The element
_Ro-henet_, "canal-mouth" (according to the local pronunciation of the
Fayyum and Middle Egypt, called _La-hune_), is genuine; it is the
origin of the modern Illahun (_el-Lahun_), which is situated at the
"canal-mouth." However, now that we know that the word labyrinth can be
explained satisfactorily with the help of Karian, as evidently of Greek
(pre-Aryan) origin, and as evidently the original name of the Knossian
labyrinth, it is obvious that there is no need to seek a far-fetched
explanation of the word in Egypt, and to suppose that the Greeks called
the Cretan labyrinth after the Egyptian one.
The contrary is evidently the case. Greek visitors to Egypt found a
resemblance between the great Egyptian building, with its numerous halls
and corridors, vast in extent, and the Knossian palace. Even if very
little of the latter was visible in the classical period, as seems
possible, yet the site seems always to have been kept holy and free from
later building till Roman times, and we know that the tradition of the
mazy halls and corridors of the labyrinth was always clear, and was
evidently based on a vivid reminiscence. Actually, one of the most
prominent characteristics of the Knossian palace is its mazy and
labyrinthine system of passages and chambers. The parallel between the
two buildings, which originally caused the Greek visitors to give the
pyramid-temple of Hawara the name of "labyrinth," has been traced still
further.
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