The Fayûm and Lake MœrisBrown, R. H. (Robert Hanbury)
History
The Fayûm and Lake Mœris
Brown, R. H. (Robert Hanbury)
Fayyum (Egypt) -- Description and travel; Moeris, Lake (Egypt)
It is, however, instructive to note how he deals with the arguments
against this lake, which his imagination set bounds to, being
Lake Mœris. After a separate review of each condition which Lake
Mœris should fulfil and which the limited Lake Qurûn did not,
he closes his reviews with the remark that “we may then conclude
that Birket-el-Qurûn is not the Lake Mœris.” But he does not
do so _always_. Should the condition be one with which his own
theory is not in agreement, he explains it away or discredits it. The
dimensions assigned to Lake Mœris by the ancient historians evidently
trouble him, and he does his best to discredit their testimony on
this point. After discussing this condition, he does not end his
argument with the usual conclusion that “the present Lake Qurûn
cannot be Lake Mœris,” but he says “an absolute importance must
not be attached to all these measures in order to draw from them
conclusions either positive or negative as to the identity of the
position of Birket-el-Qurûn with that of the ancient Lake Mœris.”
The depth assigned to Lake Mœris also gives rise to the following
remarks, which will afford the means of judging of the value of
M. Linant’s arguments. He states that Herodotus gives the depth
of the lake at 92 metres, and remarks that if the whole Fayûm had
been filled to form the lake, its dimensions would have surpassed
by ten times the greatest given for it.
But as a matter of fact, they do not even _come up to_ the greatest
dimensions given, which are, for the depth 92 metres, and for the
perimeter of the lake 720 kilometres (450 miles), or, assuming as he
does that Herodotus made use of the small stadius, 360 kilometres. Now
the perimeter of the Fayûm is 220 kilometres, and if that of the Wadi
Raiân is added, namely 200 kilometres, the total perimeter becomes
420 and that figure is only obtained by measuring the indentations
of the Wadi Raiân, which is of a peculiar shape.
The depth of the Fayûm Lake, if filled to say R.L. + 25·00,
would be not less than (25·00 + 43·50 + 5·00 =) 73·50 metres,
nor more than 88·00 at the highest estimate.
These dimensions agree approximately with those given by Herodotus,
and are not, as rashly stated by Linant, ten times in excess.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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