CHAPTER IV.
The Oasis of Ammon.
The place where the temple of Ammon is located is entirely surrounded by a desert of far-stretching sand, which is destitute of water. The fertile spot in the midst of this desert, is not extensive; for where it stretches into its greater expanse, it is only about forty stades broad.[1] It is full of cultivated trees, olives and palms; and it is the only place in those parts which is refreshed with dew. A spring also rises from it, quite unlike all the other springs which issue from the earth.[2] For at mid-day the water is cold to the taste, and still more so to the touch, as cold as cold can be. But when the sun has sunk into the west, it gets warmer, and from the evening it keeps on growing warmer until midnight, when it reaches the warmest point. After midnight it goes on getting gradually colder: at day-break it is already cold; but at midday it reaches the coldest point. Every day it undergoes these alternate changes in regular succession. In this place also natural salt is procured by digging, and certain of the priests of Ammon convey quantities of it into Egypt. For whenever they set out for Egypt they put it into little boxes plaited out of palm, and carry it as a present to the king, or some other great man. The grains of this salt are large, some of them being even longer than three fingers' breadth; and it is clear like crystal.[3] The Egyptians and others who are respectful to the deity, use this salt in their sacrifices, as it is
- ↑ Nearly five miles. Cf. Lucan, ix. 511-543.
- ↑ This Fountain of the Sun, as it is called, is 30 paces long and 20 broad; 6 fathoms deep, with bubbles constantly rising from the surface. Cf. Herodotus, iv. 181; Lucretius, vi. 849-878; Ptolemy, iv. 5, 37.
- ↑ This is what we call sal ammoniac, known to chemists as hydrochlorate of ammonia. The dactylos was the smallest Greek measure of length, about 710 of an inch.
