NYMPHEA CEE, a natural order of exogenous plants, growing in lakes, ponds, ditches, and slow rivers, where their fleshy root-stocks are prostrate in the mud at the bottom; and their large, long-stalked, heart-shaped, or peltate leaves float on the surface of the water. Their flowers also either float or are raised on their stalks a little above the water. The flowers are large, and often very beautiful and fragrant. There are usually four sepals, and numerous petals and stamens, often passing gradually into one another. The ovary is many-celled, with radiating stigmas, and very numerous ovules, and is more or less surrounded by a large fleshy disk. The seeds have a farinaceous albumen. More than fifty species are known, mostly natives of warm and temperate regions. The root-stocks of some of them are used as food, and the seeds of many.See WATER-LILY, LOTUS, VICTORIA, and EURYALE.-Very nearly allied to Nymphæaces are Nelumbiacea. See NELUMBO.

NYMPHS, in classic mythology, female divinities of inferior rank, inhabiting the sea, streams, groves, meadows and pastures, grottoes, fountains, hills, glens, trees, etc. Among the nymphs, different classes were distinguished, particularly the Oceanides, daughters of Oceanus (nymphs of the great ocean which flows around the earth), the Nereids, daughters of Nereus (nymphs of the inner depths of the sea, or of the inner sea -the Mediterranean), Potameides (river nymphs), Naiads (nymphs of fountains, lakes, brooks, wells), Oreades (mountain nymphs), Dryads or Hamadryads (forest nymphs, who were believed to die with the trees in which they dwelt). They were the goddesses of fertilizing moisture, and were represented as taking an interest in the nourishment and growth of infants, and as being addicted to the chase (companions of the divine huntress Diana), to female occupations, and to dancing. They are among the most beautiful conceptions of the plastic and reverent (if credulous) fancy of the ancient Greeks, who, in the various phenomena of nature-the rush of sea-waves, the bubble of brooks, the play of sunbeams, the rustle of leaves, and the silence of caves-felt, with a poetic vividness that our modern science will hardly permit us to realize, the presence of unseen joyous powers. See illus., MYTHOLOGY, Vol. X.

NYS SA. See TUPELO.

NYS TAD, a t. of Finland, on the eastern coast of the gulf of Bothnia, 50 m. s. of Björneborg. Pop. '90, 3908. Here in 1721, a treaty was agreed to, between Russia and Sweden, by virtue of which all the conquests of Peter the Great along the coasts of the gulf of Finland were annexed to Russia.

THE fifteenth letter in the English and in most western alphabets, is one of the five simple vowel signs of the English language. As the language is at present pronounced, it stands for at least four distinct sounds, heard in the words note, nor, (not), move, son. The primary and simple sound of O is that heard long in nōr, and short in not, top. The sound given to it in such words as note, go, is really a diphthonga long o terminating in a slight u or oo sound (o"). The corresponding letter in the Hebrew and Phenician alphabet (q.v.) was called Ayn, i.e., "eye;" and accordingly the primitive form of the Phenician letter was a rough picture of an eye, which naturally became a circle with a dot in the center-still to be seen in some ancient inscriptionsand then a simple circle.

sound(").

O', a prefix in many Irish family names, serves to form a patronymic, like Mac in Gaelic names; as O'Brien, a descendant of Brien. By some, it is considered to be derived from of; but it is more likely from Ir. ua, Gael, ogha, a grandson. In the Lowland Scottish the word oe is used for grandson, and in some localities for nephew.

OA'HU, one of the Sandwich islands (q.v.).

OAJA'CO, or OAXACA, a Mexican state, bounded s. by the Pacific, e. by Tehuantepec and the gulf of Tehuantepec, w. and n. by Puebla and Vera Cruz; 35,382 sq. m.; pop. in '95, 882,529. La Verda is the only river of consequence, The surface is almost entirely made up of mountains and table-lands and the climate is remarkably fine; the rainfall is large, and the heat less oppressive than in most other states of Mexico. The products of the soil are greatly varied; cochineal and indigo are the chief exports, and wheat, coffee, sugar, tobacco, cotton, cocoa, honey, plantains, and fruit of all kinds are found. Gold and silver mines exist, but are of little importance. Capital, Oaxaca.

OAJA CO, OAXACA, or GUAXACA, a city of Mexico, capital of a state of the same name, stands on the river Atoyac, 210 m. s.s.e. of Mexico. Founded in 1582, it is well built, with open streets, interspersed with plantations, on which the cochineal insect feeds and had, '94, 27,856 inhabitants. Cigars, cotton, sugar, and chocolate are manufactured.

OAK, Quercus, a genus of trees and shrubs of the natural order cupuliferæ, having a three-celled ovary, and a round (not angular) nut-which is called an acorn-placed in

675

Oak.

A few species are found in a scaly truncated cup, the lower part of it invested by the cup. The species are very numerous, natives of temperate and tropical countries. But in the Europe. North America produces many; and many are natives of mountainous regions in the torrid zone; some are found at low elevations in the valleys of the Himalaya, some even at the level of the sea in the Malay peninsula and Indian islands. peninsula of India and in Ceylon none are found; and none in tropical Africa, in Australia, or in South America. The oaks have alternate simple leaves, which are Many of them are trees of great size, entire in some, but in the greater number variously lobed and sinuated or cut; everbut more generally deciduous. green in some, famous for the strength and durability of their timber, as well as for the majesty of their appearance, and their great longevity. Throughout all parts of Europe, except the extreme n., two species are found, or varieties of one species, the COMMON OAK (Q. robur); one (Q. pedunculata) having the acorns on longish stalks, the other (Q. sessiliflora) Other differences have been pointed out, but they having them almost without stalks. are regarded by some of the most eminent and careful botanists as merely accidental, and not coincident with these; while, as to the length of the fruit-stalks, every interBoth varieties occur in Britain, the first being the most prevamediate gradation occurs. lent, as it is generally in the n. of Europe; the second being more abundant in more southern countries. The short-stalked oak is sometimes called DURMAST OAK in England. It has been much disputed which is entitled to be considered the true British oak; and much alarm has occasionally been expressed lest new plantations should be made of the wrong kind; whilst the most contradictory statements have been made as to the comparative value and characters of the timber. The oak succeeds best in loamy soils, and Noble specimens especially in those that are somewhat calcareous. It cannot endure stagnant water. It succeeds well on soils too poor for ash or elm; but depends much on the depth of the soil, its roots penetrating more deeply than those of most other trees.

of oak trees, and some of them historically celebrated, exist in almost all parts of Britain; but are much more frequent in England than in Scotland. The former existence of great oak forests is attested by the huge trunks often found in bogs. The oak attains a height of from 50 to 100 or even 150 or 180 ft.; the trunk being 4, 6, or even 8 ft. in diameter. It sometimes grows tall and stately, but often rather exhibits great thickness of bole and magnitude of branches. It reaches its greatest magnitude in periods varying from 120 to 400 years, but lives to the age of 600, or even 1000. The timber is very solid, durable, peculiarly unsusceptible of the influence of moisture, and, therefore, eminently adapted for ship-building. It is also employed in carpentry, mill-work, etc.-The bark abounds in tannin; it also contains a peculiar bitter principle called quercine, and is used in medicine, chiefly in gargles, etc., on account of its astringency, sometimes also as a tonic; it is used along with gall-nuts in the manufacture of ink, but most of all for tanning (see BARK), and on this account the oak is often planted as copse-wood (see COPSE) in situations where it cannot be expected to attain to great size as a tree. The timber of copse oak is excellent fire-wood. The oak is particularly fitted for copsewood, by the readiness with which it springs again from the stools after it has been cut. Acorns are very nourishing food for swine, and in times of scarcity have been often used for human food, as, indeed, they commonly are in some very poor countries, either alone or mixed with meal. The bitterness which makes them disagreeable is said to be in part removed by burying them for a time in the earth. The acorns of some trees are also much less bitter than others, and oaks of the common species occur which produce Other varieties of the common oak are assiduously propaacorns as sweet as chestnuts. gated by nurserymen as curious and ornamental, particularly one with pendulous branchlets (the weeping oak), and one with branches growing up close to the stem, as in some kinds of poplar. Among the Greeks and Romans the oak was sacred to Zeus or Jupiter; and it has been connected with the religious observances of many nations, as of the ancient Celts and Germans.-The TURKEY OAK or ADRIATIC OAK (Q. cerris), now very frequently planted in Britain, is a large and valuable tree, very common in the s.e. of The leaves differ from those of the Europe, and in some parts of Asia. The timber is imported in considerable quantity into Britain for ship-building and other purposes. common oak in their acute lobes, and the cups of the acorns are mossy, i.e., have long, Similar to this, in both these respects, are the AUSTRIAN OAK (Q. loose, acute scales. Austriaca), abundant near Vienna, and the SPANISH OAK (Q. Hispanica). - The CORK OAK or CORK-TREE (Q. suber) is noticed in the article CORK; the HOLM OAK or EVERGREEN OAK (Q. iler), another of the species found in the s. of Europe, in the article ILEX. Of the North American oaks, some are very valuable as timber trees. Perhaps It is found from the gulf of Mexico to Canada; the most important is the WHITE OAK or QUEBEC OAK (Q. alba), a large tree, the leaves of which have a few rounded lobes.

and in some places forms the chief part of the forest. The timber is less compact than that of the British oak; that of young trees is very elastic.-The OVERCUP OAK (Q. lyrata), a majestic tree, highly esteemed for its timber, and having its acorns almost covered by their globular cup, grows chiefly in lands liable to inundation in the southern states. The CHESTNUT-LEAVED WHITE OAK (Q. prinus) is also a much-esteemed timber tree of the southern states.-The SWAMP WHITE OAK (Q. bicolor), a closely allied species, extends further north.-The LIVE OAK (Q. virens), an evergreen species, with entire leathery leaves, is regarded as a tree of the first importance in the United States, from

the excellence of its timber and its value for ship-building, so that efforts have been made by the government to protect it and to promote the planting of its acorns. Yet it is not a very large tree, being seldom more than 45 ft. in height, with a trunk of 2 ft. in diameter. It grows on the coasts of the gulf of Mexico, and as far north as Virginia. It once abounded on the Sea islands, now so celebrated for their cotton.-The RED OAK (Q. rubra), a large tree with sinuated and lobed leaves, the lobes toothed and bristlepointed, yields great part of the red oak staves exported from Canada and the n. of the United States to the West Indies; but red oak staves are also produced in the middle and southern states by the SCARLET OAK (Q. coccinea), a very similar species, by the BLACK OAK or QUERCITRON OAK (Q. tinctoria), another species with the lobes of the leaves bristle-pointed, better-known for the dye-stuff which its bark yields (see QUERCITRON), and by the willow oak (Q. phellos), a large tree with lanceolate leaves and a willow-like aspect. The timber of all these species is of very inferior quality. These are the American oaks of greatest economical and commercial importance, but there are numerous other species, some of them trees, some mere shrubs, of which some grow on poor soils, and cover them in compact masses; resembling in this a single European species (Q. viminalis), a native of the Vosges, 6 to 8 ft. high, with slender, tough branches, which makes excellent hedges.-The BLACK JACK (Q. nigra) is an American oak, chiefly notable for the abundance in which it grows on some of the poorest soils. It is a small tree, and its timber of little value. The bark is black.-Some of the Nepaulese oaks are large and valuable trees, as are some of those of China and Japan, of Java, of Mexico, etc. The oaks of Java and the other Indian islands have generally the leaves quite entire.—The bark of most of the species of oak is capable of being used for tanning, and is used in different countries. The cups and acorns of the VALONIA OAK (Q. agilops) are exported from the Morea and other parts of the Levant in great quantities for this purpose, under the name of valonia. See LEATHER. resembles the Turkey oak, and has very large hemispherical mossy cups. The cups are said to contain more tannin than any other vegetable substance.-Galls (q.v) or gall-nuts are in great part obtained from the oak, therefore called the GALL-OAK (Q. infectoria), a scrubby bush, a native of Asia Minor, with bluntly serrated, ovate-oblong leaves. The KERMES OAK (Q. coccifera), on the leaves of which the kermes (q. v.) insect is found, is a low bush, with evergreen spinous leaves, much resembling a holly, a native of the s.e. of Europe. Of oaks with sweet and edible acorns, may be mentioned the BALLOTE OAK (Q. ballota or gramuntia), an evergreen with round spiny-toothed leaves, a native of the n. of Africa, the acorns of which are regularly brought to market in Algeria and in Spain, and are long and cylindrical; the Italian oak (Q. æsculus), closely allied to the common oak; and the DWARF CHESTNUT OAK (Q. chinquapin or prinoides) of North America, a small shrubby species, which has been specially recommended to cultivation on this account. Other North American species, and some of the Himalayan species, also produce edible acorns. From the acorns of some species, oil is made in considerable quantity in different parts of the world, and is used in cookery.The leaves of the manna oak (Q. mannifera)—a native of the mountains of Kurdistan, having oblong, blunt-lobed leaves-secrete in hot weather a kind of manna, a sweet mucilaginous substance, which is made into sweetmeats, and very highly esteemed.

The tree

The name oak is sometimes popularly applied to timber trees of very different genera. Thus, AFRICAN OAK is another name of African teak. See TEAK. Some of the species of casuarina (q.v.) are called oak in Australia. The STONE OAK (lithocarpus Javenensis) of Java, so named from the extreme hardness of its timber, is a tree of the same family with the true oaks. See illus., BOTANY, vol. II., figs. 20, 33; HAZEL, Vol. VII., fig. 4. OAK APPLE. See GALL-FLY; GALLS.

OAK BEAUTY, Biston prodromaria, a moth of the family geometride, a native of Eng land, about an inch and a half or two inches in expanse of wings; the upper wings with two brown curved bands, and margined with black, the lower wings with one brown band. The caterpillar feeds on the oak.

OAKES, URIAN, D.D., 1631-81; b. England. He emigrated to Massachusetts in 1634, graduated at Harvard in 1649, and published at Cambridge a set of astronomical calculations while quite young. He accepted a pastorate at Fitchfield, Eng., which his nonconformist views compelled him to relinquish in 1662, and later he preached to another congregation. On account of his learning and piety, he was chosen pastor of the church in Cambridge, whither he returned, commencing his labors in 1671. He accepted the presidency of Harvard college in 1675, being formally installed five years later; and held this position until his death.

OAK HAM, the county-town of Rutlandshire, Eng., in the vale of Catmos, 25 m. w.n.w. of Peterborough. It is a station on the Syston and Peterborough branch of the Midland railway. In former times, there was a castle here; it is now in ruins with the exception of the portion used as the county-hall. The church, the interior of which was beautifully restored in 1858, is an edifice in the perpendicular style, and has a fine tower and spire. It has manufactures of boots, shoes and fancy hosiery. Pop. '91, 3,542.

OAKLAND, a co. in s.e. Michigan, drained by the Clinton, and branches of the Huron and Flint rivers; crossed by the Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee, and several other

Oases.

railroads; 900 sq. m.; pop. '90, 41,245. The surface in the northern portion is undulating, and numerous small lakes diversify it; in most parts the soil is fertile, and in good cultivation; about a quarter of the county is still covered with forests. Wheat, Indian corn, oats, live stock, and butter, are the chief productions; it contains flour mills, carriage, saddlery, plaster and casting manufactories. Co. seat, Pontiac.

OAKLAND, city and co. seat of Alameda co., Cal.; on San Francisco bay and the California and Nevada and the Southern Pacific railroads; opposite and 7 miles e. of San Francisco. The city takes its name from a grove of majestic evergreen oaks in which it was first built, but beyond which it now extends. It is a favorite residence for the merchants of San Francisco, and has many drives, fine scenery and a healthy climate. It is supplied with water from a stream 5 m. distant, and with gas and electric lights. San Antonio creek, on the s. front, forms a harbor for the city. A pier runs along the water front, a distance of 2 m. into the bay; on it are warehouses, docks, a carriage way, and the rails of the Southern Pacific railroad, which connects with the ferry for San Francisco. The city has California college (Bapt.); St. Vincent's college (R. C.); a normal and special training school; convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart; Field seminary; Snell seminary; Pacific theological seminary (Cong.); St. Mary's college; public, public school, and several college libraries; national, state, and savings banks; electric street railroads; manufactories of windmills and carriages; planing, quartz, and flour mills; cordage and jute factories; marble, iron, smelting and metallurgical works; and many daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals. Pop. '90, 48,682.

OAK'UM, a tangled mass of tarred hempen fibers, is made from old rope by untwisting the strands and rubbing the fibers free from each other. Its principal use is in caulking (q.v.) the seams between planks, the space round rivets, bolts, etc., for the purpose of preventing water from penetrating.

OANNES, the name of a Babylonian god, who, in the first year of the foundation of Babylon, is said to have come out of the Persian gulf, or the old Erythræan sea, adjoining Babylon. He is described as having the head and body of a fish, to which were added a human head and feet under the fish's head and at the tail. He lived amongst men during the day-time, without, however, taking any food, and retired at sunset to the sea, from which he had emerged. Oannes had a human voice, and instructed men in the use of letters, and in all the principal arts and sciences of civilization, which he communicated to them. Such is the account of him preserved by Berosus and Apollodorus. Five such monsters are said to have come out of the Persian gulf; one, called Anedotos or Idotion, in the reign of Amenon, the fourth king of Babylon; another in that of the fifth king; and the last, called Odacon (or Ho Dagon), apparently the Phenician Dagon, under the sixth. Many figures of Oannes, resembling that of

e

a Triton, having the upper part of a man, and the lower part of a fish, or as

a man covered with a fish's body, have been found in the sculptures of Kouyonjik and Khorsabad, as well as on many cylinders and gems. Oannes is supposed to have symbolized the conquest of Babylonia by a more civilized nation coming in ships to the mouth of the Euphrates; but he is apparently a water-god, resembling in type and character the Phenician Dagon, and the Greek Proteus and Triton.

Helladius, Apud Phot. Cod. 279, pp. 535, 34; Richter, De Beroso; Cory. Anc. Fragm. p. 30; 1 Sam. v. 4; Bunsen, Egypt's Place, vol. 1. p. 705; Layard, Nineveh, p. 343.

OAR, a wooden instrument by which a person sitting in a boat propels it through the water. The form found in practice to combine greatest power with lightness, is that shown in the figure. From a to b is the blade of the oar, thin and nearly flat, though occasionally somewhat curved, so as to present a concave surface to the water; from b to d is round or square, gradually thickening towards d, that the part ce may nearly balance the part ac. At de is the handle, which is grasped by one or both hands. The oar rests ---bat c on the row-lock, and in many cases some device is resorted to to retain the oar from slipping outwards. In the Thames, a leathern stop, called a button, is used; sometimes a pin in the gunwale of the boat passes through the oar (but this weakens the oar, and precludes feathering); at other times the oar is fastened to the pin by a leathern thong. The action of an oar in moving a boat is that of a lever, the rower's hand being the power, the water the fulcrum, against which the oar presses, and the row-lock the point at which the opposition caused by the weight of the boat and its cargo is felt, Feathering an oar consists in turning it, immediately on leaving the water, aso that the flat blade of the oar is horizontal, and in preserving this position until just before the fresh dip, when of course the vertical position must be resumed. Feathering diminishes the resistance offered by air, wind, and small waves; it also adds greatly to the beauty and grace of rowing.

OAR.

The best oars are of Norway fir, though some are made of ash and beech. O'ASES, certain cultivated spots in the Libyan desert (called also Auasis, Quasis, or Hoasis) which produce vegetation, owing to the presence of springs issuing from the

Oat.

ground. The principal oases are those lying to the w. of Egypt, a few days' journey from the Nile, and known to the ancients by the name of the greater and lesser oases, and that of Ammon. It is supposed that they were known to the Egyptians during the 12th dynasty under the name of Suten-Khenn, but no evidence of their occupation by the Egyptians earlier than Darius has been found in situ. By some of the ancients they were called the islands of the blessed, or compared to the spots on a panther's skin. Their name is supposed to be the Coptic Quahé (inhabited place). They are first mentioned by Herodotus in his account of the destruction of the army of Cambyses by the storm of sand, or simoom. Equally celebrated is the visit of Alexander the great to the oasis, which he successfully accomplished after the conquest of Egypt and passed through the desert a nine days' journey before he reached the temple of Ammon, the priests of which declared him the son of that god, and the future conqueror of the entire world. Herodotus describes that of El Wah, or the oasis Magna of the Romans, which contained the oracle of Ammon, and which lies seven days' journey w. of Thebes. It appears to have been anciently frequented by caravans going to the pillars of Hercules. Strabo mentions three oases: the first seven days' journey w. of Abydos; the second, w. of the lake Maris; the third, near the oracle of Ammon. Pliny mentions two oases; so does Ptolemy, who calls them the lesser and greater. Under the Roman empire, they were used for temporary banishment of criminals of state, and the poet Juvenal was sent there. Olympiodorus, a native of the Thebiad, gives a glowing description of them in the days of Theodosius the younger. Under the Byzantine emperors, the emperors banished there the heads of the Catholic party, at the instigation of the Arians, in the 4th c., and Athanasius himself is supposed to have taken refuge in them. In the 5th c., Nestorius the bishop of Constantinople, was banished there. He was rescued by an excursion of the Blemyes, but expired soon after his arrival at the Nile. The oases were then a place of desolation and horror, occasionally plundered by Bedouins. They fell, 943 A.D., into the power of the Arabs, after having been held by the Egyptian monarchs and their successors till that period; and they are described by Edrisi (1150 A.D.) as uninhabited; by Abulfeda (1240 A.D.) and by Leo Africanus (1513 A.D.), as inhabited and cultivated, and quite independent, having three fortresses. The first modern traveler who visited them is supposed to have been Poncet (1698 A.D.). Subsequently, in 1792, Browne discovered the oasis of Ammon at El Siwah; and it was visited in 1798 by Hornemann, and in 1819 by Cailliaud. It lies in 29° 12′ 20′′ n. lat., and 26° 6' 9" e. long. Drovetti and Minutoli also visited the same spot.

These oases are now held by Muggrebi Arabs, a powerful race in the desert, capable of raising 30,000 men, who supply camels and guides to travelers. The principal oases are: 1. El Khargeh, or the Oasis Magna, the Greater Oasis of Ptolemy; 2. El Kasr, or Oasis Parva, the Lesser Oasis; 3. Siwah, or the Oasis of Ammon, the most northerly; 4. The Western Oasis, or Dakkel, mentioned by Olympiodorus, and visited by sir Archibald Edmonstone in 1819, and Rohlfs in 1874. Of El Khargeh full particulars have been given by M. Hoskins, who discovered it lying about 125 m. w. of the Nile, having a stream of water rising near the village of Genah, on the north-west of the oasis, and lost in the sand. It is bounded on the e. by Hagel-bel-Badah. North of El Gem lies the metropolis, El Khargeh, which consists of a series of covered streets and open bazaars. The temple lies two hours' journey from it, in a fine situation; the sekos has a vestibule of 500 f., with pylons, or gateways, the first of which has a decree in Greek, dated in the reign of Galba (68 A.D.), against forcing persons to farm the revenue, preventing imprisonment for debt, preserving the dowries of women, and limiting the office of strategos for three years. The temple has other decrees preventing the officers of government from smuggling. It has an avenue of sphinxes and three pylons; on the third, Darius is represented offering to Amen Ra, Osiris, and Isis; while Nekht-her-hebi (Nectabes) continued the ornaments of the temple about 414-340 B.C. The sekos is 140 ft. long, and represents Darius offering to Amen Ra, or Khnumis, the ram-head god, and Osiris; while in the accompanying scenes are seen Anta, or Anaitis, Raspu, or Reseph. In the vicinity is a magnificent necropolis of 150 sepulchers, of a late period, with Doric and Corinthian capitals. There are several temples at other spots of the oases. 2. El Kasr, the Oasis Parva, lies four or five days' journey s.e. of Siwah, called the Wah-el-Bahnasa, or Wah-el-Menesheh, contains no monuments older than the Roman, consisting of a triumphal arch, subterraneous and other aqueducts, several hot springs, a necropolis, and Christian church. This oasis was first conquered by the Arabs; and in its vicinity is another oasis called Wady Zerzoora, with others adjoining, of inferior interest. 3. Siwah, or the Oasis of Ammon-one of the first discovered, and repeatedly visited, has, unfortunately, not been seen by any one acquainted with hieroglyphics-lies w. of the Natron lakes. It would appear from Minutoli that the temple was built by Nekht-her-hebi, or Nectabes I., in honor of the god Khnum, Ammon Khnumis or Chnebis, who as the deity of water, presided over the water from which the oasis originated. The oasis is 9 m. long and 2 broad, contains El Garah Gharmy, and Menchyeh, has a population of about 8.000 inhabitants, possesses date and other trees, grows cereals, and has sulphurous springs, a salt lake at Arachieh, and many ruined temples, a necropolis, and other remains. The oracle of Ammon is supposed to have been at a place called Om-Beydah, or the temple of Nekht-her-hebi. From this, it would seem that the oasis did not fall into the power of Egypt till about the 5th c. B.C.

The