Egypt

Description

In the Commedia Egypt is recalled with the place-name "Egypt" or designated through the river Nile. In Canto VI of Paradiso the defeat of Pharsalus is followed by the flight of Pompey to Egypt to his ally Ptolemy, who had him killed. A note to the passage specifies that the river is called "hot" on the authority of Lucan ("Nilum calentem", Phars. X 275). In Canto V of Inferno, where the identity of the "land" ruled by Semiramis is discussed, a critical note observes that, understanding "land" as a region, the term could indicate Egypt, on the basis of Diodorus Siculus (Hist. II 3), who records the conquest of Egypt by Ninus. Canto II of Purgatorio, with the vulgate reading maintained in the edition, preserves the rhyme "Aegypto" in the description of the angel. Finally, in Canto XXV of Paradiso, the text itself names Egypt in a verse provided as a reference.