Assouan, or Aswan, is a town of upper Egypt on the east bank of the River Nile below the first cataract. It has of late grown very popular as a winter health resort, and many large modern hotels are now situated there. At the beginning of the cataract, three and a half miles above the town, is the dam of Assouan. This is a mile and a quarter long from shore to shore. It was finished in December, 1902. This dam controls the water of the Nile, and makes possible the irrigation of vast areas of land that had hitherto been dead and unproductive. Water is very valuable in Egypt. Before the dam was built a boat had to be hauled up the rapids of the first cataract by hundreds of natives. It was an all-day task. Now a canal with four locks quietly and quickly takes vessels to the upper level of the Nile. The dam has transformed the river above it into a huge lake. Many former islands have been wholly or partly submerged. The Isle of Philæ is the most important of these. The goddess Isis was worshiped there, and there were temples erected to her. One rocky point of the island is still above water. The rest of Philæ is an Egyptian Venice. Water paves the courts of the temples and gives added beauty to the relics of the past. Opposite Philæ, on the east bank of the Nile, is the village of Shellal. This town is the southern terminus of the Egyptian railway, and the starting point of steamers for the Sudan. Near Assouan are the quarries from which the old Egyptians took granite for their obelisks. There is still one obelisk all carved and shaped, ready to be taken from the rock. When an obelisk was shaped, holes were bored in the rock all along the line of separation. Wedges of wood were driven into these holes and soaked with water. The wet wood expanded, and the great obelisk was broken from the mother rock. It was then ready to be shipped to its destination. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 42, SERIAL No. 42 COPYRIGHT, 1913. BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. * * * * * End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mentor: Egypt, The Land of Mystery, Serial No. 42, by Dwight L. Elmendorf