57 Herodotus, ii. 36, with A. Wiedemann’s note; Diodorus Siculus, i. 14-1, i. 17. 1; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ v. 57 _sq._, xviii. 60; Sir J. Gardiner Wilkinson, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_ (London, 1878), ii. 398, 399, 418, 426 _sq._; A. Erman, _Aegypten und aegyptisches Leben im Altertum_, pp. 577 _sqq._; A. de Candolle, _Origin of Cultivated Plants_ (London, 1884), pp. 354 _sq._, 369, 381; G. Maspero, _Histoire ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient Classique_, i. 66. 58 Herodotus, ii. 14; Diodorus Siculus, i. 36; Strabo, xvii. 1. 3, pp. 786-788; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xviii. 167-170; Seneca, _Natur. Quaest._ iv. 2. 1-10; E. W. Lane, _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_ (Paisley and London, 1895), pp. 17 _sq._, 495 _sqq._; A. Erman, _op. cit._ pp. 21-25; G. Maspero, _op. cit._ i. 22 _sqq._ However, since the Suez Canal was cut, rain has been commoner in Lower Egypt (A. H. Sayce on Herodotus, ii. 14). 59 G. Maspero, _Histoire ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient Classique_, i. 22-26; A. Erman, _Aegypten und aegyptisches Leben im Altertum_, p. 23. According to Lane (_op. cit._ pp. 17 _sq._) the Nile rises in Egypt about the summer solstice (June 21) and reaches its greatest height by the autumnal equinox (September 22). This agrees exactly with the statement of Diodorus Siculus (i. 36. 2). Herodotus says (ii. 19) that the rise of the river lasted for a hundred days from the summer solstice. Compare Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ v. 57, xviii. 167; Seneca, _Nat. Quaest._ iv. 2. 1. According to Prof. Ginzel the Nile does not rise in Egypt till the last week of June (_Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie_, i. 154). For ancient descriptions of Egypt in time of flood see Herodotus, ii. 97; Diodorus Siculus, i. 36. 8 _sq._; Strabo, xvii. 1. 4, p. 788; Aelian, _De natura animalium_, x. 43; Achilles Tatius, iv. 12; Seneca, _Natur. Quaest._ iv. 2. 8 and 11. M26 Irrigation, sowing, and harvest in Egypt. 60 Sir J. Gardiner Wilkinson, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_ (London, 1878), ii. 365 _sq._; E. W. Lane, _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_ (Paisley and London, 1895), pp. 498 _sqq._; G. Maspero, _Histoire ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient Classique_, i. 23 _sq._, 69. The last-mentioned writer says (p. 24) that the dams are commonly cut between the first and sixteenth of July, but apparently he means August.