[Illustration: (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) . . . . . taxed with (?) 2 . . . . . (3) . . . . . thou saidst: “Thou beatest (?) it because (?) . . . the 20 . . . [13] (4) . . . . . because (?) . . . which is here with me, because, he said, the . . . (5) . . . . . (drag, cut?), the whole of the stone, he said, bec[ause] . . . (6) . . . . . bringing the 20 . . .] [13] [glyph][glyph] for _ḫr-f_, as frequently elsewhere. This is hardly satisfactory, and I cannot see how we could have got a fragment of a letter telling us less than this. It is quite likely that it was thrown down from the quarry work above. It is tempting to read, in the word [glyph][glyph][glyph][glyph] _qnqn_, the pounding process by which the trench was made. (46) On the east face of the high rock shewn at C on plate VII, there are two short inscriptions in the Greek character. That on the right reads: ΑΜ[smudge][smudge][smudge] Am . . . . . . . ΣΑΒΙΝΙΑΝΟΣ Sabinianos (and) ΣΕΡΑΠΕΙΩΝ Serapeum, (sons) ΟΡΣΟΥ of Ursus. The first name is doubtful as I am uncertain how many letters are missing. The remainder are Greek forms of Latin names. On the left of the above is the Greek name ΕΡΜΕΙΝΟΣ. Ἕρμεινος is known in _C. I. G._, 3, nos. 5109; 4716. The names have been fairly nearly cut in the granite with a fine pointed chisel. {47} (47) There are over 25 obelisks known to-day whose weights exceed 50 tons, and all must have come from Aswân, since it is the only convenient outcrop of granite in Egypt. It might well be asked from which quarries they have been taken. I have examined most of the quarries about Aswân and Shellâl, but must admit that I have not found one from which I am sure that an obelisk has been extracted. I think that, at any rate, some must have been taken from the quarries in the near neighbourhood of the Aswân obelisk, as the stratum is good, and it is the most conveniently situated from the river bank. It would well repay the trouble taken to clear the quarry to the south, and the valley leading up to the obelisk, completely, exposing the floor, as it is there that we may expect to find the bed of one of the larger obelisks. It must be borne in mind however, that a quarry, good enough to furnish a large obelisk, would be worked as long as there was good stone to be extracted from it. The sand does not come in at any alarming rate, and a credit of L. E. 5 every year would be sufficient to keep the whole quarry clear. I estimate the cost of completely clearing the south quarry and the valley at L. E. 1500. It would leave a magnificent monument. {49} CHAPTER VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY.