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37 Egypt's nickname "The Raised Land." This olden god was named Ptah—a "God of Heaven and Earth." He was considered to be a great engineer and master artificer. The veracity of the legend of The Raised Land is enhanced by its technological aspects. The Nile is a peaceful and navigable river up to Syene (Aswan); beyond that, the river's southward course is treacherous and obstructed by several cataracts. Just as the level of the Nile is regulated today by the dams at Aswan, so apparently was it in prehistoric Egypt. Ptah, Egyptian legends held, estab- lished his base of operations on the island of Abu. the one called since Greek times Elephantine on account of its shape: it is located just above the first cataract of the Nile, at Aswan. In text and draw- ings (Fig. 8) Ptah, whose symbol was the serpent, was depicted as Fig. 8 The Contending of Horus and Seth