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98-620: A nilometer is a structure for measuring the Nile River's clarity and water level during the annual flood season in Egypt. There were three main types of nilometers, calibrated in Egyptian cubits : (1) a vertical column, (2) a corridor stairway of steps leading down to the Nile, and (3) a deep well with a culvert . If the water level was low, the fertility of the floodplain would suffer. If it

196-433: A Turkish officer, Selim Bimbashi, were made between 1839 and 1842, and two got to the point about 30 kilometres (20 miles) beyond the present port of Juba , where the country rises and rapids make navigation very difficult. Lake Victoria was first sighted by Europeans in 1858 when British explorer John Hanning Speke reached its southern shore while traveling with Richard Francis Burton to explore central Africa and locate

294-716: A distance of 20 days' journey till it reaches the nearest Ethiopians." Modern exploration of the Nile basin began with the conquest of the northern and central Sudan by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali , and his sons from 1821 onward. As a result of this, the Blue Nile was known as far as its exit from the Ethiopian foothills and the White Nile as far as the mouth of the Sobat River. Three expeditions under

392-468: A factor of 15 at Aswan. Peak flows of over 8,212 m /s (290,000 cu ft/s) occurred during late August and early September, and minimum flows of about 552 m /s (19,500 cu ft/s) occurred during late April and early May. The Bahr al Ghazal and the Sobat River are the two most important tributaries of the White Nile in terms of discharge. The Bahr al Ghazal's drainage basin

490-767: A natural cargo transfer point for river trade. During the Second Intermediate Period (1650–1550 BC), the fort marked the southern border of Egypt. The island was also a vital stone quarry , providing granite for monuments and buildings all over Egypt. Historical texts from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt mention the mother of Amenemhat I , founder of the Twelfth Dynasty , being from the Elephantine Egyptian nome Ta-Seti. Many scholars have argued that Amenemhat I's mother

588-501: A political and administrative role, since the quality of the year's flood was used to determine the levels of tax to be paid. This is where the nilometer came into play, with priests monitoring the day-to-day level of the river and announcing the awaited arrival of the summer flood. Religious attributes related to the Nile intertwined with the ideology or belief in Ma'at (a system of natural balance). Nilometers were accessible to only members of

686-475: A well used to observe that Aswan lies on the Tropic of Cancer , but the reference is to a well at Aswan, not at Elephantine. Neither nilometer at Elephantine is suitable for the purpose, while the well at Aswan is apparently lost. The Elephantine triad is between Khnum, Satis, and Anuket ; it is debated whether Anuket is the daughter of the two or the sister of Satis. Elephantine was the dwelling place of Khnum,

784-465: Is an archaeological site located in alluvial deposits formed by an ancient channel of the Nile in the Affad region of southern Dongola Reach , Sudan. There are two theories about the age of the integrated Nile. One is that the integrated drainage of the Nile is of young age and that the Nile basin was formerly broken into series of separate basins, only the most northerly of which fed a river following

882-642: Is approximately 1,218 m /s (43,000 cu ft/s) in October and minimum flow is about 609 m /s (21,500 cu ft/s) in April. This fluctuation is caused by the substantial variation in the flow of the Sobat, which has a minimum flow of about 99 m /s (3,500 cu ft/s) in March and a peak flow of over 680 m /s (24,000 cu ft/s) in October. During the dry season (January to June)

980-703: Is in Egypt. Below the Aswan Dam , at the northern limit of Lake Nasser, the Nile resumes its historic course. North of Cairo , the Nile splits into two branches (or distributaries) that feed the Mediterranean: the Rosetta Branch to the west and the Damietta to the east, forming the Nile Delta . The annual sediment transport by the Nile in Egypt has been quantified. Below the confluence with

1078-552: Is not clear when or why the Jewish community settled in Elephantine. The temple may have been built in reaction to Manasseh 's reinstitution of pagan worship or simply to serve the needs of the Jewish community. There is bias that surrounds the Jewish and Egyptian interactions that occurred on Elephantine, but the findings show that there was often culture interchange. Conflict began after an Egyptian precious stone turned up in

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1176-572: Is the largest of any of the Nile's sub-basins, measuring 520,000 square kilometers (200,000 sq mi) in size, but it contributes a relatively small amount of water, about 2 m /s (71 cu ft/s) annually, because tremendous volumes of water are lost in the Sudd wetlands. The Sobat River, which joins the Nile a short distance below Lake No, drains about half as much land, 225,000 km (86,900 sq mi), but contributes 412 cubic meters per second (14,500 cu ft/s) annually to

1274-521: Is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river in the world , though this has been contested by research suggesting that the Amazon River is slightly longer. Of the world's major rivers, the Nile is one of the smallest, as measured by annual flow in cubic metres of water. About 6,650 km (4,130 mi) long, its drainage basin covers eleven countries:

1372-545: Is traditionally considered to be the headwaters stream. However, the Blue Nile is the source of most of the water of the Nile downstream, containing 80% of the water and silt . The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region. It begins at Lake Victoria and flows through Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet at

1470-644: The Democratic Republic of the Congo , Tanzania , Burundi , Rwanda , Uganda , Kenya , Ethiopia , Eritrea , South Sudan , Sudan , and Egypt . In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan. The Nile is an important economic driver supporting agriculture and fishing. The Nile has two major tributaries : the White Nile and the Blue Nile . The White Nile

1568-580: The Elephantine Calendar of Things , which dates to the reign of Thutmose III during the Eighteenth Dynasty , was found in fragments on the island. Before 1822, there were temples to Thutmose III and Amenhotep III on the island. In 1822, they were destroyed during the campaign of Muhammad Ali , who had taken power in Egypt, to conquer Sudan . The main two temples of the island were for Satet and Khnum. The first temple

1666-666: The Elephantine Papyri and Ostraca is the Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt . Elephantine, or what ancient Egyptians called Yebu or Abu is located at the uppermost part of the Nile river that is a part of Aswan . Elephantine had the first nome of the northern part of Egypt. Elephantine is 1,600 metres from north to south and 450 metres across at its widest point. The layout of this and other nearby islands in Aswan can be seen from west bank hillsides along

1764-651: The Paleogene and Neogene Periods (66 million to 2.588 million years ago) a series of separate closed continental basins each occupied one of the major parts of the Sudanese Rift System: Mellut rift , White Nile rift , Blue Nile rift , Atbara rift and Sag El Naam rift . The Mellut Basin is nearly 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) deep at its central part. This rift is possibly still active, with reported tectonic activity in its northern and southern boundaries. The Sudd swamp which forms

1862-456: The discharge at any given point along the main stem depends on many factors including weather, diversions, evaporation and evapotranspiration , and groundwater flow. Upstream from Khartoum (to the south), the river is known as the White Nile , a term also used in a limited sense to describe the section between Lake No and Khartoum. At Khartoum, the river is joined by the Blue Nile . The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and

1960-430: The dry season ) an appreciable incoming surface flow for many kilometres upstream, and found a new source, giving the Nile a length of 6,758 km (4,199 mi). The White Nile leaves Lake Victoria at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda , as the "Victoria Nile." It flows north for some 130 kilometers (81 mi) to Lake Kyoga . The last part of the approximately 200 kilometers (120 mi) river section starts from

2058-602: The 12th–13th centuries, claims that in the beginning of year 247 AH (March 861), during Yazid ibn Abd Allah al-Turki's governorship of Egypt, the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil had the 'new' nilometer constructed and ordered that the privilege of measuring the river 'be taken away from the Christians.' The governor then appointed a man from Basra named Abu'r-Raddad who had emigrated to Egypt and taught hadith . He died in 266 AH (879/80), with Yaqut claiming 'the supervision of

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2156-507: The 1960s. Between July and November, the reaches of the Nile running through Egypt would burst their banks and cover the adjacent floodplain . When the waters receded, around September or October, they left behind a rich alluvial deposit of exceptionally fertile black silt over the croplands. The akhet , or Season of the Inundation , was one of the three seasons into which the ancient Egyptians divided their year. The annual flood

2254-688: The 20th century, the Nile's annual inundation was first greatly reduced, and then eliminated entirely, with the construction of the Aswan dams . While the Aswan High Dam 's impact on Egypt and its agriculture has been controversial for other, more complex reasons, it has also had the additional effect of rendering the nilometer obsolete. The first nilometer on Roda Island was constructed by Usama bin Zayd bin Adl before Jumada II , 96 AH (February 715), during

2352-613: The 5th century BC. These papyri document the presence of a community of Judean mercenaries and their families on Elephantine, starting in the 7th century BCE. The mercenaries guarded the frontier between Egypt and Nubia. Following the 587 BCE destruction of Jerusalem , some Judean refugees traveled south and, in what may be called an “ exodus in reverse,” settled on Elephantine. They maintained their own temple (the House of Yahweh ) in which sacrifices were offered , evincing polytheistic beliefs , which functioned alongside that of Khnum. It

2450-552: The Bahr al Jabal at a small lagoon called Lake No , after which the Nile becomes known as the Bahr al Abyad , or the White Nile, from the whitish clay suspended in its waters. When the Nile floods it leaves a rich silty deposit which fertilizes the soil. The Nile no longer floods in Egypt since the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970. An anabranch river, the Bahr el Zeraf , flows out of

2548-652: The Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia. Both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift . The source of the Blue Nile is Lake Tana in the Gish Abay region in the Ethiopian Highlands . The source of the White Nile, even after centuries of exploration, remains in dispute. The most remote source that is indisputably a source for the White Nile is the Kagera River ; however,

2646-569: The Blue Nile the only major tributary is the Atbarah River , also known as the Red Nile. Roughly halfway to the sea, it originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana , and is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) long. The Atbarah flows only while there is rain in Ethiopia and dries very rapidly. During the dry period of January to June, it typically dries up north of Khartoum . The Blue Nile ( Amharic : ዓባይ , ʿĀbay ) springs from Lake Tana in

2744-589: The Congo, but the Nile is not a border river at this point. After leaving Lake Albert, the river continues north through Uganda and is known as the Albert Nile . The White Nile flows into South Sudan just south of Nimule , where it is known as the Bahr al Jabal ("Mountain River" ). Just south of the town is the confluence with the Achwa River . The Bahr al Ghazal , 716 kilometers (445 mi) long, joins

2842-537: The Delta, and would have been pronounced ni-lo-he in the area around Memphis in the 8th century BCE. Hesiod at his Theogony refers to Nilus (Νεῖλος) as one of the Potamoi (river gods), son of Oceanus and Tethys . Another derivation of Nile might be related to the term Nil ( Sanskrit : नील , romanized :  nila ; Egyptian Arabic : نيلة ), which refers to Indigofera tinctoria , one of

2940-414: The Ethiopian rainy season when rainfall is especially high in the Ethiopian Highlands ; the rest of the year, the great rivers draining Ethiopia into the Nile have a weaker flow. In harsh and arid seasons and droughts, the Blue Nile dries out completely. The flow of the Blue Nile varies considerably over its yearly cycle and is the main contribution to the large natural variation of the Nile flow. During

3038-630: The Ethiopian Highlands, satellite imagery was used to identify dry watercourses in the desert to the west of the Nile. A canyon, now filled by surface drift, represents the Eonile that flowed during 23–5.3 million years before present. The Eonile transported clastic sediments to the Mediterranean; several natural gas fields have been discovered within these sediments. During the late- Miocene Messinian salinity crisis , when

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3136-491: The Ethiopian Highlands. The Blue Nile flows about 1,400 kilometres to Khartoum, where the Blue Nile and White Nile join to form the Nile. Ninety percent of the water and ninety-six percent of the transported sediment carried by the Nile come from the Atbarah and Blue Nile, both of which originate in Ethiopia, with fifty-nine percent of the water coming from the Blue Nile. The erosion and transportation of silt only occurs during

3234-874: The Kagera has tributaries that are in contention for the farthest source of the White Nile. Two start in Burundi: the Ruvyironza River (also known as the Luvironza) and the Rurubu River . In addition, in 2010, an exploration party in Rwanda went to a place described as the source of the Rukarara tributary, and by hacking a path up steep jungle-choked mountain slopes in the Nyungwe Forest found (in

3332-482: The Mediterranean Sea was a closed basin and evaporated to the point of being empty or nearly so, the Nile cut its course down to the new base level until it was several hundred metres below world ocean level at Aswan and 2,400 m (7,900 ft) below Cairo. This created a very long and deep canyon which was filled with sediment after the Mediterranean was recreated. At some point the sediments raised

3430-581: The Middle East and Africa, and described being told of the source of the Nile in Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Later in the 15th and 16th centuries, travelers to Ethiopia visited Lake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile in the mountains south of the lake. Supposedly, Paolo Trevisani ( c.  1452 –1483), a Venetian traveller in Ethiopia, wrote a journal of his travels to the origin of the Nile that has since been lost. Although James Bruce claimed to be

3528-531: The Middle Kingdom, many officials, such as the local governors Sarenput I or Heqaib III , dedicated statues and shrines to the temple. A nilometer was a structure for measuring the Nile River's clarity and the water level during the annual flood season. Elephantine has two nilometers. The more famous is a corridor nilometer associated with the temple of Satis, with a stone staircase that descends

3626-624: The Nile near the southern point of the Great Bend. The Nile has been the lifeline of civilization in Egypt since the Stone Age , with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt developing along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan. However, the Nile used to run much more westerly through what is now Wadi Hamim and Wadi al Maqar in Libya and flow into the Gulf of Sidra . As

3724-467: The Nile since ancient times. A tune, Hymn to the Nile , was created and sung by the ancient Egyptian peoples about the flooding of the Nile River and all of the miracles it brought to Ancient Egyptian civilization. Water buffalo were introduced from Asia, and the Assyrians introduced camels in the 7th century BCE. These animals were raised for meat and were domesticated and used for ploughing—or in

3822-454: The Nile valley north of the Aswan Dam . Nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt developed and are found along river banks. The Nile is, with the Rhône and Po , one of the three Mediterranean rivers with the largest water discharge . The standard English names "White Nile" and "Blue Nile" refer to the river's source, derived from Arabic names formerly applied to only

3920-523: The Nile's Bahr al Jabal section and rejoins the White Nile. The flow rate of the Bahr al Jabal at Mongalla is almost constant throughout the year and averages 1,048 m /s (37,000 cu ft/s). After Mongalla, the Bahr Al Jabal enters the enormous swamps of the Sudd region. More than half of the Nile's water is lost in this swamp to evaporation and transpiration . The average flow rate of

4018-575: The Nile's annual levels. A fragment of a recovered Egyptian stele "Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom" known as the "Palermo stone" deemed to be from the times of the First Dynasty around 3,000 B.C.E. The Palermo Stone reports systems of measurements utilizing units such as cubits, palms, and fingers. The ability to predict the volume of the coming inundation was part of the mystique of the ancient Egyptian priesthood. The same skill also played

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4116-595: The Nile. When in flood the Sobat carries a large amount of sediment, adding greatly to the White Nile's color. The Yellow Nile is a former tributary that connected the Ouaddaï highlands of eastern Chad to the Nile River Valley c.  8000 to c.  1000 BCE . Its remains are known as the Wadi Howar . The wadi passes through Gharb Darfur near the northern border with Chad and meets up with

4214-468: The Nile. The island is located just downstream of the First Cataract , at the southern border of Upper Egypt with Lower Nubia . This region above is called Upper Egypt because it is further up the Nile. The island may have received its name after its shape, which in aerial views is similar to that of an elephant tusk , or from the rounded rocks along the banks resembling elephants. Known to

4312-490: The Nilometer has remained in the hands of his descendants until the present day' (which would have been around 1225 for the author). Ibn Khallikan , a 13th-century historian, gives a different account of this nilometer, recounting that a 'pious' muezzin in the old Mosque of Amr wished to carve inscriptions in various places of the nilometer. After consulting with Yazid ibn Abd Allah, Sulayman ibn Wahb and Hasan al-Khadim,

4410-532: The Sudanese capital of Khartoum . The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Nubian Desert to Cairo and its large delta , and the river flows into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria . Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river and its annual flooding since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of

4508-425: The Sudanese stretches that meet at Khartoum . In the ancient Egyptian language , the Nile is called Ḥꜥpy (Hapy) or Jtrw (Iteru), meaning "river". In Coptic , the word ⲫⲓⲁⲣⲟ , pronounced piaro ( Sahidic ) or phiaro ( Bohairic ), means "the river" (lit. p(h).iar-o "the.canal-great"), and comes from the same ancient name. In Nobiin , the river is called Áman Dawū , meaning "the great water". In Luganda ,

4606-431: The Sudd wetlands of South Sudan, the upper reaches of the White Nile remained largely unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Vitruvius thought that source of the Nile was in Mauritania, on the "other" (south) side of the Atlas Mountains . Various expeditions failed to determine the river's source. Agatharchides records that in the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus , a military expedition had penetrated far enough along

4704-408: The White Nile at the tails of the swamps is about 510 m /s (18,000 cu ft/s). From here it meets with the Sobat River at Malakal . On an annual basis, the White Nile upstream of Malakal contributes about 15% of the total outflow of the Nile. The average flow of the White Nile at Lake Kawaki Malakal, just below the Sobat River, is 924 m /s (32,600 cu ft/s); the peak flow

4802-400: The White Nile contributes between 70% and 90% of the total discharge from the Nile. Below Renk , the White Nile enters Sudan, it flows north to Khartoum and meets the Blue Nile. The course of the Nile in Sudan is distinctive. It flows over six groups of cataracts , from the sixth at Sabaloka just north of Khartoum northward to Abu Hamad . The tectonic uplift of the Nubian Swell diverts

4900-444: The afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god Ra , the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky. Thus, all tombs were west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they had to be buried on the side that symbolized death. As the Nile was such an important factor in Egyptian life,

4998-404: The ancient Egyptians as ꜣbw "Elephant" ( Middle Egyptian : /ˈʀuːbaw/ → Medio-Late Egyptian: /ˈjuːbəʔ/ → Coptic: (Ⲉ)ⲓⲏⲃ /ˈjeβ/ , preserved in its Hebrew name, יֵב Yēḇ ), the island of Elephantine stood at the border between Egypt and Nubia . Trade routes would stop on Elephantine to deliver ivory, a precious good in ancient Egypt. It was an excellent defensive site for a fort, making it

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5096-482: The ancient calendar was even based on the three cycles of the Nile. These seasons, each consisting of four months of thirty days each, were called Akhet , Peret , and Shemu . Akhet, which means inundation, was the time of the year when the Nile flooded, leaving several layers of fertile soil behind, aiding in agricultural growth. Peret was the growing season, and Shemu, the last season, was the harvest season when there were no rains. Owing to their failure to penetrate

5194-404: The ancient religious customs and traditions while often associating the Egyptian deities with their own. Most of the present-day southern tip of the island is taken up by the ruins of the temple of Khnum. These, the oldest ruins still standing on the island, are composed of a granite step pyramid from the Third Dynasty and a small temple built for the local Sixth Dynasty nomarch , Heqaib . In

5292-411: The camels' case, carriage. Water was vital to both people and livestock. The Nile was also a convenient and efficient means of transportation for people and goods. The Nile was also an important part of ancient Egyptian spiritual life. Hapi was the god of the annual floods, and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding. The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and

5390-406: The central part of the basin may still be subsiding. The White Nile Rift system, although shallower than the Bahr el Arab rift , is about 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) deep. Geophysical exploration of the Blue Nile Rift System estimated the depth of the sediments to be 5–9 kilometers (3.1–5.6 mi). These basins were not interconnected until their subsidence ceased, and the rate of sediment deposition

5488-464: The city's priests and nobles. The restriction on who may access these structures ensured both accountability in proper readings and political control for the religious communities and ruling classes. The simplest nilometer design is a vertical column submerged in the waters of the river, with marked intervals indicating the depth of the water. One that follows this simple design, albeit housed in an elaborate and ornate stone structure, can still be seen on

5586-420: The confines of temples , where only the priests and rulers were allowed access. A particularly fine example, with a deep, cylindrical well and a culvert opening in the surrounding wall, can be seen at the Temple of Kom Ombo , to the north of Aswan. While nilometers originated in Pharaonic times, they continued to be used by the later civilizations that held sway in Egypt. Some were constructed in Roman times. In

5684-404: The corridor. It is one of the oldest nilometers in Egypt, last reconstructed in Roman times and still in use as late as the 19th century AD. Ninety steps that lead down to the river are marked with Arabic , Roman , and hieroglyphic numerals. At the water's edge are inscriptions carved deeply into the rock during the Seventeenth Dynasty . The other nilometer is a rectangular basin located at

5782-412: The course of the Blue Nile to determine that the summer floods were caused by heavy seasonal rainstorms in the Ethiopian Highlands, but no European of antiquity is known to have reached Lake Tana. The Tabula Rogeriana depicted the source as three lakes in 1154. Europeans began to learn about the origins of the Nile in the 14th century when the Pope sent monks as emissaries to Mongolia who passed India,

5880-492: The development of Egyptian civilization. Because the river overflowed its banks annually and deposited new layers of silt, the surrounding land was very fertile. The Ancient Egyptians cultivated and traded wheat, flax , papyrus and other crops around the Nile. Wheat was a crucial crop in the famine-plagued Middle East. This trading system secured Egypt's diplomatic relationships with other countries and contributed to economic stability. Far-reaching trade has been carried on along

5978-402: The dry season the natural discharge of the Blue Nile can be as low as 113 m /s (4,000 cu ft/s), although upstream dams regulate the flow of the river. During the wet season, the peak flow of the Blue Nile often exceeds 5,663 m /s (200,000 cu ft/s) in late August (a difference of a factor of 50). Before the placement of dams on the river the yearly discharge varied by

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6076-450: The end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century are found in these museums: Berlin, Brooklyn, Cairo, London, Munich, and Paris. Ongoing excavations by the German Archaeological Institute at the town have uncovered many findings on display in the Aswan Museum located on the island, including a mummified ram of Khnum . Artifacts dating back to prehistoric Egypt have been found on Elephantine. A rare calendar , known as

6174-410: The etymology is disputed. Homer called the river Αἴγυπτος , Aiguptos , but in subsequent periods, Greek authors referred to its lower course as Neilos ; this term became generalized for the entire river system. Thus, the name may derive from Ancient Egyptian expression n ꜣ r ꜣ w-ḥ ꜣ w(t) (lit. 'the mouths of the front parts'), which referred specifically to the branches of the Nile transversing

6272-412: The exceedingly low water levels of 1201 and 1202, the nilometer remained dry. In 1201, the year commenced with a rise in 2 cubits before rising an average 15¹⁶⁄₂₄ cubits. In 1202, the year began with 1½ cubits before rising to 15²³⁄₂₄ cubits. During the Abbasid Period , the nilometer was used to measure the river level and hence determine the rates of tax in Egypt. In 1937, efforts to drain and excavate

6370-441: The first European to have visited the headwaters, modern writers give the credit to the Jesuit Pedro Páez . Páez's account of the source of the Nile is a long and vivid account of Ethiopia. It was published in full only in the early 20th century, although it was featured in works of Páez's contemporaries, including Baltazar Téllez, Athanasius Kircher and Johann Michael Vansleb . Europeans had been resident in Ethiopia since

6468-459: The great lakes. Believing he had found the source of the Nile on seeing this "vast expanse of open water" for the first time, Speke named the lake after Queen Victoria . Burton, recovering from illness and resting further south on the shores of Lake Tanganyika , was outraged that Speke claimed to have proven his discovery to be the true source of the Nile when Burton regarded this as still unsettled. A quarrel ensued which sparked intense debate within

6566-532: The hands of the Jews. The earliest recount of the Jewish temple is from 525 BC. In 410 BC, the Jewish temple, the House of Yahweh, was burned down by a Persian military commander after he was bribed by Khnum priests. While no explicit reasoning has been given for this lash out, it has been suspected that the priests did this because of the Jewish rituals of sacrificing of sheep, especially during Passover . Papyri records that have been collected from this time show Jewish letters asking Bagoas for help rebuilding

6664-434: The island of Roda in central Cairo ( 30°00′25″N 31°13′30″E  /  30.0069°N 31.2250°E  / 30.0069; 31.2250  ( Rhoda Island nilometer ) ). This nilometer visible today dates as far back as AD 861, when the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil ordered its construction, overseen by the astronomer al-Farghani . Another nilometer had been ordered in 715 by Usāma b. Zayd b. ʿAdī, who

6762-417: The island's southern tip, near the temple of Khnum and opposite the Old Cataract Hotel. It is probably the older of the two. The Greek historian Strabo mentions one of the nilometers, though it is not certain which. Many sources claim that the fabled "Well of Eratosthenes", famous in connection with Eratosthenes ' presumed calculation of the Earth's circumference , was located on the island. Strabo mentions

6860-405: The lake's northern shore. Elephantine The island has been studied through excavation sites. Aramaic papyri and ostraca have been collected to study what life was like on Elephantine during the time of ancient Egypt . There have been studies about the Elephantine Triad and the Jewish presence that formulated on the island. The standard reference collection of the Aramaic documents of

6958-434: The late 15th century, and one of them may have visited the headwaters even earlier without leaving a written trace. The Portuguese João Bermudes published the first description of the Tis Issat Falls in his 1565 memoirs, compared them to the Nile Falls alluded to in Cicero 's De Republica . Jerónimo Lobo describes the source of the Blue Nile, visiting shortly after Pedro Páez. Telles also uses his account. The White Nile

7056-580: The main Nile during the 70,000–80,000 years B.P. wet period. The White Nile system in Bahr El Arab and White Nile Rifts remained a closed lake until the connection of the Victoria Nile to the main system some 12,500 years ago during the African humid period . The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that "Egypt was the gift of the Nile". An unending source of sustenance, it played a crucial role in

7154-485: The muezzin proposed to inscribe various Qu'ranic passages in the name of al-Mutawakkil. Sulayman ibn Wahb then wrote to the caliph, who replied in writing to choose verses of the Qu'ran 'most appropriate' to the nilometer and to inscribe the caliph's name. Ibn Khallikan writes that the architect of the nilometer was Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Hasib. Abu Ja'far al-Katib and Ibn Abi Usaybi'a mention that Ahmad ibn Kathir al-Farghani

7252-649: The nilometer restored. Al-Mutawakkil's name was removed from the Kufic inscription of the nilometer. K. A. C. Creswell states that the main inscription of the nilometer was probably tampered with by Ibn Tulun, saying "there can be little doubt that it was he who removed the name of the Abbasid Khalif ." Ibn Tulun would however refrain from substituting his own name, with Creswell claiming as he did not feel sufficiently secure to do so. The first Tulunid Emir during 872-873 would spend 1,000 dinars on works carried out on

7350-602: The nilometer were begun by Kamil Bey Ghalib, the Under-Secretary of State for Public Works, employing a new method used by Rothpletz and Lienhard. In this method, the mud could be removed completely and the structure examined. Nile The Nile (also known as the River Nile or Nile River ) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa . It flows into the Mediterranean Sea . The Nile

7448-631: The nilometer. Consequently, according to Abdul Rofik Bruno, the Nile's irrigation would be enhanced, and agricultural output increased. Amr ibn al-As after the conquest of Egypt reported to the Caliph Umar that when the Nile rose to 14 cubits there was a sufficient harvest, 16 an abundant harvest, 17 being the most advantageous height of all, and that at 18, one-fourth of Egypt would be inundated and usually be followed by plague. The Baghdad doctor, Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi who traveled Egypt between 1192-1201 would also relate similar measurements. In

7546-513: The original sources of indigo dye . Another may be Nymphaea caerulea , known as "The Sacred Blue Lily of the Nile", which was found scattered over Tutankhamun 's corpse when it was excavated in 1922. Another possible etymology derives from the Semitic term Nahal , meaning "river". Old Libyan has the term lilu , meaning water (in modern Berber ilel ⵉⵍⴻⵍ means sea ). With a total length of about 6,650 km (4,130 mi) between

7644-575: The present course of the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. Rushdi Said postulates that Egypt supplied most of the waters of the Nile during the early part of its history. The other theory is that the drainage from Ethiopia via rivers equivalent to the Blue Nile, the Atbara and the Takazze flowed to the Mediterranean via the Egyptian Nile since well back into Tertiary times. Salama suggests that during

7742-452: The ram-headed god of the cataracts, who guarded and controlled the waters of the Nile from caves beneath the island. Satis was worshipped from very early times as a war goddess and protector of this strategic region of Egypt. When seen as a fertility goddess , she personified the bountiful annual flooding of the Nile. The cult of Satis originated in Aswan. Later, when the triad was formed, Khnum became identified as her consort and, thereby,

7840-462: The region of Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea , the Nile is among the longest rivers on Earth. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers (1,256,591 sq mi), about 10% of the area of Africa. Compared to other major rivers, though, the Nile carries little water (5% of that of the Congo River , for example). The Nile basin is complex, and because of this,

7938-469: The reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid . The 14th-century Arabic historian Maqrīzī claims that the construction cost 24,000 dirhams . During the reign of Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik , Usama wrote to the caliph informing him of the dilapidated state of the nilometer. He received a reply ordering him to construct a new one, which he did in 97 AH (5 September 715—24 August 716). Yaqut al-Hamawi , writing in

8036-685: The river is called Kiira or Kiyira . In Runyoro , it is called Kihiira . In Egyptian Arabic , the Nile is called en-Nīl , while in Standard Arabic it is called an-Nīl . In Biblical Hebrew , it is הַיְאוֹר ‎, Ha-Ye'or or הַשִׁיחוֹר ‎, Ha-Shiḥor . The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος . Beyond that, however,

8134-670: The river south-west for over 300 km, following the structure of the Central African Shear Zone embracing the Bayuda Desert . At Al Dabbah it resumes its northward course towards the first cataract at Aswan forming the S-shaped Great Bend of the Nile mentioned by Eratosthenes . In the north of Sudan, the river enters Lake Nasser (known in Sudan as Lake Nubia), the larger part of which

8232-532: The riverbed sufficiently for the river to overflow westward into a depression to create Lake Moeris . Lake Tanganyika drained northwards into the Nile until the Virunga Volcanoes blocked its course in Rwanda. The Nile was much longer at that time, with its furthest headwaters in northern Zambia. The currently existing Nile first flowed during the former parts of the Würm glaciation period. Affad 23

8330-407: The scientific community and interest by other explorers keen to either confirm or refute Speke's discovery. British explorer and missionary David Livingstone pushed too far west and entered the Congo River system instead. It was ultimately Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley who confirmed Speke's discovery, circumnavigating Lake Victoria and reporting the great outflow at Ripon Falls on

8428-588: The sea level rose at the end of the most recent ice age , the stream which is now the northern Nile captured the ancestral Nile near Asyut . This change in climate also led to the current extents of the Sahara desert, around 3400 BCE. The Giza pyramid complex originally overlooked a branch of the Nile that no longer exists. This branch was highest during the African Humid Period . The existing Nile has five earlier phases: Flowing north from

8526-607: The temple. The standard reference collection of the Aramaic documents of the Elephantine papyri and ostraca is the Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt . The Aswan Museum is located at the southern end of the island. Ongoing excavations by the German Archaeological Institute at the island's ancient town site have uncovered many findings that are now on display in the museum, including

8624-560: The western shores of the lake and flows at first to the west until just south of Masindi Port , where the river turns north, then makes a great half circle to the east and north to Karuma Falls . For the remaining part, it flows westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta. Lake Albert is on the border of the Democratic Republic of

8722-440: Was also particularly important, since for much of Egyptian history, Elephantine marked Egypt's southern border and was therefore the first place where the onset of the annual flood was detected. The most elaborate design involved a canal or culvert that led from the riverbank – often running for a considerable distance – and then fed a well, tank, or cistern . These nilometer wells were most frequently located within

8820-574: Was enough to fill and connect them. The Egyptian Nile connected to the Sudanese Nile, which captures the Ethiopian and Equatorial headwaters during the current stages of tectonic activity in the Eastern, Central and Sudanese Rift systems. The connection of the different Niles occurred during cyclic wet periods. The Atbarah overflowed its closed basin during the wet periods that occurred about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago. The Blue Nile connected to

8918-597: Was even less understood. The ancients mistakenly believed that the Niger River represented the upper reaches of the White Nile. For example, Pliny the Elder writes that the Nile had its origins "in a mountain of lower Mauretania ", flowed above ground for "many days" distance, then went underground, reappeared as a large lake in the territories of the Masaesyli , then sank again below the desert to flow underground "for

9016-399: Was in charge of collecting the land tax ( kharaj ) in Egypt for the Umayyad caliph Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik . The second nilometer design comprises a flight of stairs leading down into the water, with depth markings along the walls. The best known example of this kind can be seen on Elephantine in Aswan , where a stairway of 52 steps leads down to a doorway at the Nile. This location

9114-511: Was of Nubian origin. Between 1893 and 1910, Aramaic papyri, consisting of Jewish achievements, were found and collected on Elephantine. There has been a large presence of German excavations, with a vast number of discoveries of papyri and ostraca. The documents have led to discoveries about Jewish presence and significance in Elephantine. French teams also set out to Elephantine where they discovered several hundred ostraca, but very few have been published thus far. The major findings from

9212-493: Was of great importance to Egyptian civilization. A moderate inundation was a vital part of the agricultural cycle; however, a lighter inundation than normal would cause famine , and too much flood water would be equally disastrous, washing away much of the infrastructure built on the flood plain. Records from AD 622–999 indicate that, on average, 28% of the years saw an inundation that fell short of expectations. Across Egypt various nilometers could be found that recorded readings of

9310-486: Was sent to Fustat by al-Mutawakkil to supervise the construction. Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf (d. 1604) makes the same statement but calls him Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani (full name: Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani). For this reason, Gaston Wiet and Creswell argue that the al-Farghani and al-Hasib are the same person. In 872–3 (259 AH), Ahmad ibn Tulun , the autonomous ruler of Egypt, would also have

9408-791: Was the temple of Satet , founded around 3000 BC and enlarged and renovated over the next 3,000 years. There are records of an Egyptian temple to Khnum on the island as early as the Third Dynasty . This temple was completely rebuilt in the Late Period, during the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt , just before the foreign rule that followed in the Graeco-Roman Period. The Greeks formed the Ptolemaic dynasty during their 300-year rule over Egypt (305–30 BC) and maintained

9506-556: Was thought of as the father of Anuket. His role in myths later changed; another deity was ascribed duties with the river. At that time, his role as a potter enabled him to be assigned a duty to create human bodies. Anuket was the goddess of the first cataract, and it is called the personification of the Nile. A cult was formed on the island for Anuket. The Elephantine papyri and ostraca are caches of legal documents and letters written in Imperial Aramaic dating to sometime in

9604-589: Was too high, the flooding would be destructive. There was a specific mark that indicated how high the flood should be if the fields were to get good soil. Nilometers originated in pharaonic times, were also built in Roman times, and were highly prevalent in Islamic Egypt in Rashidun , Ummayad , Abbasid , Tulunid , Mamluk , Alawiyya and Republican periods, until the Aswan Dam rendered them obsolete in

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