I j Assiut. .TTrnwtrrrrriLlS. 18. Route. 201
On the W. bank the railway approaches dofe to the river.
176 M. Roda (railway-station, p. 190; accommodation at the sta¬
tion), a considerable place (5000 inhab.) on the W. bank, with post
and telegraph offices and a large sugar-factory.
About 4 M. inland (W.) from Roda, between the Bahr Yusuf and the
Nile, near the village of Ashmunen, lie the ruins of the once famous
city of KJimvnu (Coptic Shrnun), the Hermopolis of the Greeks, which
from a very remote period was the chief seat of the worship of Thout,
the god of writing and science. This town was also the capital of the
nome of hares, in Upper Egypt, whose princes under the Middle Empire
were buried on the E. bank of the Nile at el-Bersheh (see below). Nothing
now remains of the extensive temples of the ancient city. The French
Expedition found a fine Portico of the Ptolemaic period, with two rows
of six columns each. — At Tuna el-Gebel, near Ashmunen, are the extensive
necropolis of the ancient city and a rock-inscription (much dilapidate!) of
Amenophis IV. (p. 203).
Nearly opposite Roda, on the E. bank, amid palms of unusual
size and beauty, lies the village of Shekh 'Abddeh, to the E. of which
are the ruins of Antinoupolis, the town erected by Hadrian in
honour of his favourite Antinous. The handsome youth is said to
have drowned himself here, to fulfil the oracle which predicted a
heavy loss to the emperor and so to prevent a more serious disaster.
The remains of a temple of Ramses II., the relic of an earlier
foundation on this site, may be traced. The vestiges of public
buildings are now exceedingly scanty, though the French Expe¬
dition saw a triumphal arch, a theatre, and streets flanked with
columns. The streets and ground-plans of the houses, however,
are still recognisable. The rooms were small and the walls were
made mainly of Nile bricks. There are some underground apart¬
ments of flat Roman bricks, reached by stone staircases. Near the
ruins of one of the largest buildings lies a marble basin, which
must have had a circumference of at least 23 ft. Among the palms
in the village lies a fine Corinthian capital.
To the S. of Shekh 'Aba.ieh we reach (179 M.) Der Abu Hennis
(Convent of St. John), called also simply ed-Der, a village in¬
habited by about 2000 Copts. Near it is a ruined town of the
Christian epoch, known as el-Medineh. On the N. side of a ravine
in the hill behind the village are numerous ancient cave-like quar¬
ries, which were fitted up at an early date as Christian chapels or
anchorites' dwellings. The largest Chapel, in which divine service
is held, is said to date from the time of the Empress Helena; it
contains paintings of saints and scenes from the New Testament, but
those in one of the side-chapels (Raising of Lazarus, Marriage at
Cana, etc.) are better. — Der en-Nakhleh (see below) may be
reached within l/2 hr. from Der Abu Hennis.
181V2 M. Reramun, opposite which, on the E. bank, a little
way from the river, lies the Coptic village of Der en-Nakhleh, the
'convent of the date-palms', also known as el-Bersheh. Beside a
Coptic cemetery to the E. of the latter begins a desert-ravine,
running N.W. and S.W., and named Wadi en-Nakhleh or Wadi el-
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