Pollard, Joseph: The land of the monuments: notes of Egyptian travel (London, 1896)

CHAPTER VII

HELIOPOLIS

Abbassiyeh— "Overland route to India"—Palace ol Kubeh
Matarieh Sacred sycamore-fig tree—The tradition—Balm of
Gilead—An ostrich i.um— On, An, Heliopolis The Obelisk
—University—Temple "i the Sun—Mnevis bulls.

r I "'HE ruins of the sacred city of Heliopolis, the
1 ancient An or On, are about seven miles from
Cairo. The drive is a very pleasant one. The Desert
is reached almost immediately after leaving the city;
the road is shaded very pleasantly by tamarisks,
palms, sycamores, and mimosas. The barracks of
Abbassiyeh are occupied in part by the British Army
of Occupation. Here Arabi Pasha gave himself up to
the general in command of the English troops on the
morning after the battle of Tell-cl-Khebir. The)' arc-
two miles out of the city on the edge of the Desert,
near the route by which the Indian mails and
passengers were conveyed fir a distance of about
eighty miles to Suez, and hence known as the
"Overland Route," inaugurated in 1831, which at
mice reduced by one-hall the time of communication
with India.

About four miles from Cairo a particularly fertile

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