Vol.I - The Coptic Orthodox Church

1 72 Ancient Coptic Churches. [CH. iv.
of its origin. Strabo 1
says some revolted Babylonians
obtained a settlement there from the kings
of Egypt. The version of Diodorus Siculus 2 tallies
with this : he writes that some captives brought
from Babylon by Sesostris established themselves in
a fortified castle called after their mother city, whence
they made raids on the country round, but were
finally pacified and pardoned. Josephus 3 relates
that Babylon was built when Cambyses conquered
Egypt, i.e. 525 B.C. : while, according to Eutychius 4 ,
the founder was a Persian king called Athus, who
built a temple to the sun on the spot where now
stands the church of Tadrus. The main fact, then,
of the existence of an early Babylonian fortress,
needs no further question : and
I think it must
have been this fortress, or at least the site of it,
which the Romans occupied at the time of Strabo's
visit to Egypt. Murray thinks that the fort men-
tioned by Strabo is the Kasr-ash-Shamm'ah, but
needlessly perplexes the matter with a misquotation,
which occurs I believe in every writer who
has touched the subject since La Martiniere.
Strabo does not say that the position was
by
nature :
'
'
fortified
his words are, typovpiov epv[j.v6v, d-rroa-TavTcov
Ba(3v\(ovia)i> rivSiv, &c. It is true that kpv^vo^ is some-
times used to signify natural strength : but primarily
and usually it denotes artificial strength. So that in
spite of the low-lying situation of Kasr-ash-Shamm'ah,
there is no reason why Strabo, had he seen it, should
not have described it as