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ASSIUT, or SLUT

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 783 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ASSIUT, or SLUT , See also:capital of a See also:province of Upper See also:Egypt of the same name, and the largest and best-built See also:town in the See also:Nile Valley See also:south of See also:Cairo, from which it is distant 248 M. by See also:rail. The See also:population See also:rose from 32,000 in 1882 to 42,000 in 1900. Assiut stands near the See also:west See also:bank of the Nile across which, just below the town, is a barrage, completed in 1902, consisting of an open See also:weir, 2733 ft. See also:long, and over zoo bays or sluices, each r6z ft. wide, which can be opened or closed at will. At the western end of the barrage begins the Ibrahimia See also:canal, the feeder of the See also:Bahr Yusuf, the largest See also:irrigation canal of Egypt. The Ibrahimia canal is skirted by a magnificent See also:embankment planted with shady trees leading from the See also:river to the town. There are several bazaars, See also:baths and handsome mosques, one noted for its lofty See also:minaret, and here the See also:American Presbyterian See also:mission has established a See also:college for both sexes. Assiut is famous for its red and See also:black pottery and for ornamental See also:wood and See also:ivory See also:work, which find a ready See also:market all over Egypt. It is one of the See also:chief centres of the See also:Copts. Here also is the See also:northern See also:terminus of the See also:caravan route across the See also:desert, which, passing through the See also:Kharga See also:oasis, goes south-west to See also:Darfur. It is known as the Arbain, or See also:forty days road, from the See also:time occupied on the See also:journey. Assiut (properly Asyut) is the successor of the See also:ancient Lycopolis (Eg. Sibout), capital of the 13th See also:nome of Upper Egypt.

Here were worshipped two canine gods (see See also:

ANUBIS), Ophois (Wepwoi) being the See also:principal See also:god of the See also:city, while Anubis apparently presided over the See also:necropolis. No ruins are visible, the mounds of the old city being for the most See also:part hidden under See also:modern buildings; but the slopes of the See also:limestone hills behind it are pierced with an infinity of See also:rock-cut tombs, some of which were large and decorated with sculptures, paintings and long See also:inscriptions. The archaeological See also:commission of the Description de l'Egyple visited them in 1999, when the walls of many of the large tombs were still almost intact; in the first See also:half of the 19th See also:century (and to some extent later) an immense amount of destruction was caused by See also:blasting for See also:stone. Three of the tombs illustrate one of the darkest periods in Egypt's See also:history, when the princes of Siut played a leading part in the struggle between Heracleopolis and See also:Thebes (Dyns. IX.-XI.); another, of the XIIth See also:Dynasty, contains a remarkable inscription detailing the contracts made by the nomarch with the priests of the temples of Ophois and Anubis for perpetual services at his See also:tomb (see Breasted,' Ancient Records of Egypt, See also:Historical Documents, vol. i. pp. 199, 258). Remains of the mummies of See also:dogs and similar animals sacred to these deities are scattered among the debris on the hillside in abundance. Lycopolis was the birthplace of See also:Plotinus, the founder of Neo-See also:Platonism (A.D. 205-270). From the 4th century onwards its grottoes were the dwellings of See also:Christian hermits, amongst whom See also:John of Lycopolis was the most celebrated. (F. Lt.

End of Article: ASSIUT, or SLUT

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