26°. 30'. under the fame parallel with Abydus, which the Arabs have named El Berbi, the temple, on account of the edifice found there; the second at 25°. 45. that is to say, facing Behnefa; and the most northerly at 29. 30. under the parallel of Lake Mæris. Let us now find near which of them the temple of Jupiter Ammon was built, and the route of Alexander will direct our fearch. "Alexander having quelled Upper

Egypt (a), without making any alteration "in the form of government, refolved to

go to the temple of Jupiter Ammon. "The road thither is almost impracticable, "the earth is without fprings, the heavens "without water. Immenfe fandy plains are every where feen, which, continually "fcorched by the fun's rays, are intolerable "to the foles of the feet. A prey to

drought and heat, travellers are obliged

"to crofs deep fands; thefe, giving way at

every step, render walking exceedingly painful. The Egyptians exaggerated thefe difficulties, but nothing could ftop Alex ́ander, whofe ardent defires impelled him "to visit the oracle of Jupiter. Not fatis

(a) Quin. Cur. lib. 4. cap. 7.
G 3

"`fied

"fied with human greatnefs, he believed, or "would have had others believe, the god "was his father (b). He and the perfons "chofen to accompany him went, by wa"ter, as far as Lake Mareotis, and depart"ed thence to accomplish his purpose. The "two first days the fatigue was not very

great, they walked on a fterile foil, but "had not yet entered the vaft and naked "wilderness. As they As they proceeded they per"ceived nothing around them but fand on

fand, without trees, plants, or the leaft "trace of culture. In the midst of thefe

66

parched deferts, they, like failors, looked

earneftly for land; the water which the "camels carried in fkins was foon all gone, "and the lofs was irreparable in a place "where no fprings could be found, and "where every thing was burnt up by the "fun. In this extremity, whether it was

the effect of chance, or the benevolence

of the gods, the heavens were overfpread "with clouds, and the rain fell in torrents,

(b) Callifthenes, according to Strabo, fays that Alexander, when he undertook this voyage, wished to imitate Perfeus and Hercules, who had done fo before him.

reftoring life to wretches expiring with

thirst, and finking under the excess of the "heats. At laft, after four days march, "across this fearful defert, they arrived at "the territory facred to Jupiter Ammon. "What was their aftonishment at finding, "in a country furrounded by deferts, forests "whofe thick fhades were impenetrable to "the fun, brooks of excellent water, and a "climate deliciously temperate, enjoying, all "the year, the charms of fpring and falubrity!

16

"The inhabitants of these woods, named "Ammonians, refide in fcattered huts. A triple wall, built in the centre of the 66 grove, ferved them as a citadel. The "firft enclosure contained the ancient palace of their kings; the fecond, in which the

temple ftands, was appropriated to the

women, children and concubines; and the "warriors, appointed to defend this afylum, "dwelt in the third. The fountain of the "fun ran in another grove; in like manner, confecrated to the oracle of Ammon.

Its

water is tepid in the morning, cool at noon, hot in the evening, and fcalding at

midnight. The ftatue revered here does

not resemble the deities ufually formed by fculptors. Made of emeralds and precious "ftones, it has the form of a ram, (c) from "the head to the waift. *

"wishes to confult it, the

When any one

priests bear it

"in a gilded boat, to which, on each fide, "are fufpended cups of filver. Matrons and

virgins follow, finging an uncouth hymn, "after an ancient cuftom, by which they "believe Jupiter will be rendered propitious,

"and return them a true answer."

Alexander departed from the lake Mareotis to go to this temple. The two first days he marched over a barren country, but where they did not fink in; that is to fay, he kept weftward, on the fea fhore, for had he gone fouth, or fouth-weft, he would immediately have entered a defert covered with deep fands.

(c) This idol has the form of a ram, becaufe that animal was confecrated to Jupiter Ammon, a fymbolical deity, fignifying the fun arrived at the fign of Aries, or the Ram. The boat in which they carried it reprefented the vefiel in which the Egyptians placed the fun, deferibing his courfe through the zodiac. Thefe fymbols will be explained in the following letters.

*The learned are aware of the various readings and doubts on this paflage. T.

4

Seven

Seven or eight leagues from Paratonium, he entered the burning wildernefs, in which he made a four days march, and then immediately took the direction of the habitation of the Ammonians, nearly following the dotted line traced upon the map. This I am perfuaded of, becaufe Ptolemy places the first Oafis under the fame parallel as lake Mæris ; from which Oafis Strabo (d) affirms the temple of Ammon was not far diftant., Callifthenes, who makes Alexander take his departure from Paratonium, does not wander far from our route; and it is poffible the conqueror went to that city, and, afterwards, turned fouth.

Strabo (e) fays that, under the emperor Auguftus, the Sibylline verfes, and the divinations of the Etrufcans, had deprived the oracle of Ammon of much of its credit. In the thirteenth century it was forgotten, but the Arabs affure us that country fill poffeffed inhabitants. From their writings it appears. that the fountain of the fun, which Quintus

(d) Strabo, lib. 17. Not the firft, but third, according to Strabo, i. e. M. Savary has reverfed the order by fome overfight. They are properly placed in the map. T. (e) Strabo, ubi fupra.

Curtius