Chapter XXIII: Letter XX: The Pyramids of Meröe, 22nd April, 1844

We quitted Chartûm on the 30th March, towards evening, and proceeded half the night by moonlight.

The following day we arrived at TAMANIÂT. Almost the whole of the large village had disappeared, and only one vast burning plain was to be seen. The slaves in their revolt had laid everything in ashes, the walls of the factory are alone left standing. As I had quitted the boat and arrived on foot, I was unexpectedly startled near the still smoking ruins by a horrible spectacle, for I suddenly found myself in an open piece of garden, which was completely covered by the mutilated corpses of blacks. The greatest proportion of the slaves who had been recaptured were here shot down in masses.

We stopped at sunset in Surîe Abu Ramle, before a cataract, which we were unable to pass during the night.

The 1st of April we again started long before daybreak, and thought we should make a good step in advance. But the wind rose with the sun, and as the boat could not be towed at this point on account of the rocky banks, a few hours afterwards we were compelled to halt again, and to lie quiet in the heavy, dense atmosphere of sand. In front of us lay the insulated range of Qirre, detached from which, Aschtân (the Thirsty) on our left hand, Rauiân (the Thirsty assuaged) on our right, stand forth from the plain like watch-posts; the former, however, at a greater distance from the river.

Rauiân was only about three-quarters of an hour distant from our boat. I set out with my gun, traversed the bare stony plain, and climbed the mountain, during the inundation season almost entirely surrounded by water, for which reason we were always told that it stood upon an island. The rock of which it is composed is granite, of a mixed coarse and fine grain, with much quartz. On the road back, I passed the village of Meláh, the huts of which lie hidden behind large mounds of upturned earth, formed by the inhabitants when they dig for salt (malh). A great deal of it is found in the surrounding country (thus Meláh is the Arabic translation of salt-work, or Sulza). Towards evening we sailed on a little farther, in the midst of the range, and lay to, in a little rocky creek. The following day, also, we made but little progress. We saw some black slaves wandering about like chamois, on the eastern summits of the wild granitic rocks, who have perhaps escaped from Tamaniât, but their miserable life will not probably be much longer prolonged. They disappeared immediately again behind the jagged summits, our Kawass having indulged in the brutal jest of firing at them in the air. I climbed up the western mountains with Abeken; they rise precipitously for about 200 or 300 feet from the bank. It is evident here, by the natural walls of rock, to what height the river rises and deposits its mud at high-water. I measured nearly 8 metres (26 feet English) from that point to the surface of the water at the present moment, and the river will continue to sink about 2 feet more.

From the summit of the mountain we saw the wide desert extending behind the farthest eminences, and soon after passing Méraui, we shall be wandering across it. We quitted the picturesque range of mountains with regret, which form such an agreeable interruption to the flat banks of this far and wide level country.

On the morning of the 4th April, we at length reached our group of palm-trees at BEN NAGA, and immediately went to the ruins in the Wadi el Kirbegân, where we found a portion of a pillar, and several altars in the south-eastern temple which had been newly-excavated by Erbkam; the same Royal Shields were upon them as upon the principal temples of Naga in the desert, besides several others which had not previously appeared. Of the three altars that had been excavated, the central one, of very hard sandstone, was in excellent preservation. On the western side there was a representation of the King, on the eastern, of the Queen, with their names, and on both the other sides were two goddesses. On the northern side the hieroglyphic group of the North was also inscribed, and on the southern that of the South. Both the other altars exhibited the same figures. All three were still standing on their original site, and were let into a smooth floor, which was composed of square slabs of stone covered with plaster. Unfortunately I had not then the means of carrying away the best of these altars, which weighed at least 50 cwt., and I had, therefore, to plan a special excursion from Meröe for the purpose.

On Good Friday, the 5th April, we arrived at Schendi. We entered the widely-scattered but depopulated town, saw the ruins of the palace of King Nimr, in which he had burnt Ismael Pascha, after a nocturnal festival which he had prepared for him, and many houses which still bore traces of the balls of Defterdar Bey, who was sent by Mohammed Ali to revenge the death of his son. The dwelling of King Nimr, which now also lay in ruins, used to stand in the centre of the town on an artificial eminence. The suburb, built for the present military garrison, is at a little distance up the river, and separated from the town. We then returned to the boat, which had put in near the fortress-like house of Churshid Pascha, where the military commander now resides.

On the same day we arrived, shortly before sunset, at Beg´erauîeh, and immediately rode to the Pyramids, where we once more found Erbkam and the remainder of the party safe and sound. They have been diligently drawing in Naga and Wadi Sofra, and the rich costume of the kings and gods, as well as the representations belonging to these Ethiopian temples in general, devoid of style indeed, but ornamental, look very well on paper, and will make a splendid show in our sketch-books. Much had been done in this spot also, and many new things had come to light in clearing out the ante-chambers, which had been full of rubbish. Abeken thought, even, during our first visit, that he had found the name of the Queen KENTAKI (CANDACE). Now, indeed, we see that the Shield is not written

𓍹𓐼𓎡𓈖𓍘𓐱𓇋𓎡𓇌𓐱𓐷𓏏𓐰𓆇𓐸𓐽𓍺 but 𓍹𓐼𓎡𓈖𓍘𓐱𓇋𓎱𓇌𓐱𓐷𓏏𓐰𓆇𓐸𓐽𓍺

which would read KENTAHEBI; nevertheless it seems to me to have meant that famous name, and that the questionable sign merely has been changed by the ignorant scribes. The determinative signs 𓏏𓆇 prove, at least, that it is the name of a Queen. The name of CANDACE was known even at an earlier period as that of a private person. The name of ERGAMENES is likewise found, and this also written sometimes correctly, sometimes with mistaken variation.

We kindled Easter bonfires on the evenings of the succeeding holidays. Our tents are situated between two groups of Pyramids in a small hollow of the valley, which is everywhere covered with dry tufts of a woody grass. We lighted this all about us; it blazed up high, and flung the whirling flames upwards into the dark starry night. The spectacle of fifty or sixty such fires burning at once in the valley was beautiful; they threw a ghost-like light on the half-crumbled Pyramids of the old kings ranged on the eminences round, and on our airy tent-pyramids rising in the foreground.

We were surprised on the 8th of April by seeing a magnificent cavalcade of horses and camels, which appeared within our camp. It was OSMAN BEY, who, as the chief in command, is leading back the army of 5000 men from Taka. The French military surgeon, Peney, was in his suite, besides the Chief Sheikh Ahmed welled ʾAuad. The troops had encamped near Gabuschié, one hour farther up the river, and were to pass through Beg´erauîeh in the evening. The visit to our camp had, however, another object, which was soon disclosed in the course of conversation. Osman Bey was desirous of making treasure-diggers out of his pioneers, and of ordering some battalions to come hither, to pull down a number of Pyramids. The discovery of Ferlini is still remembered by most people, and has since that time caused the ruin of many Pyramids. They were also full of it at Chartûm, and more than one European, besides the Pascha himself, imagined they might still find treasures there. I constantly endeavoured to prove to them all, that the discovery of Ferlini was pure chance, that he had not found the gold rings in the sepulchral chambers with the mummies, where they alone might reasonably have been searched for with any hope of success, but walled up in the stone, in which place they had been concealed by a whim of the owner. I endeavoured to convince Osman Bey of this also, who even offered me the aid of his companies of soldiers to conduct the work of destruction. I naturally declined this, though perhaps I should have accepted it for the sake of laying open to view the sepulchral chambers, which necessarily must have their entrance in front of the Pyramids in the natural rock, had I not feared that here also we might not arrive at any brilliant result, and even if our own expectations were not so, yet those of the credulous general might be bitterly disappointed. I succeeded in diverting him from his idea, and thus for the present, at least, the existing Pyramids have been saved. The soldiers have departed without having made war on the Pyramids.

I invited the three gentlemen to dine with us, which placed the old Sheikh in some embarrassment, for he was always trying to cut the meat with the back of his knife, till at length I myself laid aside the European implements, and began to eat in good Turkish fashion; my example was soon followed willingly by the rest of the company, especially by our excellent dark-skinned guest, who did not fail to observe my polite attention. After dinner they again mounted their sumptuously-caparisoned animals, and the procession hastened towards the river.

On the 9th of April, I sent Franke and Ibrahim Aga to Ben Naga, with stone-saws, hammers, and ropes, to transport the great altar to this spot. I myself rode with Jussuf to Gabuschié, partly to return the visit of Osman Bey, who had intended to give the soldiers a day of rest in our neighbourhood, partly to take advantage of the presence of the distinguished Sheikh Ahmed, through whose interest I hoped to procure boats to carry us across the river, and camels for the desert journey that we had in prospect. The army had, however, already decamped, and had passed the first places on the road. I therefore rode after them with Jussuf in a brisk trot, and soon overtook the 400 Arnauts who formed the rear. They were not, however, able to inform us how far Osman Bey was in advance. The Arnauts are the soldiers most dreaded in the whole country for brutality and cruelty, who at the same time are treated with most indulgence by their leaders, because they are the only troops who serve voluntarily, and the only foreigners taken into pay. It is but a few months ago since they were sent to the late Ahmed Pascha by Mohammed Ali, under an officer who was peculiarly feared, with the order, as it is said, to bring the Pascha, dead or alive, to Cairo. The sudden death of the Pascha at all events released him from his commission. The name of that officer is Omar Aga, but he is known through the whole country by the not very flattering appellation of Tomus Aga (Commandant Cochon) which was once given him by Ibrahim Pascha, and which, since that time, he himself thinks it an honour to bear. His own attendants, when we overtook his horses and baggage, and inquired after their master, called him by this name. After riding briskly for about five or six hours in the most oppressive heat, we at length reached the camp at the village of Bêida.

We had by degrees gone more than half-way to Schendi, and were rejoiced at the near prospect of finding some refreshment, after the exhaustion of the hot ride; for we had already made up our minds to fast, till our return in the evening, as there was absolutely nothing that we could eat in the villages between; there was not even milk to be had.

Osman Bey and Hakîm Peney were as much surprised as delighted at my visit; some bowls of _Suri_ were immediately brought for our refreshment—a beverage which undergoes a slow and troublesome process of preparation, from half-fermented Durra; it is an agreeable acid, and, especially with sugar, has a most excellent and refreshing taste. After our breakfast, I went through the camp with Peney. The tents were pitched along the river in the most picturesque variety of groups, on a great space of ground here and there scattered over with trees and thicket, and completely surrounded by it. An Egyptian army, composed half of blacks and half of whites, most of them in tatters, returning in forced marches from a depredatory expedition against the poor natives, presents, indeed, a very different aspect from what we are accustomed to witness at home. Although the intimidated population of Taka, for the most part innocent of individual revolt, had already sent messengers to the Pascha, to avert his vengeance, and moreover, on the approach of the troops, had not offered the slightest resistance, nevertheless, several hundred unarmed men and women, who either would not, or could not fly, were murdered by that notorious troop of Arnauts; and Ahmed Pascha caused a number of other men, who were believed to have been concerned in the insurrection, as they were each led before him, to be beheaded in front of his tent. Then, after all the conditions that were imposed had been fulfilled, and the heavy contributions which had been required from them under every variety of pretext had been also correctly paid, the Pascha caused all the Sheikhs to assemble at once, as if for a fresh conference, but forthwith had them all put in fetters, together with 120 other people, and led away as prisoners. The young and strong men were to be placed among the troops, the women handed over to the soldiers as slaves; the Sheikhs were reserved for punishment till a later day.

This was the glorious history of the Turkish campaign against Taka, as it was related to me by the European eye-witnesses. Already twelve among the forty-one Sheikhs who were carried away, and were nearly sinking under the fatigue of the marches, have been shot on the road. The others were exhibited to me singly. Each of them carried before him the stem of a tree as thick as a man’s arm, about five or six feet long, which terminated in a fork, into which the neck was fixed. The prongs of the fork were bound together by a cross-piece of wood, fastened with a strap. Some of their hands, also, were tied fast to the handle of the fork, and in this condition they remain day and night. During the march, the soldier who is specially appointed to overlook the prisoner, carries the end of the pole: in the night most of them have their feet also pinioned together. All of them had had their black curls shaven off. The Sheikhs alone still wore their large head-dress of braids or curls. Most of them looked very depressed and miserable; they had been the most distinguished of their nation, and had been accustomed to be treated by those they commanded, with the greatest reverence. They almost all spoke Arabic, beside their own language, and mentioned to me the tribes to which they severally belonged. But the most distinguished of all of them was a Fakir, who was held sacred; his word had been regarded like that of a prophet throughout the whole land, and, by his oracular sayings and exhortations, he had been chiefly instrumental in causing the whole revolution. He was called Sheikh MÛSA EL FAKIR, and was of the tribe of the Mitkenâbs. I found him an old, blind, broken-down, hoary man, with a few snow-white hairs; his body was already more like a skeleton; he was obliged to be raised up by others, and was scarcely able to hear and answer the questions which were addressed to him. His little, shrivelled face, was incapable of any new expression corresponding to the present circumstances. He looked forwards with a fixed and indifferent stare, and I was surprised how such a shadow could have still exercised so much influence on the minds of his fellow-countrymen as to excite a revolution. Yet it is remarkable that, both in Egypt and everywhere about here, blind people have an especial reputation for sanctity, and are held in great respect as Prophets.

After breakfast I had one of the captured Sheikhs, Mohammed welled Hammed, brought to the tent of Osman, that I might question him about his language, of which I was still perfectly ignorant. He was an intelligent, well-spoken man, who at once took advantage of the opportunity which I readily granted him, to relate his history to Osman Bey and Sheikh Ahmed, and to assure them of his innocence of the revolutionary events. He belonged to the tribe of the HALENKA, from the village of KASSALA. I made him give me the lists of the forty-one Sheikhs and their tribes, and had them written down. Six tribes had taken part in the insurrection—the Mitkenâb, Halenka, Kelûli, Mohammedîn, Sobeh, Sikulâb, and Hadenduwa (plur. from Henduwa).

All the tribes of Taka speak the same language; but only a few of them also understand the Arabic. I suspect that it is the same as that of the Bischâri tribes. It has many, and well-distributed vowels, and is very euphonous, as it is without the hard guttural sound of the Arabs. On the other hand, it has a peculiar alphabetical letter, which to our ear seems to stand between _r_, _l_, and _d_; a cerebral _d_, which, like the Sanscrit, is pronounced by throwing back the point of the tongue upwards.

After our examination of the Sheikh it had become too late to set out again; night would have overtaken me, and especially on camel-back, it is impossible to avoid the dangerous branches of the thorny trees. I therefore complied with the invitation to spend the night in the camp, till the rising of the moon; Osman Bey would then at the same time start in the opposite direction with the army. A whole sheep was roasted on the spit, which we ate with a hearty appetite.

I learnt from Osman Bey about many interesting customs of the most southern provinces, as for the last sixteen years he has been living here in the south, and has an accurate knowledge of the country, to the extreme limits of Mohammed Ali’s government. It is still the custom in Fazoql to hang a king who is no longer beloved, which occurred only a few years ago to the father of the present reigning monarch. His relatives and ministers assemble round him, and announce to him that as he no longer pleases the men and women of the country, the oxen, asses, and fowls, &c., &c., but is detested by all, it is better that he should die. Once upon a time, when a king did not wish to submit to this practice, his own wife and mother made the most pressing remonstrances to him, not to load himself with still greater disgrace, upon which he yielded to his fate. Diodorus narrates exactly the same resignation to death in those who in Ethiopia were to die by judicial verdict; a person who had been condemned, and who had at first intended to save himself by flight, had nevertheless allowed himself to be strangled without resistance by his mother, who had obstructed him in his design. Osman Bey has only lately, he assures me himself, abolished the custom there of burying old people alive, when they become feeble. A pit used to be dug and a horizontal passage at the end of it, and the body laid within, like that of a dead person, firmly swathed in cloths; by his side they placed a bowl with merisa, fermented Durra water, a pipe, and a hoe, to cultivate the land; also, according to the wealth of the individual, one or two ounces of gold, to pay the ferryman who must convey the deceased across the great river which flows between heaven and hell. The entrance is then filled up with rubbish. Indeed, according to Osman, the whole legend of Charon, even with a Cerberus, appears still to exist here.

This custom of burying old people alive also exists, as I afterwards heard, among the negro tribes to the south of Kordofan. Invalids and cripples, those especially who have an infectious malady, are there also put to death in a similar manner. The family complains to the sick man, that because of him, no one will come near them any longer; that he himself is wretched, and death would be only a gain for him; that he would again find his relations in the other world, and would be in health and happiness there. They charge him with kind messages to all the deceased, and then bury him either as they do in Fazoql, or standing upright in a pit. Besides merisa, bread, a hoe, and a pipe, he is there given a sword and two pairs of sandals, for the deceased live in the other world just as they do here on earth, only in greater happiness.

The dead are buried with loud lamentations, while their actions and good qualities are extolled. Nothing is there known of a river and ferryman of the lower world, but they are acquainted with the old Mohammedan legend of the invisible angel Asrael, or as he was here called Osraîn. He is commissioned by God, as they say, to receive the souls of the dead, and to conduct the good to the place of reward, the bad to that of punishment. He dwells upon a tree, _el Ségerat Mohàna_ (the Tree of Completion), which has as many leaves as there are living men. There is a name upon every leaf, and a new one grows whenever a child is born. If any one sickens, his leaf fades, and should he die, Osraîn breaks it off. In former times he used to come in a visible form to those whom he was going to carry away from the earth, and thereby put them in a great fright. Since the days of the Prophet he has been invisible, for when he came to fetch the soul of Mohammed, the latter told him that it was not good that he should terrify mankind by his visible appearance; they might then easily die of fright without having previously prayed; for he himself, although very courageous, and a man of enlarged mind, had been terrified by his appearance. The Prophet, therefore, prayed to God that he would make Osraîn invisible, and the prayer was heard.

Osman Bey told me that among some other tribes in Fazoql, the king was obliged to administer justice daily beneath a certain tree. If on account of sickness, or from any other mishap, which renders him unfit, he does not make his appearance for three whole days, he is hung up. Two razors are placed in the noose, and when this is drawn tight, they cut the throat across.

The meaning of another of their customs is quite obscure. At a certain time of the year they have a kind of carnival, where every one does what he likes best. Four ministers of the king then bear him on an anqareb out of his house to an open space of ground; a dog is fastened by a long cord to one of the feet of the anqareb. The whole population collects round the place, streaming in on every side. They then throw darts and stones at the dog, till he is killed, after which the king is again borne into his house.

Amidst these and other tales and accounts of those tribes, which were besides confirmed by the old Chief Sheikh Ahmed, we feasted on the roasted sheep in the open air in front of the tent. Night was somewhat advanced, and the near and distant camp-fires, with the people busy around them, either squatting about, or walking up and down between groups of trees, had an extremely picturesque and unique effect. Gradually they all became extinguished, with the exception of the watch-fire; the poor prisoners scattered here and there, had their legs fastened still more tightly together, and it became quieter in the camp.

Osman Bey is a strong, cheerful man, with natural manners, and at the same time a strict and valued officer. He promised to give me a slight proof of the discipline and good order among his soldiers, whose external appearance did not prejudice me very much in their favour by an unexpected reveillé. I was sleeping on an anqareb in the open tent, covered with a soldier’s cloak. About three o’clock in the morning I was awoke by a slight noise; Osman Bey, who lay beside me on the ground, got up, and ordered the nearest drummer of the chief watch to beat the reveillé. He made a few, short, interrupted beats of the drum, quickly sinking again into silence. These were immediately repeated at the post of the next regiment, then at the third, fourth, and fifth, in various, always more distant, positions of the camp; and suddenly the whole mass of 5000 men rose up and stood to their arms. Nothing was to be heard but a soft whispering and rustling of the soldiers, who were rousing each other, and the faint clank of the weapons, which were cautiously separated from one another. I went through the camp with Dr. Peney, who came across to me from the adjoining tent, and in a very few minutes we found the whole army under arms, arranged in ranks, the officers marching up and down in front. On our return, after we had related to Osman Bey the wonderfully punctual execution of his commands, he allowed the soldiers to separate again, and did not give the signal for the breaking up of the camp before four o’clock. That produced a very different effect: all were quickly in movement and activity; the abominable gurgling and miserable roaring of the camels was heard above everything during the packing up; the tents were taken down, and in less than half an hour the army marched southwards with pipe and drum.

I started in an opposite direction. The early morning with the bright moonlight was very refreshing; the birds awoke with the dawn of day, a cool wind rose, and we trotted quickly through the thorny sont-trees. Soon after sunrise we met a magnificent procession of well-dressed men, and attendants, on camels and asses. It was the King Mahmûd welled Schauîsch, whose father, the warlike Schauîsch, King of the Schaiqies, is well known in the conquering expedition of Ismael Pascha, to whom he did not submit for a long time, and at whose house in Hellet e’ Solimân, near Messelemîeh, we had stopped a few weeks ago. He had gone with Ahmed Pascha Menekle to Taka, and followed the army to Halfaï, where he now usually resides. About half-past nine we again reached the Pyramids. My camel, a young one, and very difficult to manage, shortly before, took fright in the plain, and ran round in a circle with me as if it was mad; at length, stumbling over a tall bunch of grass, it fell on one knee, and hurled me far over its head, happily without doing me any serious injury.

On my return I occupied myself, without interruption, with the Pyramids and their inscriptions. I had several more chambers excavated, and made an exact description of each individual Pyramid. Altogether, I have found about thirty different names of Ethiopian kings and queens. I have certainly not yet been able to bring them into any chronological order, but from a comparison of the different inscriptions, I have learnt much about the manner of the succession, and form of government. The King of MERÖE (whose name in one of the most southern Pyramids is written MERU, or MÉRUA,) was at the same time first Priest of Ammon; if his consort survived him, she succeeded him in the government, and the male heirs to the throne only took the second place beside her; if the reverse happened, the son, as it appears, succeeded, who, even in the lifetime of his father, bore the royal shields and titles, and was second Priest of Ammon. Thus we still see here the domination of the priests, which is spoken of by Diodorus and Strabo, and the pre-eminence of the worship of Ammon, which is even mentioned by Herodotus.

The inscriptions on the Pyramids show that, at the period of their erection, the hieroglyphic writing was no longer perfectly understood, and that the hieroglyphic signs were often only added as a customary ornament, without wishing to express anything by them. Even the kings’ names are thereby rendered uncertain, and this for a long time prevented me from recognising the three royal personages who built the chief temples in Naga, Ben Naga, and in Wadi Temêd, and who undoubtedly belonged to one of the most brilliant periods of the Meröitic Monarchy. I am now convinced that the Pyramids with Roman arched ante-chambers, in the brick-work of which Ferlini found the treasure concealed, in spite of slight alterations in the name, belonged to the same mighty and warlike queen who appears in Naga with her rich decorations, and her pointed nails almost an inch long. By the circumstance of their having belonged to a well-known, and, as it appears, the greatest of all the queens of Meröe, who built almost all the temples still in tolerable preservation on the island, Ferlini’s jewels become infinitely more valuable for the history of Ethiopian art, in which they now occupy a fixed position. The purchase of that remarkable discovery is a most important acquisition to our museum.

An _Ethiopian-demotic_ writing was more in use at that period, and more generally understood than hieroglyphics. It was similar to the Egyptian-demotic in its characters, although consisting of a very limited alphabet of between twenty-five and thirty signs. The writing, like the latter, is read from right to left, but is distinguished by a constant separation of the words by two strongly-marked points. I have already found six-and-twenty similar demotic inscriptions; some of them on steles and libation-tablets; some of them in the ante-chambers of the Pyramids, over the persons belonging to the processions, who usually go to meet the deceased king with palm-branches; some of them on the smooth surfaces of the Pyramids; and indeed always in such a state, that they are clearly proved to have belonged originally to the representations, and not to have been added at a later period. On a closer examination of this writing, it will not perhaps be difficult to decipher, and we should then obtain the first certain sounds of the Ethiopian language spoken here at that period, and could decide on its true relation to the Egyptian language, while the almost perfect agreement between the Ethiopian and Egyptian hieroglyphics have hitherto yielded no conclusive evidence that there is an equal accordance between the two languages. It seems, on the contrary, and with respect to the later Meröitic period may be safely affirmed, that the hieroglyphics, as the sacred monumental writing, were adopted from Egypt without alteration, but also without being perfectly understood. The few signs which constantly recur, prove that the Ethiopian-demotic writing is purely alphabetic, which must very much facilitate the deciphering of it. The separation in the words has perhaps been borrowed from the Roman writing. But its analogy with the Egyptian development of writing went still further; for next to this Ethiopian-demotic writing there is an _Ethiopian-Greek_, at a later period, which may be perfectly compared with the _Coptic_, and it has borrowed certain letters directly from it. It is found in the inscriptions of Soba, and in some others on the walls of the temple-ruins of Wadi e’ Sofra. We have therefore now, as in the case in Egypt, two modes of writing, which no doubt sprang up one after the other, and really contain the actual Ethiopian dialect of the country. It is now usual to call the ancient Abyssinian Geez language the Ethiopian, which, with the characteristics of a Semetic language that has immigrated from Arabia, has only a local, but no ethnographic claim on our attention. A Geez inscription, which I have found in the chamber of a Pyramid, has evidently been written down at a later period.

I hope that we shall obtain many important results from studying the native inscriptions, as well as the present living languages. The Ethiopian name comprehended much that was dissimilar among the ancients. The ancient population of the whole Nile valley as far as Chartûm, and perhaps, also, along the Blue River, as well as the tribes of the desert to the east of the Nile, and the Abyssinian nations, were in former times probably more distinctly separated from the Negroes than now, and belonged to the _Caucasian_ race. The Ethiopians of Meröe (according to Herodotus, the parent-state of all Ethiopia) were a red-brown people, similar to the Egyptians, but darker, as they are at the present day. The monuments also prove this, on which I have more than once found the _red_ colour of the skin in the kings and queens preserved. In Egypt, especially in the Old Monarchy, before the mixture with the Ethiopian race, at the period of the Hyksos, the women were always painted yellow; and the Egyptian women even now, who are blanched in the harem, incline to the same colour. But red women appear even after the 18th Dynasty, and the Ethiopian women were always so represented. It appears that much Ethiopian blood is mingled with the nation of the so-called Barâbras, so widely distributed at the present day, and this perhaps will also one day appear still more distinctly from their language. This, no doubt, is the ancient _Nubian_, and has been still retained in somewhat distant regions to the south-west under this name; for the Nuba languages in and round Kordofan, as can be proved, are partly related to the Berber language. I have also found indications in the local names that this last, which is only now spoken from Assuan to Dar Schaiqîeh, south of Dongola, in the Nile valley, predominated for a long while also in the province of Berber, and still higher up.

MARÛGA, DANQELEH, and E’ SÛR, are close to the ruins of the city of Meröe, and are situated along the river from south to north; all three are comprehended under the name of BEGERAUÎEH, so that we scarcely ever hear anything but this last name mentioned. Five minutes to the north of e’ Sûr lies the village of Qala, and ten minutes farther on El Guês, both of which are comprehended under the name of Ghabîne. One hour down the river there are two other villages, not far apart, called MARÛGA, which were deserted even before the conquest of the country; and still more to the north, close to the Omarâb Mountains, which project towards the river on the eastern bank, there is a third village called GEBEL (mountain village) inhabited only by Fukaras. Cailliaud knew only the most southern of the three MARUGAS, situated near the largest temple-ruins. He was struck by the name, on account of its similarity with that of Meröe. The similarity becomes still more evident when it is known that the real name is MARU, since -GA is only the universal termination to names, and is always either added or omitted, according to the grammatical combination, for it does not belong to the root of the word. In the dialect of Kenûs and Dongola this termination is -GI; in the dialect of Mahass and Sukkôt it is -GA. When I ran over the different local names of the upper countries with one of our Berber servants, I learnt that in one dialect _maro_ or _marôgi_, in the other _maru_ or _marûga_, means “mounds of ruins,” “destroyed temples;” thus, for example, the ruins of ancient Syene, or those on the island of Philæ, are called _marôgi_. There is another Berber word quite distinct from this, _mérua_, which is also pronounced _méraui_, by which all _white rocks_, _white stones_, are designated; as, for example, such a rock as occurs in the neighbourhood of Assuan, on the eastern side of the Nile, at the village of El Gezîret. By this it is evident that the appellation Marûga has nothing to do with the name of Meröe, as a town would not be called when first founded “ruin city.” On the other hand, the name of Mérua, Méraui (in German, _Weissenfels_, white rock), would be very appropriate for a town, if its local position gave occasion to it, as at Mount Barkal, but which, again, is not really the case here.