Poole, Reginald S.: The cities of Egypt (London, 1882)

8

CITIES OF EGYPT.

river,' ' yeor,' but this is not the common word for river.
It is a special one almost reserved for the Nile and the
canals it feeds. A rarer name in Hebrew is Shichor, ' the
black,' and we also find ' the river of Mizraim ' where the
common Hebrew word for ' river' is used. Nile, the
Greek name, seems to mean ' dark blue' or ' black.'
We may compare it to Shichor and to the modern Bahr-
el-Azrak, or ' Blue Sea,' as the great stream which brings
down the fertilising soil to Egypt is now called, while its
rival is the Bahr-el-Abyad, or ' White Sea.' The Nile
in Egypt is never clear, and its volume and depth give it
the deep hue which Shichor and Nile describe ; for the
vagueness of antiquity has not our fine sense of the tones
of colour.

The mystery of the source of the Nile struck the
fancy of the old Egyptians. Hence the sacred name
Hapi, 'the Hidden,' under which the river was wor-
shipped as a god.

Not, however, in this form does the Nile take high
rank in the Egyptian religion : Hapi is only the river
personified, the fruitful genius who with his water-plants
builds up the throne of Pharaoh. In a larger sense the
Nile is identified with Osiris,' the good being,' the source