultivated, and varied alone by the lofty dark-See also:

brown mounds of ancient cities, and the villages set in groves of See also:

palm-trees, See also:

STANDING

standing on mounds often, if not always, ancient . Groves of palm-trees are occasionally seen besides those around the villages, but other trees are rare . In Upper Egypt the Nile valley is very narrow and is bounded by mountains of no great height . They See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form the edge of the desert on either See also:

side of the valley, of which the bottom is level See also:

rock . The mountains rarely take the form of peaks . Sometimes they approach the river in bold promontories, and at others are divided by the dry beds of ancient See also:

WATER

water-courses . The See also:

bright See also:

green of the See also:

FIELDS, JAMES THOMAS (1817-1881)

fields, the reddish-brown or dull green of the great river, contrasting with the See also:

BARE

bare yellow rocks, seen beneath a brilliant See also:

sun and a deep-See also:

BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue See also:

SKY (M. Eng. skie, cloud; O. Eng. skua, shade; connected with an Indo-European root sku, cover, whence " scum," Lat. obscurus, dark, &c.)

sky, See also:

PRESENT

present views of great beauty . In form the landscape varies little and is not remarkable; in See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour its qualities are always splendid, and under a general uniformity show a continual variety . ' By the See also:

Greek and See also:

ROMAN

Roman geographers Egypt was usually assigned to See also:

LIBYA

Libya (Africa), but by some See also:

early writers the Nile was thought to See also:

mark the division between Libya and Asia . The name occurs in See also:

HOMER, WINSLOW (1836-191o)

Homer as Aiyvirros, but is of doubtful origin . The See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

Coast Region.—Egypt has a coast-line of over 600 m. on the Mediterranean and about 1200 m. on the Red Sea .

The Mediterranean coast extends from the Gulf of Sollum on the west to Rafa on the east . From the gulf to the beginning of the Delta the coast is rock-See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound, but slightly indented, and possesses no See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good harbourage . The cliffs attain in places a height of moo ft . They are the termination of a stony See also:

plateau, containing several small oases, which southward joins the more arid and uninhabitable wastes of the Libyan Desert . The Delta coast-line, composed of sandhills and, occasionally, Iimestone rocks, is See also:

low, with cape-like projections at the Nile mouths formed by the river silt . Two bays are thus formed, the western being the famous See also:

Bay of See also:

ABOUKIR

Aboukir . It is bounded W. by a point near the ancient Canopic mouth, eastward by the See also:

ROSETTA (Coptic Rashit, Arabic Rashid)

Rosetta mouth . Beyond the Delta eastward the coast is again barren and without harbours . It rises gradually southward, merging into the plateau of the Sinai peninsula . The Red Sea coast is everywhere mountainous . The mountains are the See also:

NORTHERN

northern continuation of the Abyssinian table-land, and some of the peaks are over 6000 ft. above the sea . The highest peaks, going from See also:

north to south, are Jebels Gharib, Dukhan, Es Shayib, Fatira, See also:

Abu Tiur, Zubara and Hammada (Hamata) .

The coast has a general N.N.W. and S.S.E. trend, and, See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save for the two gulfs into which it is divided by the See also:

MASSIF

massif of Sinai, is not deeply indented . Where the frontier between Egypt and the Sudan reaches the sea is See also:

Ras See also:

ELBA (Gr. AiWaXla; Lat. Ilva)

Elba (see further See also:

Fry SEA) . The Nile Valley (see also NILE).—Entering Egypt prcl,er, a little north of the Second See also:

CATARACT (from the Lat. form cataracta of the Gr. Karapplucrgss, a floodgate, or waterfall, properly something which rushes down)

Cataract, the Nile flows through a valley in See also:

SANDSTONE

sandstone beds of Cretaceous See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age as far as 25° N., and throughout this part of its course the valley is extremely narrow, rarely exceeding 2 m. in width . At two points, namely, Kalabsha—the valley here being only 170 yds. wide and the river over 'co ft. deep—and See also:

ASSUAN

Assuan (First Cataract), the course of the river is interrupted by outcrops of granites and other crystalline rocks, which have been uncovered by the. erosion of the overlying sandstone, and to-See also:

day form the See also:

mass of islands, with numerous small rapids, which are described not very accurately as cataracts; no good See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence exists in support of the view that they are the remains of a massive barrier, broken down and carried away by some sudden convulsion . From 25° N. northwards for 518 in. the valley is of the " rift-valley " type, a level depression in a See also:

LIMESTONE

limestone plateau, enclosed usually by steep cliffs, except where the tributary valleys drained into the main valley in early times, when there was a larger rainfall, and now carry off the occasional rainstorms that burst on the desert . The cliffs are highest between See also:

ESNA, or ESNEH

Esna and See also:

KENA, or KENEH (sometimes written Qina)

Kena, where they reach 180o ft. above sea-level . The See also:

AVERAGE

average width of the .cultivated land is about to m., of which the greater part lies on the See also:

LEFT

left (western) See also:

BANK

bank of the river; and outside this is a See also:

belt, varying from a few See also:

HUNDRED

hundred yards to 3 or 4 m., of stony and sandy ground, reaching up to the See also:

FOOT

foot of the limestone cliffs, which rise in places to o as much as IOOO ft. above the valley . This continues as far as 2g N., after which the hills that See also:

close in the valley become lower, and the higher plateaus See also:

lie at a distance of to or 15 in. back in the desert . The See also:

FAYUM

Fayum.—The fertile See also:

province of the Fayum, west of the Nile and separated from it by some 6 m. of desert, seems to owe its existence to movements similar to those which determined the valley itself . Lying in a See also:

basin sloping in a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of terraces from an See also:

ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude of 65 ft. above sea-level in the east to about 140 ft. below sea-level on the north-west, at the margin of the Birket-el-Kerun, this province is wholly irrigated by a canalized channel, the See also:

BAHR

Bahr Yusuf, which, leaving the Nile at Derut esh Sherif in Upper Egypt, follows the western margin of the cultivation in the Nile valley, and at length enters the Fayum through a See also:

gap in the desert hills by the XIIth See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

Dynasty pyramids of Lahun and Hawara (see FAYUM) . The Delta.—About 30° N., where the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of Cairo stands, the hills which have hitherto run parallel with the Nile turn W.N.W. and E.N.E., and the triangular area between them is wholly deltaic . The Delta See also:

MEASURES

measures See also:

LOO (formerly called " Lanterloo," Fr. lanturlu, the refrain of a popular 17th-century song)

loo m. from S. to N., having a width of 155 in. on the See also:

SHORE

shore of the Mediterranean between See also:

Alexandria on the west and See also:

PORT

Port Said on the east .

The low sandy shore of the Delta, slowly increasing by the annual See also:

DEPOSIT (Lat. depositurn, from deponere, to lay down, to put in the care of)

deposit of silt by the river, is mostly a barren area of See also:

sand-hills and salty See also:

WASTE (O. Fr. wast, guast, gast, gaste; Lat. vastus, vast, desolate)

waste land . This is the region of the lagoons and marshes immediately behind the coast-line . Southwards the quality of the See also:

SOIL

soil rapidly improves, and becomes the most fertile part of Egypt . This area is watered by the See also:

DAMIETTA

Damietta and the Rosetta branches of the Nile, and by a network of canals . The soil of the Delta is a dark See also:

grey See also:

FINE

fine sandy soil, becoming at times almost a stiff See also:

clay by See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason of the fineness of its particles, which consist almost wholly of extremely small grains of See also:

QUARTZ

quartz with a few other minerals, and often numerous flakes of See also:

MICA

mica . This deposit varies in thickness, as a See also:

RULE

rule, from 55 to 70 ft., at which See also:

DEPTH

depth it is underlain by a series of coarse and fine yellow quartz sands, with occasional pebbles, or even See also:

banks of See also:

GRAVEL, or PEBBLE BEDS

gravel, while here and there thin beds of clay occur . These sand-beds are sharply distinguished by their colour from the overlying Nile deposit, and are of considerable thickness . A See also:

BORING

boring made in 1886 for the Royal Society at See also:

ZAGAZIG (Zalzazik)

Zagazig attained a depth of 375 ft. without reaching rock, and another, subsequently sunk near See also:

Lake Aboukir (close to Alexandria), reached a depth of 405 ft. with the same result . Numerous other borings to depths of too to 200 ft. have given similar results, showing the Nile deposit to See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest generally on these yellow sands, which provide a See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant though not a very large See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply of good water; near the YPT [MODERN: GEOGRAPHY 22 northern limits of the Delta this cannot, however, be depended on, since the well water at these depths has proved on several occasions to be See also:

salt . The surface of the Delta is a wide alluvial plain sloping gently towards the sea, and having an altitude of 29 ft. above it at its southern extremity . Its limits east and west are determined by the higher ground of the deserts, to which the silt-laden See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the Nile in See also:

flood See also:

time cannot reach . This silt consists largely of alumina (about 48%) and See also:

CALCIUM [symbol Ca, atomic weight 40.0 (o= x6)]

calcium carbonate (18%) with smaller quantities of See also:

SILICA

silica, See also:

OXIDE

oxide of See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron and See also:

CARBON (symbol C, atomic weight 12)

carbon .

Although the Nile water is abundantly charged with See also:

ALLUVIUM

alluvium, the annual deposit by the river, except under extraordinary circumstances, is smaller than might be supposed . The mean See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary See also:

RATE

rate of the increase of the soil of Egypt is calculated as about 42 in. in a See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . The Lakes.—The lagoons or lakes of the Delta, going from west to east, are See also:

MAREOTIS (Arabic Mariut)

Mareotis (Mariut), Edku, Burlus and Menzala . The land separating them from the Mediterranean is nowhere more than ro m. wide . East of the Damietta mouth of the Nile this strip is in places not more than 200 yds. broad . All the lakes are shallow and the water in them salt or brackish . Mareotis, which See also:

BOUNDS, BEATING THE

bounds Alexandria on the south side, varies considerably in area according to the rise or fall of the Nile; when the Nile is low there is a wide expanse of See also:

marsh, when at its highest the lake covers about 10o sq. m . In ancient times Mareotis was navigable and was joined by various canals to the Nile . The country around was cultivated and produced the famous Mareotic See also:

WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine . The canals being neglected, the lake de-creased in size, though it was still of consider-able area in the 15th and 16th centuries, and was then noted for the value of its See also:

FISHERIES

fisheries . When the See also:

French army occupied Egypt in 1798, Mareotis was found to be largely a sandy plain . In See also:

APRIL

April 18oi the British army besieging Alexandria cut through the land between Aboukir and the lake, admitting the waters of the sea into the ancient See also:

bed of Mareotis and laying under water a large area then in cultivation .

This precedent was twice imitated, first by the See also:

TURKS

Turks in 1803 and a second time by the British in 1807 . Mareotis has no outlet, and the water is kept at a uniform level by means of powerful pumps which neutralize the effect of the Nile flood . A western See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm has been cut off from the lake by a dyke, and in this arm a thick crust of salt is formed each See also:

YEAR

year after the evaporation of the flood water . Near the shores of the lake See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild See also:

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers grow in rich profusion . Like all the Delta lakes, Mareotis abounds in wild-See also:

FOWL (Dan. Fugl, Ger. Vogel)

fowl . North-east of Mareotis was Lake Aboukir, a small See also:

SHEET

sheet of water, now dry, lying S.W. of Aboukir Bay . East of this reclaimed marsh and reaching to within 4 M. of the Rosetta See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch of the Nile, lies Edku, 22 M. See also:

long and in places 16 wide, with an opening, supposed to be the ancient Canopic mouth of the Nile, into Aboukir Bay . Burlus begins a little eastward of the Rosetta channel, and stretches See also:

BOW (pronounced " bo ")

bow-shaped for 64 m . Its greatest width is about 16 m . Adjoining it S.E. is an expanse of sandy marsh . Several canals or canalized channels enter the lake . Opposite the spot where the Bahr-mit Yezir enters is an opening into the Mediterranean .

See also:

Canal and opening indicate the course of the ancient Sebennytic branch of the Nile . Burlus is noted for its water-melons, which are yellow within and come into See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season after those grown on the banks of the Nile . Menzala greatly exceeds the other Delta lakes in size, covering over 78o sq. m . It extends from very near the Damietta branch of the Nile to PortSaid . It receives the waters of the canalized channels which were once the Tanitic, Mendesian and Pelusiac branches . The northern shore is separated from the sea by an extremely narrow strip of land, across which, when the Mediterranean is stormy and the lake full, the waters meet . Its average length is about 40 m., and its average breadth about 15 . The depth is greater than that of the other lakes, and the water is salt, though mixed with fresh . It contains a large number of islands, and the whole lake abounds in reeds of various kinds . Of the islands See also:

TENNIS (sometimes called royal tennis, and, in America, court tennis)

Tennis (anciently Tennesus)contains ruins of the Roman period . The lake supports a consider-able See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population of fishermen, who dwell in villages on the shore and islands and live upon the See also:

fish of the lake . The reeds are cover for waterfowl of various kinds, which the traveller See also:

SEES

sees in great See also:

numbers, and wild boars are found in the marshes to the south .

The See also:

SUEZ

Suez Canal runs in a straight line for 20 M. along the eastern edge of the lake . That part of the lake east of where the canal was excavated is now marshy plain, and the Tanitic and Pelusiac mouths of the Nile are dry . East of Menzala is the site of Serbonis, another dried-up lake, which had the general characteristics of the Delta lagoons . In the See also:

ISTHMUS (Gr.io0pbs, neck)

Isthmus of Suez are Lake Timsa and the Great and Little See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

Bitter Lakes, occupying part of the ancient bed of the Red Sea . All three were dry or marshy depressions previously to the cutting of the Suez Canal, at which time the waters of the Mediterranean and Red Sea were let into them (see SUEZ CANAL) . A See also:

CHAIN (through the O. Fr. citable, chcene, &c., from Lat. catena)

chain of natron lakes (seven in number) lies in a valley in the western desert, 70 to 90 m . W.N.W. of Cairo . In the Fayum province farther south is the Birket-el-Kerun, a lake, lying below the level of the Nile, some 3o m. long and 5 wide at its broadest part . Kerun is all that is left of the Lake of See also:

Moeris, an ancient artificial sheet of water which played an important part in the See also:

IRRIGATION (Lat. in, and rigare, to water or wet)

irrigation schemes of the Pharaohs . The water of el-Kerun is brackish, though de-rived from the Nile, which has at all seasons a much higher level . It is bounded on the north by the Libyan Desert, above which rises a bold range of mountains ; and it has a See also:

STRANGE, SIR ROBERT (1721-1792)

strange and picturesque wildness . Near the lake are several sites of ancient towns, and the See also:

temple called Kasr-See also:

KARUN

Karun, dating from Roman times, distinguishes the most important of these .

South-west of the Fayum is the Wadi Rayan, a large and deep depression, utilizable in modern schemes for re-creating the Lake of Moeris (q.v.) . The Desert Plateaus . —From the southern See also:

BORDERS, THE

borders of Egypt to the Delta in the north, the desert plateaus ex- tend on either side of the Nile valley . The eastern region, between the Nile and the Red Sea, varies in width from 90 to 35o m. and is known in its northern part as the Arabian Desert . The western region has no natural barrier for many hundreds of See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles; it is part of the vast Sahara . On its eastern edge, a few miles west of Cairo, stand the great pyramids (q.v.) of Gizeh or Giza . North of Assuan it is called the Libyan Desert . In the north the desert plateaus are comparatively low, but from Cairo southwards they rise to moo and even 1500 ft. above sea- level . Formed mostly of See also:

HORIZONTAL

horizontal strata of varying hardness, they present a series of terraces of See also:

minor plateaus, rising one above the other, and intersected by small ravines worn by the occasional See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain- storms which burst in their neighbourhood . The weathering of this desert area is probably fairly rapid, and the agents at See also:

WORK

work are principally the rapid See also:

HEATING

heating and cooling of the rocks by day and See also:

NIGHT

night, and the erosive See also:

ACTION

action of sand-laden See also:

wind on the softer layers; these, aided by the occasional rain, are ceaselessly at work, and produce the successive plateaus, dotted with small isolated hills and cut up by valleys (wadis) which occasionally become deep ravines, thus forming the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal type of scenery of these deserts . From this it will be seen that the desert in Egypt is mainly a rock desert, where the surface is formed of disintegrated rock, the finer particles of which have been carried away by the wind; and east of the Nile this is almost exclusively the See also:

case . Here the desert meets the line of mountains which runs parallel to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez .

In the western desert, however, those large sand accumu- lations which are usually associated with a desert are met with . They occur as lines of See also:

DUNES

dunes formed of rounded grains of quartz, and lie in the direction of the prevalent wind, usually being of small breadth as compared with their length; but in certain areas, such as that lying S.W. and W. of the oases of Farafra and Dakhla, these lines of dunes, lying parallel to each other and about See also:

HALF

half a mile apart, cover immense areas, rendering them absolutely impassable sn_ = z` _ in; i @ ` _ »%ce = _ g~ f1t1 : z `~ oft OP* :~ Damanhu rte° 1'-N• / "•: . . n . See also:

Wad, e3 °AO.,o 4'Q ,„ ; I afr 1 Nantar i= li rHooker " `a See also:

SAKI

saki ~• sallhta •, I` See also:

TROUT (Salmo trutta)

trout 'twin w„,e er ~ `\$%'10', ` EI See also:

Mar B EllOpalla * }o, '' 4110 .yGiza IY~ Q,.\; NILE DELTA See also:

Scale, .o isles See also:

ENGLISH

English Mlles ° . • ro so ~o ao coaa Ra/llweeto„nrp, C°a.aq of Prosiness e S¢M Oaur13 -~ /Indent SIY1a TaN18 Ita%n1 : . pY' MIDba° . . . : . • atoIN% CL ~,e • .. Abuslit• MEMp le ~ H81wan EmarY,tralkar sc . except in a direction parallel to the lines themselves . East of the oases of Baharia and Farafra is a very striking line of these sand dunes; rarely more than 3 miles wide, it extends almost continuously from Moghara in the north, passing along the west side of See also:

KHARGA (WAI1 EL-KHARGA, the outer oasis)

Kharga Oasis to a point near the Nile in the neighbourhood of Abu Siinbel—having thus a length of nearly 550 m .

In the northern part of this desert the dunes lie about N.W.-S.E., but farther south incline more towards the See also:

meridian, becoming at last very nearly north and south . Oases.—In the western desert lie the five large oases of Egypt, namely, Siwa, Baharia, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga or Great Oasis, occupying depressions in the plateau or, in the case of the last three, large indentations in the See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face of limestone escarpments which form the western versant of the Nile valley hills . Their fertility is due to a plentiful supply of water furnished by a sandstone bed 300 to 500 ft. below the surface, whence the water rises through natural fissures or artificial boreholes to the surface, and sometimes to several feet above it . These oases were known and occupied by the Egyptians as early as 1600 B.c., and Kharga (q.v.) See also:

rose to See also:

SPECIAL

special importance at the time of the See also:

Persian occupation . Here, near the See also:

TOWN

town of Kharga, the ancient Hebi, is a temple of See also:

Ammon built by See also:

DARIUS (Pers. Darayavaush; Old Test. Daryavesh)

Darius I., and in the same oasis are other ruins of the period of the See also:

PTOLEMIES

Ptolemies and Caesars . The oasis of Siwa (See also:

JUPITER

Jupiter Ammon) is about 150 m . S. of the Mediterranean at the Gulf of Sollum and about 300 M . W. of the Nile (see SIWA) . The other four oases lie parallel to and distant loo to 150 M. from the Nile, between 25° and 29° N., Baharia being the most northerly and Kharga the most southerly . Besides the oases the desert is remarkable for two other valleys . The first is that of the natron lakes already mentioned . It contains four monasteries, the remains of the famous anchorite See also:

settlement of Nitriae: South of the Wadi Natron, and parallel to it, is a sterile valley called the Bahr-See also:

bela-Ma, or " River without Water." The Sinai Peninsula.—The triangular-shaped Sinai peninsula has its See also:

BASE

base on the Mediterranean, the northern part being an arid plateau, the desert of Tih .

The See also:

APEX

apex is occupied by a massif of crystalline rocks . The principal peaks rise over 850o ft . Owing to the slight rainfall, and the rapid weathering of the rocks by the great range of temperature, these hills rise steeply from the valleys at their feet as almost bare rock, supporting hardly any vegetation . In some of the valleys See also:

wells or rock-pools filled by rain occur, and furnish drinking-water to the few Arabs who wander in these hills (see also SINAI) . (See also:

GEOLOGY (from Gr. yp7, the earth, and Abyor, science)

Geology.—Just as the Nile valley forms the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

GEOGRAPHICAL

geographical feature of Egypt, so the geology of the country is intimately related to it . The north and south direction of the river has been largely determined by faults, though the geologists of the Egyptian Survey are finding that the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of faulting in determining See also:

PHYSICAL

physical outline has, in some cases, been overestimated . The See also:

OLDEST

oldest rocks, consisting of crystalline See also:

SCHISTS (Gr. vxq'ecv, to split)

schists with numerous intrusions of See also:

GRANITE (adapted from the Ital. granite, grained; Lat. granum, grain)

granite, See also:

PORPHYRY (IlopcPisptos) (A.D. 233-c. 304)

porphyry and See also:

DIORITE (from the Gr. S&oi4eiv to distinguish, from hA through, Epos, a boundary)

diorite, occupy the eastern portion of the country between the Nile south of Assuan and the Red Sea . The intrusive rocks predominate over the schists in extent of area covered . They furnished the chief material for the ancient monuments . At Assuan (Syene) the well-known See also:

SYENITE

syenite of See also:

Werner occurs . It is, however, a See also:

HORNBLENDE

hornblende granite and does not possess the mineralogical See also:

composition of the syenites of modern See also:

PETROLOGY

petrology . Between See also:

Thebes and See also:

KHARTUM

Khartum the western banks of the Nile are composed of Nubian Sandstone, which extends westward from the river to the edge of the great Libyan Desert, where it forms the bed rock .

The age of this sandstone has given rise to much dispute . The upper part certainly belongs to the Cretaceous formation; the lower part has been considered to be of See also:

KARROO

Karroo age by some geologists, while others regard the whole formation to be of Cretaceous age . In the Kharga Oasis the upper portion consists of variously coloured unfossiliferous See also:

CLAYS, PAUL JEAN (1819-1900)

clays with intercalated bands of sandstone containing fossil silicified See also:

woods (Nicolia Aegyptiaca and Araucarioxylon Aegypticum) . They are conformably overlain by clays and limestones with Exogyra Overwegi belonging to the Lower Danian, and these by clays and See also:

white See also:

CHALK

chalk with Ananchytes ovata of the Upper Danian . In many instances the See also:

TERTIARY

Tertiary formation, which occurs between Esna and Cairo, unconformably overlies the Cretaceous, the Lower See also:

EOCENE (Gr. *In, dawn, icauvos, recent)

Eocene being absent . The fluvio-marine deposits of the Upper Eocene and Oligocene formations contain an interesting mammalian See also:

FAUNA

fauna, proving that the See also:

AFRICAN

African See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent formed a centre of See also:

RADIATION, THEORY OF

radiation for the See also:

MAMMALIA (from Lat. mamma, a teat or breast)

mammalia in early Tertiary times . See also:

ARSINOITHERIUM (so called from the Egyptian queen Arsinoe)

Arsinoitherium is the pre-See also:

cursor of the horned See also:

UNGULATA

Ungulata; while Moeritherium and Palaeomastodon undoubtedly include the oldest known elephants . See also:

MIOCENE

Miocene strata are absent in the southern Tertiary areas, but are present at Moghara and in the north . Marine See also:

PLIOCENE (from the Gr. sr?eiov, mere, and xatvbs, recent)

Pliocene strata occur to the south of the pyramids of Giza and in the Fayum province, where, in addition, some gravel terraces, at a height of 500 ft. above sea-level, are attributed to the Pliocene period . The Lake of Moeris, as a large See also:

BODY

body of fresh water, appears to have come into existence in See also:

PLEISTOCENE

Pleistocene times . It is represented now by the brackish-water lake of the Birket-el-Kerun . The superficial sands of the deserts and the Nile mud form the chief See also:

RECENT

recent formations .

The Nile deposits its mud over the valley before reaching the sea, and consequently the Delta receives little additional material . At See also:

MEMPHIS

Memphis the alluvial deposits are over 50 ft. thick . The superficial sands of the desert region, derived in large part from the disintegration of the Nubian Sandstone, occupy the most extensive areas in the Libyan Desert . The other desert regions of Egypt are elevated stony plateaus, which are diversified by extensively excavated valleys and oases, and in which sand frequently plays quite a subordinate part . These regions present magnificent examples of dry erosion by wind-See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne sand, which acts as a powerful sand blast See also:

ETCHING (Dutch, etsen, to eat)

etching away the rocks and producing most beautiful sculpturing . The rate of denudation in exposed positions is exceedingly rapid; while spots sheltered from the sand blast suffer a minimum of erosion, as shown by the preservation of ancient See also:

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

inscriptions . Many of the Egyptian rocks in the desert areas and at the cataracts are coated with a highly polished film, of almost microscopic thinness, consisting chiefly ofoxides of iron and See also:

MANGANESE (symbol Mn; atomic weight, 54.93 (0=16)], a metallic chemical element. Its dioxide (pyrolusite)

manganese with salts of See also:

MAGNESIA

magnesia and See also:

lime . It is supposed to be due to a chemical See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change within the rock and not to deposition on the surface.] Minerals.—Egypt possesses considerable See also:

MINERAL

mineral See also:

WEALTH

wealth . In ancient times See also:

gold and See also:

PRECIOUS (O. Fr. precios, mod. precieux, Lat. pretiosus, of high value or price, pretium)

precious stones were See also:

MINED

mined in the Red Sea hills . During the Moslem period See also:

MINING

mining was abandoned, and it was not until the beginning of the loth century that renewed efforts were made to develop the mining See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry . The salt obtained from Lake Mareotis at Meks, a western suburb of Alexandria, supplies the salt needed for the country, except a small quantity used for curing fish at Lake Menzala ; while the lakes in the Wadi Natron, 45 M . N.W. of the pyramids of Giza, furnish carbonate of soda in large quantities .