his dominions to a rank with civilized nations in arts, commerce, and industrj'. The works of internal im- provement which he undertook, the extensive manu- factories he established, and the encouragement he gave to literary institutions, have done much to change the political, if not the moral aspect of Egypt. His successors have carried out his enlightened views by establishing railroads and opening out canals, which, while they increase the commerce of the countr}', greatly facilitate communication with India by what is called the overland route — l)y the Mediterranean, Egypt, and the Red Sea, to Bombay. See M'Cul- loch's Gazetteer^ s. v.
For the history of Christianity in Egj-pt, see Egypt, Christian.
XXII. Monumental Localities. — Of the towns on the northern coast the most western is Alexandria or El- Iskenderiyeh, founded B.C. 332 by Alexander the Great, who gave it the form of a Macedonian chlamys or mantle. Proceeding eastward, the first place of im- portance is Er-Rashid, or Rosetta. on the west bank of the l)ranch of the Nile named after this town. In as- cending the Rosetta branch the first spot of interest is the site of the ancient Sais, on the eastern bank, mark- ed by lofty mounds and the remains of massive walls of crude brick. It was one of the oldest cities of Egypt, and gave its name to the kings of the 26th dy- nasty. The goddess Neith, supposed to be the origin of Athene, was the local divinity, and in her honor an annual festival was held at Sais, to which pilgrims re- sorted from all parts of Egypt. On the eastern side of the other branch of the Nile, to which it gives its name, stands the town Dimyat, or Damietta, a strong place in the time of the Crusades, and then regarded as the key of Egypt. It has now about 28,000 inhab- itants. To the eastward of Damietta is the site of Pelusium, the Sin of Scripture, and the ancient kej' of Egypt, towards Palestine. No important remains have been found here. Between this site and the Damietta branch are the mounds of Tanis, or Zoan, the famous Avaris of the Shepherds, with considerable remains of the great temple, of which the most remarkable are several fallen obelisks, some of them liroken. This temple was as ancient as the time of the 12th dynasty, and was beautified by Rameses II. Tanis was on the eastern bank of the Tanitic branch of the Nile, now called the canal of El-Moiz. A little south of the modern point of the Delta, on the eastern bank of the river, is the site of the ancient Heliopolis, or On, mark- ed by a solitary obelisk, and the ruins of a massive brick wall. The obelisk bears the name of Osirtasen I, the head of the 12th dynasty. At a short distance soutli of Heliopolis stands the modern capital, Cairo, or El-Kahireh. The ancient citj' of Memphis, founded by Menes, stood on the western bank of the Nile, about ten miles above Cairo. The kings and people who dwelt there chose the nearest part of the desert as their burial-place, and built tombs on its rocky edge or excavated them in its sides. The kings raised pyramids, round which their subjects were buried in smaller sepulchres. The site of Memphis is marked by mounds in the cultivated tract. A few blocks of stone and a fine colossus of Rameses II are all that re- mains of the great temple of Ptah, the local deity. See jMemphis.
There is not space here for a detailed account of the pyramids ; suffice it to say that the present perpendic- uhir hfight of the great jjyramid is 450 ft. 9 in., and its present base 740 fr. It is about 30 ft. lower than it was originally, much of the exterior having been worn off by age and man's violence. Like all the other pyramids, it faces the cardinal points. The surface presents a series of great steps, tliough when first built it was cased, and smooth, and polished. The platform on the summit is about 32 ft. square. Tlie pyramid is almost entirely solid, containing only a few chambers, so small as not to be worth}' of consideration in calcu-
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lating its contents. It was built by Khufa (Cheops), or Sliufu (Suphis). The second pyramid stands at a short distance south-west of the great pyramid, and is not of much smaller dimensions. It is chiefly remark- able for a great part of its casing having been pre- served. It was built b}' Khafra or Shafra (Chephren), a king of the same period. The third pyramid is much smaller than either of the other two, though it is constructed in a more costlj' manner. It was built by Mycerinus or Mencheres, the fourth ruler of the 4th dynasty. Near the three pyramids are six smaller ones ; three of them are near the east side of the great pyramid, and three on the south side of the third i>yr- amid. They are supposed to be the tombs of near relatives of the kings who founded the great pj'ramid. To the east of the second pyramid is the great sphinx, 188 feet in length, hewn out of a natural eminence in the solid rock, some defects of which are suppjlied by a partial stone casing, the legs being likewise added. See Pykamids.