rs to the towns of the Delta, and, indeed, in most of the
minor cities of Egypt, just as in those of modern Italy there is little
to interest visitors except the religious monuments or ceremonies.
Herodotus went to Tanis or Mendes as we go to Orvieto or Loretto, to
admire the buildings or pay our devotions at a famous shrine. More
often than not the place was nothing in itself, consisting merely of a
fortified enclosure, a few commonplace houses occupied by the wealthy
inhabitants or by government officials, and on mounds of ancient
_debris_, the accumulation of centuries, a number of ephemeral hovels
built of clay, or dried bricks, divided into irregular blocks by winding
alleys. The whole local interest was centred in the sanctuary and its
inmates, human and divine. The traveller made his way in as best he
could, went into ecstasies over the objects that were shown to him, and
as soon as he had duly gone the rounds, set out for the next place on
his list, deeming himself lucky if he happened to arrive during one
of the annual fairs, such as that of Bubastis, for instance. Bands
of pilgrims flocked in from all parts of Egypt; the river craft were
overflowing with men and women, who converted the journey into one long
carnival. Every time the vessel put in to land, the women rushed on
shore, amid the din of castanets and flutes, and ran hither and thither
challenging the women of the place with abuse to dance against them with
uplifted garments. To the foreigners there was little to distinguish the
festival of Bastit from many other Egyptian ceremonies of the kind; it
consisted of a solemn procession, accompanied by the singing of hymns
and playing of harps, dancing and sacrifices, but for weeks before and
after it the town was transformed into one vast pleasure-ground. The
people of Bubastis took a certain pride in declaring that more wine was
drunk in it during a single day than during the rest of the whole year.
Buto enjoyed exceptional popularity among the Greeks in Egypt. Its
patron goddess, the Isis who took refuge amid the pools in a moving
thicket of reeds and lotus, in order that she might protect her son
Horus from the jealousy of Typhon, reminded them of the story of Latona
and the cycle of the Delian legends; they, visited her in crowds,
and her oracle became to most of them what that of Delos was to their
brethren in Europe. At Buto they found a great temple, similar to all
Egyptian temples, a shrine in which