formerly ANTINOE, a city of Egypt, built by Adrian in honour of his favourite Antinous. It is situated towards the middle of the Said, or Upper Egypt, and still contains several stately monuments of antiquity. In ancient times this city was very magnificent. It was about half a league in circumference, having two principal streets 45 feet wide, intersecting each other at right angles, and running through its whole length. The others were more narrow, but equally straight; the two largest having gates at each end, part of which still remain. According to the Nubian geographer, it was called the city of the Magi, because Pharaoh is said to have caused the magicians come from thence to his court. Near it were the ruins of Abydus, where there was an oracle of the god Befa, one of the most ancient in Egypt, and which was still famous in the time of Constantius; and hence some have derived the appellation just mentioned, the neighbouring people coming in crowds to consult the oracle.

The ruins of the gates are the most beautiful pieces of architecture to be met with in this place. The handsomest has three vaulted entries; the middle one being 40 feet in height, 22 wide, and 20 thick; the other two smaller. Each of the façades of this edifice is ornamented with four pilasters in bas relief, with Corinthian capitals, the acanthus leaves of which have a considerable projection. It was surrounded by eight Corinthian columns, of which only one now remains, but the pedestals of the rest are still entire. Besides these, there are heaps of rubbish in different parts of the town, apparently the remains of ancient temples or palaces. All these seem to have been bordered by a colonnade, forming a portico on each side, where the inhabitants might walk secure from the heat of the sun. One of the squares was ornamented with four large Corinthian pillars, three of which are destroyed all but the bases. The fourth is quite entire, about 50 feet high, and the shaft composed of several stones. The pedestal has a Greek inscription, pretty much defaced, dedicating it to the emperor Alexander Severus, to whom the senate of Alexandria had already dedicated the famous column mentioned under that article. These four other columns were therefore probably raised in honour of that emperor after his victories over the Persians; for the foliage of the oak, with which the first stone of the shaft is decorated, was a sign of victory among the Romans. Towards the end of the fourth century the city was peopled by Christians; and Palladius assures us, that there were at that place 12 convents of virgins, and several others inhabited by monks. In the convents there are still several Coptic monasteries possessed by monks equally miserable and ignorant. The Nubian geographer informs us, that the city was surrounded by a well cultivated country, abounding in fruits and harvests; but these have now given place to sands and barren deserts. The ruins of Abydus above mentioned are still to be seen near this place.