e of
Arabia--was the Phakusa of the Greeks. A small railway
station is now on the spot, which bears the name Ramses. Cf.
Gen. xlvii. 11.]
[Footnote 194: Ain-al-Shams was situated three parasangs
from Fostat, according to Jacut (III, 762), who records that
in his day the place showed many traces of buildings from
Pharaoh's time. Benha is now a somewhat important railway
station about thirty miles north of Cairo. Muneh Sifte is a
station on the Damietta arm of the Nile.]
[Footnote 195: Samnu is perhaps Samnat, Dukmak, V, 20. On
Damira see Schechter, _Saadyana_, p. 82; Worman, _J.Q.R._,
XVIII, 10. The zoologist Damiri was born here. Lammanah in
the other versions is Mahallat or Mehallet-el-Kebir,
mentioned by Abulfeda as a large city with many monuments,
and is now a railway station between Tanta and Mansura.
Sambari (119, 10) mentions a synagogue there, to which Jews
even now make pilgrimages (Goldziher, _Z.D.P.G._, vol.
XXVIII, p. 153).]
[Footnote 196: In the Middle Ages certain biblical names
were without valid reason applied to noted places. No-Ammon
mentioned in Scripture (Jer. xlvi. 25 and Nahum iii. 8),
also in cuneiform inscriptions, was doubtless ancient
Thebes. See Robinson, _Biblical Researches_, vol. I, p. 542.
Another notable example is the application of the name of
Zoan to Cairo. Ancient Tanis (p. 78) was probably Zoan, and
we are told (Num. xiii. 22) that Zoan was built seven years
after Hebron. It can be traced as far back as the sixth
dynasty--over 2,000 years before Cairo was founded.]
[Footnote 197: Josephus, who had the opportunity of seeing
the Pharos before it was destroyed, must likewise have
exaggerated when he said that the lighthouse threw its rays
a distance of 300 stadia. Strabo describes the Pharos of
Alexandria, which was considered one of the wonders of the
world. As the coast was low and there were no landmarks, it
proved of great service to the city. It was built of white
marble, and on the top there blazed a huge beacon of logs
saturated with pitch. Abulfeda alludes to the large mirror
which enabled the lighthouse keepers to detect from a great
distance the approach of the enemy. He further mentions that
the trick by which the mirror was destroyed took place in
the first cent
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