PREFACE.
XX
stades  to  the  geographical  mile;  if  the  line  be  taken  in  direct  distance, ¬
  as  evidently  appears  to  have  been  the  intention  of  Strabo,
by  his  thrice  stating  (upon  the  authority  of  Eratosthenes,)  that  the
distance  from  Meroe  to  Alexandria  was  10,000  stades.*  The  latitudes ¬
  of  Ptolemy  equally  accord  in  shewing  the  equidistance  of
Syene  from  Meroe  and  from  Alexandria  ;  the  latitude  of  Syene
being  stated  by  him  at  23-50,  and  that  of  Alexandria  at  31-0.
The  description  of  the  island  of  Meroe  as  being  3000  stades  long,
and  1000  broad,  in  form  like  a  shield,  and  as  formed  by  the  confluence ¬
  of  the  Astasobas,  Astapus,  and  Astaboras,§  is  perfectly
applicable  to  the  great  peninsula  watered  on  the  east  by  the  Tacazze,
and  on  the  west  by  the  Bahr  el  Abiad,  after  receiving  the  Bahr  el
Azrek.  The  position  of  the  city  Meroe  is  shewn  by  Artemidorus,
Ptolemy,  and  Pliny,  to  have  been,  like  the  ruins  near  Shendy,  near
the  northern  angle  of  the  island,  or  the  confluence  of  the  rivers.
The  island  between  Djebail  and  Shendy  which  Bruce  calls  Kurgos,
answers  to  that  which  Pliny  describes  as  the  port  of  Meroe;  and
finally,  the  distance  of  “  15  days  to  a  good  walker,”  which  Artemidorus -
  places  between  Meroe  and  the  sea,  giving  a  rate  of  about
16  English  miles  a-day,  in  direct  distance,  is  a  correct  statement  of
the  actual  distance  between  the  ruins  near  Shendy  and  Souakin.**
*  Eratosth.  ap.  Strab.  p.  62.  Strabo,  p.  113,  825
Ptolem.  ibid.
Ptolem.1.  4,  c.  6.
§  Eratosth.  ap.  Strab.  p.  786.  Strab.  p.  821.  Diodor.  Sic.  1.  1,  c.  33.  Heliodor.
Athiop.  1.  10,  c.  5.
Artemid.  ap.  Strab.  p.  771.  Ptolem.  1.  4,  c.  8.  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  1.  6,  c.  29.
Artemid.  ibid.
**  It  is  fair  to  remark,  that  there  are  two  authorities  which  tend  to  place  the  city  of
Meroe  30  or  40  miles  to  the  southward  of  the  ruins  near  Shendy.  Eratosthenes  states
it  to  have  been  at  700  stades,  and  Pliny  at  70  miles  above  the  confluence.  But  it  is  rare
indeed  to  find  a  coincidence  of  many  ancient  authorities  in  a  question  where  numbers
are  concerned,  unless  one  author  has  borrowed  from  another,  which  is  probably  the  case
in  regard  to  the  two  just  quoted.