DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14059#0011
Observations on the Discovery, by Professor Lepsius, of Sculp-
tured Marks on Rocks in the Nile Valley in Nubia; indicat-
ing that, within the historical period, the river had flowed at
a higher level than has been known in Modern Times. By
Leonard Horner, Esq., F.R.S.S. L & E., F.G.S., &e.
With a Plate.
The recent archaiological researches of Professor Lepsius in Egypt,
and the Valley of the Nile, in Nubia, have given a deserved celebrity
and authority to his name, among all who take an interest in the
early history of that remarkable portion of the Old World. While
examining the ruins of a fortress, and of two temples of high antiquity
at Semnc, in Nubia, he discovered marks cut in the solid rocks, and
in the foundation-stones of the fortress, indicating that, at a very re-
mote period in the annals of the country, the Nile must have flowed
at a level considerably above the highest point which it has ever
reached during the greatest inundations in modern times. This re-
markable fact would possess much geological interest with respect
to any great river, but it does so especially in the case of the Nile.
Its annual inundations, and the uniformity in the periods of its rise
and fall, have been recorded with considerable accuracy for many
centuries ; the solid matter held in suspension in its waters, slowly
deposited on the land overflowed, has been productive of changes in
the configuration of the country, not only in times long antecedent
to history, but throughout all history, down to the present day. Of
no other river on the earth's surface do we possess such or similar
records ; and moreover, the Nile, and the changes it has produced
on the physical character of Egypt, are intimately associated with
the earliest records and traditions of the human race. Everything,
therefore, relating to the physical history of the Nile Valluy mu*t
always be an object of interest; but the discovery of Professor Lep-
sius is one peculiarly deserving the attention of the geologist; for he
does not merely record the facts of the markings of the former high
level of the river, but he infers from these marks, that since the
reign of Mceris, about 2200 years before our era, the < ntire h^d
tured Marks on Rocks in the Nile Valley in Nubia; indicat-
ing that, within the historical period, the river had flowed at
a higher level than has been known in Modern Times. By
Leonard Horner, Esq., F.R.S.S. L & E., F.G.S., &e.
With a Plate.
The recent archaiological researches of Professor Lepsius in Egypt,
and the Valley of the Nile, in Nubia, have given a deserved celebrity
and authority to his name, among all who take an interest in the
early history of that remarkable portion of the Old World. While
examining the ruins of a fortress, and of two temples of high antiquity
at Semnc, in Nubia, he discovered marks cut in the solid rocks, and
in the foundation-stones of the fortress, indicating that, at a very re-
mote period in the annals of the country, the Nile must have flowed
at a level considerably above the highest point which it has ever
reached during the greatest inundations in modern times. This re-
markable fact would possess much geological interest with respect
to any great river, but it does so especially in the case of the Nile.
Its annual inundations, and the uniformity in the periods of its rise
and fall, have been recorded with considerable accuracy for many
centuries ; the solid matter held in suspension in its waters, slowly
deposited on the land overflowed, has been productive of changes in
the configuration of the country, not only in times long antecedent
to history, but throughout all history, down to the present day. Of
no other river on the earth's surface do we possess such or similar
records ; and moreover, the Nile, and the changes it has produced
on the physical character of Egypt, are intimately associated with
the earliest records and traditions of the human race. Everything,
therefore, relating to the physical history of the Nile Valluy mu*t
always be an object of interest; but the discovery of Professor Lep-
sius is one peculiarly deserving the attention of the geologist; for he
does not merely record the facts of the markings of the former high
level of the river, but he infers from these marks, that since the
reign of Mceris, about 2200 years before our era, the < ntire h^d