Anecdota Oxoniensia. Semitic series.

94 CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES OF EGYPT.

is no other river, again, which runs from south to north, except the
Nile; and there is no river which flows both into the sea of the Romans
and the sea of the Chinese1, except the Nile of Egypt. There is
no other river, too, which rises when the heat begins, at the time
when other rivers fall, and some rivers and springs are entirely dried
up; and as the heat increases so the height of the Nile increases; and
Fol. 27 a there is no other river which rises and falls regularly except the Nile;
nor does any river in the world produce such a revenue as that which
comes from the overflow of the Nile.
Churches of Al-Fustat (continued).
~ In the aforesaid quarter2 there is a church dedicated to the Angel
Gabriel, which was restored by Su'luk al-JullAl. Above it there is
a church named after the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the
Flesh. The cupola over the sanctuary of the church is very lofty, and
is conspicuous from a distance; it was erected by the brother 'Abd
al-Masih. The Ghuzz and the people of Cairo pillaged it, and broke
the pillars of the apostles3, and part of the roof was burnt. In conseof the Moon, and flows first through two lakes beyond the equator (ed. De Goeje,
p..).
'Abd al-Latif says that the sources of the Nile are springs which rise in the
Mountains of the Moon, eleven degrees beyond the equator (ed. White, p. 4); and
Al-Idrisi says sixteen degrees (ed. Rome, p. I9). (A. J. B.)
1 The Red Sea was looked upon as a branch of the Indian Ocean or China
Sea; cf. fol. I9 b. The Mardzsd al-Ittzld' says:
J^\ us) c^ L, j.LJsl.
'The Sea of Al-Kulzum is a branch of the Indian Sea.'
Our author means, of course, that the Nile was connected with the Red Sea
by means of the canal of Cairo (Khalzj Amzr al-Mu'mzinn). (A. J. B.)
2 I.e. Al-Hamra.
3 The expression Al-Busluldl ( L"J.1) undoubtedly denotes the main columns
of the nave, frescoed or painted with the figures of apostles. I may quote
a surviving example from the church of Abu Sirjah in the Roman fortress of