E07941: The pilgrim Egeria, in her Itinerary, records two statues in Lower Egypt, said to be of *Moses (Old Testament prophet and lawgiver, S00241) and *Aaron (Old Testament prophet, S01427), and a health-giving tree said to have been planted by the patriarchs. Written in Latin during Egeria's journey to the East, probably in 381-384.

Egeria, Itinerary 8.1-4

8.1 De Arabia autem ciuitate quattuor milia passus sunt Ramessen. Nos autem, ut ueniremus ad mansionem Arabiae, per media Ramesse transiuimus: quae Ramessen ciuitas nunc campus est, ita ut nec unam habitationem habeat. Paret sane quoniam et ingens fuit per girum et multas fabricas habuit; ruinae enim ipsius, quemadmodum collapsae sunt, in hodie infinitae parent. (2) Nunc autem ibi nichil aliud est nisi tantum unus lapis ingens thebeus, in quo sunt duae statuae exclusae ingentes, quas dicunt esse sanctorum hominum, id est Moysi et Aaron; nam dicent eo quod filii Israhel in honore ipsorum eas posuerint. (3) Et est ibi preterea arbor sicomori, quae dicitur a patriarchis posita esse; nam iam uetustissima est et ideo permodica est, licet tamen adhuc fructus afferat. Nam cuicumque inquomoditas fuerit, uadent ibi et tollent surculos, et prode illis est. (4) Hoc autem referente sancto episcopo de Arabia cognouimus; nam ipse nobis dixit nomen ipsius arboris, quemadmodum appellant eam grece, id est dendros alethiae, quod nos dicimus arbor ueritatis. Qui tamen sanctus episcopus nobis ramessen occurrere dignatus est; nam est iam senior uir, uere satis religiosus ex monacho et affabilis, suscipiens peregrinos ualde bene; nam et in scripturis Dei ualde eruditus est. (5) Ipse ergo cum se dignatus fuisset uexare et ibi nobis occurrere, singula ibi ostendit seu retulit de illas statuas, quas dixi, ut etiam et de illa arbore sicomori.

‘8.1 Four miles from the city of Arabia is the city of Rameses, and on our way to the waystation of Arabia, we travelled right through it. The city of Rameses is now a level site without a single dwelling, but it is still visible, and once it had many buildings and covered a huge area. Even though it is ruined, its remains are still vast. (2) The only thing there now is a great Theban stone, a single piece out of which rise two huge statues. They are said to represent holy men, Moses and Aaron, and they say that the children of Israel set them up in their honour. (3) There is also a sycamore tree there which is said to have been planted by the patriarchs. Though it is now extremely old, and thus small, it still bears fruit, and people who have something wrong with them pick its twigs, which do them good. We learned this from the holy bishop of Arabia, and it was he who told us that the Greek name for this tree is Dendros Aletheias or, in our language, the ‘Tree of Truth’. This holy bishop was kind enough to meet us at Rameses. He is now an old man, of a godly life since the time he became a monk, and an approachable man, who is good at welcoming travellers and also very knowledgeable about God’s scriptures. (5) He very kindly took the trouble to meet us there, showed us everything, and told us about the statues of which I have told you, and the sycamore tree.’

Text: Franceschini and Weber 1965, 48-49. Translation: Wilkinson 1971, 102, lightly modified.