ANCIENT TESTIMONY ABOUT LAKE MŒRIS.
Evidence concerning the existence of Lake Mœris, which has been
briefly referred to in the Introduction, is to be gained from the
following sources:—
The Egyptian monuments, in which are found inscriptions on stone
and records on papyri.
The writings of Herodotus, who visited Egypt B.C. 450.
The writings of Diodorus Siculus, a Sicilian, and of Strabo, a Greek
geographer and contemporary with Diodorus, about B.C. 25.
Lastly Pliny, A.D. 50 to 70.
It must be borne in mind, while reading their accounts, that, in
attempting to give information as to the origin of Lake Mœris, they
were undertaking a task beyond their powers, since, according to the
scanty revelations of the monuments, which on this point are the only
witnesses worthy of credence, the Lake Mœris _existed_ 2000 years
before Herodotus visited Egypt, and therefore must have been _formed_
at a more remote date. What then these ancients may have been told
as to the _origin_ of Lake Mœris may well be classed with tradition,
and be assigned its true value as such, but what they state, that they
themselves _saw_, is as worthy of belief as statements found in the
descriptions of any other sober historian’s personal experiences.
I am indebted to the Rev. Edwin Meyrick, M.A., for the translations of
the passages from Herodotus, and to Mr. Edward Meyrick, of Marlborough
College, for those from the other classics.
_Translations from Ancient Authors, who have referred to Lake Mœris,
and Arabic Tradition._
HERODOTUS, Book II. (B.C. 454).
“These twelve kings (who were governing Egypt at the time of
which Herodotus was writing) agreed to leave a work which should
make their names remembered, and, uniting all their powers, they
built the Labyrinth, a little above the Lake Mœris, and situated as
nearly as possible opposite the city called Crocodilopolis. (Here
follows a description of the Labyrinth, in which it is stated to
surpass the pyramids as a wonder of construction.)
“Adjoining the angle where the Labyrinth ends, is a pyramid,
240 feet high, on which large figures of animals are engraved. The
entrance into this is subterranean.
“Now, the Labyrinth being such as I have described, the lake,
named that of Mœris, causes still greater astonishment, on the
bank of which this Labyrinth was built. The perimeter of this lake
measures 3600 stadii, which is the same thing as 60 schœni. This
measure is nearly equal to the entire seaboard of the whole of Egypt.
“This lake lies oblong north and south, being in its deepest part
50 fathoms deep. It tells its own story that it is artificially made,
for about the middle of the lake stand two pyramids, out-topping the
water 50 fathoms each, and that part of them which is built under
water is as much more. On the top of each is a colossal figure
in stone, seated on a throne. So these pyramids are 100 fathoms
high. Now, 100 fathoms are exactly equal to a stadius, consisting
of six plethra, seeing that the fathom is equal to 6 feet, or four
cubits, a foot measuring four palms, a cubit six palms.
“The water in the lake is not derived from local sources, for
the earth in that part is naturally excessively dry and waterless,
but it is brought in from the Nile by a canal. It takes six months
filling and six months flowing back. During the six months of the
return flow, it yields a talent of silver each day to the Treasury,
and during the flow in, twenty minæ from the fish.
“The people of the country also told me that this lake on its
western face, inland along the mountain which is over Memphis,
has an underground outlet into the Syrtis, which is in Libya. But
when I nowhere saw the earth-mounds which came from this excavation
(for this was much upon my mind) I questioned those who lived in the
neighbourhood of the lake as to where the excavated material could
be. They told me that it had been carried out, and without difficulty
they led me to believe it. For I knew by report that a similar thing
had taken place in Nineveh, the city of the Assyrians. For burglars
contrived a plan to carry off the treasures of King Sardanapalus,
son of Ninus, which were valuable and guarded in subterranean
treasuries. These burglars then, starting from their own dwellings,
and calculating the distance, tunnelled to the palace. And when night
came on they carried out the material, which was removed from the
excavation into the river Tigris, which flows past Nineveh, until
they accomplished what they wished. In a similar way to this I heard
that the excavation also of the lake in Egypt had been carried out
(except that it was done by daylight, not by night), inasmuch as
the excavators carried the material to the Nile, and the Nile,
receiving it, would disperse it. In this way the lake is said to
have been excavated.”
STRABO, Book XVII. (B.C. 24).
Writing of the Arsinoïte Nome he says, “This province is the
most remarkable of all in appearance, natural properties, and
embellishment. It grows olive-trees which bear fruit. It produces wine
in abundance, corn, pulse, and a great variety of other grains. . . .
“It has also a remarkable lake called the Lake of Mœris, large
enough to be called a sea, and resembling the open sea in colour;
its shores are also similar in appearance to sea-beaches, whence
we may suspect a community of nature between them and the district
about Ammon. For they are in fact not far distant from one another
or from Parætonium, and as there is good reason to suppose that the
latter temple formerly stood on the sea-shore, so also this district
must formerly have been littoral. Lower Egypt and the parts towards
the Serbonian Lake were then covered by the sea, perhaps connected
with the Red Sea by Heroöpolis and the Elanitic Gulf. . . .
“Thus, the Lake of Mœris is, from its size and depth, capable of
receiving the overflow of the Nile at its rising, and preventing the
flooding of houses and gardens; when the river falls, the lake again
discharges the water by a canal at both orifices, and it is available
for irrigation. There are regulators at both ends of the canal for
controlling the inflow and outflow. Near these is an immense stone
Labyrinth, a work comparable with the Pyramids; and the tomb of the
king who constructed it. . . .
“Sailing 100 furlongs further one comes to the city Arsinoë,
formerly called Crocodilopolis.”
DIODORUS SICULUS, Book I. Chap. LI. (about B.C. 20).
“He (King Mœris) dug a lake 600 furlongs above the city (Memphis), which
is amazingly useful and incredibly large. Its circumference is said to
be 3600 furlongs, and its depth in most parts 50 fathoms. . . . For as
the rising of the Nile is irregular, and the fertility of the country
depends on its uniformity, he dug the lake for the reception of the
superfluous water. And he constructed a canal from the river to the lake
80 furlongs in length and 300 feet in breadth. Through this he admitted
or let out water as required, the mouth being opened or closed by an
elaborate and costly process (for it cost not less than 50 talents
whenever any one wished to open or close the mechanism). This lake has
continued to serve the Egyptians for this purpose down to our own times,
and is called the Lake of Mœris after its constructor. When the king dug
it he left in the centre a place on which he built a tomb and two
pyramids, one for himself and the other for his wife, a furlong in
height, expecting thus to leave an immortal reputation for his
benefactions. The revenue of the fisheries in the lake he gave to his
wife for her allowance for perfumes and cosmetics generally; they
brought in a sum of a talent of silver daily; for there are said to be
twenty-two kinds of fish in it, and the quantity taken is so large that
the numerous hands engaged in the salt-curing industry can hardly keep
pace with the work.”
PLINY, Nat. Hist., Book V. Chap. 9 (A.D. 50-70).
“Between the nomes of Arsinoë and Memphis was a lake, 250 miles
(i.e. Roman miles) in circumference; or, as Mucianus tells us,
450 miles in circumference and 50 paces in depth, artificially
constructed, called the Lake of Mœris, from the king who made
it. Seventy-two miles distant from this is Memphis, formerly the
capital of Egypt.”
PLINY, Nat. Hist., Book XXXVI. Chap. 16.
“There were two other pyramids near the Lake of Mœris, which is
a large excavation.”
ARABIC TRADITION,
as given by Mr. Cope Whitehouse in his article entitled “The
Expansion of Egypt” in the _Contemporary Review_, September 1887,
translated from an Arabic manuscript which once belonged to Cardinal
Mazarin:—
“Joseph, to whom may Allah show mercy and grant peace, when he was
Prime Minister of Egypt and high in favour with Raiyan, his sovereign,
after that he was more than a hundred years old, became an object of
envy to the favourites of the king and the puissant seigneurs of the
Court of Memphis, on account of the great power which he wielded and
the affection entertained for him by his monarch. They accordingly
thus addressed the king: ‘Great king, Joseph is now very old;
his knowledge has diminished; his beauty has faded; his judgment
is unsound; his sagacity has failed.’ The king said: ‘Set him
a task which shall serve as a test.’ At that time el-Fayoum was
called el-Hun, or the Marsh. It served as a waste basin for the
waters of Upper Egypt, which flowed in and out unrestrained. The
courtiers having taken counsel together what to propose to the king,
gave this reply to Pharaoh: ‘Lay the royal commands upon Joseph
that he shall divert the water of the Nile from el-Hun and drain
it, so as to give you a new province and an additional source of
revenue.’ The king assented, and summoning Joseph to his presence,
said: ‘You know how dearly I love my daughter, and you see that
the time has arrived in which I ought to carve out an estate for
her out of the crown lands, and give her a separate establishment,
of which she would be the mistress. I have, however, no territory
available for this purpose except the submerged land of el-Hun. It
is in many respects favourably situated. It is a convenient distance
from my capital. It is surrounded by desert. My daughter will thus be
independent and protected.’ ‘Quite true, great king,’ responded
Joseph, ‘when would you wish it done? for accomplished it shall
be by the aid of Allah, the all-powerful.’ ‘The sooner, the
better,’ said the king. Then Allah inspired Joseph with a plan. He
directed him to make three canals; one from Upper Egypt, a canal on
the east, and a canal on the west. Joseph collected workmen and dug
the canal of Menhi from Ashmunîn to el-Lahûn. Then he excavated the
canal of el-Fayoum, and the eastern canal, with another canal near it
called Ben-Hamed to the west. In this way the water was drained from
el-Hun; then he set an army of labourers at work. They cut down the
tamarisks and bushes which grew there and carried them away. At the
season when the Nile begins to rise the marsh had been converted into
good cultivable land. The Nile rose; the water entered the mouth of
the Menhi canal and flowed down the Nile Valley to el-Lahûn; thence
it turned towards el-Fayoum, and entered that canal in such volume
that it filled it, and converted the land into a region irrigated by
the Nile. King Raiyan thereupon came to see his new province with the
courtiers who had advised him to set Joseph this task. When they saw
the result they greatly marvelled at the skill and inventive genius
of Joseph, and exclaimed: ‘We do not know which most to admire,
the draining of the marsh and the destruction of the noxious plants,
or the conversion of its surface into fertile and well-watered
fields.’ Then the King said to Joseph, ‘How long did it take
you to bring this district into the excellent state in which I find
it?’ ‘Seventy days,’ responded Joseph. Then Pharaoh turned
to his courtiers and said: ‘Apparently one could not have done
it in a thousand days.’ Thus the name was changed from el-Hun,
or the Marsh, to el-Fayoum, ‘the land of a thousand days.’”
This pun is not to be appreciated in the translation without a
knowledge of Arabic. _Elf_ is the Arabic for a thousand, and _yôm_
for a day; _elf-yôm_ being a thousand days. As the work took seventy
days to complete, according to the tradition, it does not appear clear
why it should have been called “the land of a thousand days”
instead of “the land of seventy days.” But the tradition must
not be criticised, as it will not stand it.
The name Fayûm is derived from an old Coptic word _phiûm_ signifying
a sea or lake; _el_ is simply the definite article.