Egypt's main and practically only river, the Nile, is the main wealth of the country. During floods, it annually deposits several millimeters of silt and, by regularly flooding the valley, it has already created a fertile soil layer up to 30 m thick.

Why does the Nile flood?
The ancient Egyptians didn't know why this was happening. Only in the 19th century was it established that the Nile floods occur in connection with the influx of water during the winter rains in the region of the central lakes in Africa and then on the Abyssinian plateau. These waters enter White Nile, which flows from the center of Africa, and the Blue Nile, flowing from Lake Tana in Ethiopia from an altitude of 1800 m. The White and Blue Nile merge near the city of Khartoum, the capital of the Republic of Sudan. This is where the Nile proper begins. The last tributary of the Nile, the Atbara River, flows into the Nile 320 km below Khartoum, also originates in the area of ​​Lake Tana. The Nile floods occur with strict precision. The White Nile is the first to send out a mass of water, greenish from the plant remains of the swamps equatorial Africa. Since the water needs to travel a distance of several thousand kilometers, it only reaches the first rapids by June. But the flood begins only when the Blue Nile and Atbara bring their waters.

Why did the ancient Egyptians celebrate New Year in the summer?
Every year on July 19, the waters of the Nile flood the valley for four months, depositing its fertile silt and saturating the parched soil with moisture. The ancient Egyptians, not understanding the reasons for this amazing phenomenon, considered this “behavior” of the Nile to be reasonable. The Nile seemed to them to be a divine being, and the day the river began to flood - July 19 - became the day of the ancient Egyptian New Year.

Who and when began to measure the water level in the Nile.
Came in the 7th century. On the banks of the Nile, the Arabs treated this river more pragmatically. But the Nile floods worried them too. In order to regularly monitor the water level in the river and make predictions about the expected flood, in the middle of the 9th century. The Nilometer was built - the earliest surviving monument of civil architecture and technical thought of medieval Egypt.
The nilometer was built in 715 south coast Roda Islands near Fustat - old Cairo. This "device" is big tower, around which there is a stone platform. Adjacent to the tower is a deep well with a spiral staircase. In the center of the well there is a tall column with divisions by which the water level in the Nile was measured. The walls of the well are lined with stone and decorated. IN modern form The nilometer differs slightly from the original design due to subsequent reconstructions.

The Nile, a huge river originating in equatorial lakes, has long been considered sacred, like the Ganges. For the subjects of the pharaoh, it began not in the lakes of the Dark Continent, but right in the sky, and it was not in vain that they worshiped the Nile: without this river, Egypt could not have existed.

“Egypt is the gift of the Nile,” wrote Herodotus. And indeed, the river created everything: the soil and everything that grows on it, work for people, their national character, their political and social structure. Without this blessed river, the powerful civilization ruled by the pharaohs would never have developed, because not a single people would have survived in the barren, sun-burnt sands.

The waters of the Nile conquered Egypt, and, in essence, it is an oasis a little more than two hundred leagues long, and in some places no more than one league wide, and in others, and especially in the lower reaches, it reaches twenty. In the delta, the river branches strongly, forming a vast muddy triangle, characterized by extraordinary fertility. And this is also one of the achievements of the Nile: he conquered territory not only from the sands of the desert, but also from the sea, forcing him to gradually retreat before the onslaught of a huge mass of land, taken over hundreds and hundreds of years from mysterious areas Central Africa.

Where the waters of the river do not reach, the desert extends, and a long and narrow strip of fertile land to the right and left, that is, to the west and to the east, is bordered by sands. This strip owes its fertility entirely to the floods of the colossal waterway.

At the beginning of the summer solstice, the waters of the Nile begin to rise with mathematical precision due to equatorial showers, gradually reaching their maximum flood by the autumn equinox. All lowlands are flooded, and higher places are saturated with moisture and turn into soft mud. On these lands, the blessed river leaves every year precious silt, washed from the virgin territories inside the continent, and it serves as fertilizer for the fields. The river gives its faithful admirers an inexhaustible source the most fertile soil, which is much better than all lands fertilized with manure.

After the equinox, the water begins to gradually decrease, and into black, wet and greasy soil Egyptians throw seeds, which then grow on their own, without requiring any care. The fields really do not need to be cultivated, and Egyptian peasants are freed from the need to work and then achieve a harvest, as they achieve it here. The seeds scattered over the surface of the field themselves sink into the soil filled with moisture, solar heat helps them develop, and the happy Egyptian fellah peasant can only wait until the crops are ripe for harvest. The harvest is almost always fantastically abundant.

However, one should not think that the Nile (despite the divine origin that the ancient Egyptians attributed to it, considering it the god Hapi, and treated its waters so reverently that they punished with death everyone who dared to throw into it dead body, be it a person or an animal) is a special river, different from others. Not all spills occur regularly, and not all of them bring a bountiful harvest. There are years when its flow becomes too rapid and there is a threat of destruction, and sometimes vice versa: a meager flood is not able to irrigate all the lands intended for crops.

However, man found a way to avoid both dangers, and the pharaohs, despite the lack of funds, ordered the construction here and there of impressive structures that proved to be beyond the control of centuries. Dams appeared everywhere, canals for uniform drainage of water to different provinces, vast artificial reservoirs for collecting moisture during violent floods and turning on irrigation systems on cultivated lands. With these structures, the pharaohs secured their kingdom from the invasion of sands and preserved the fertility of the land for future generations of Egyptians, without which they could not have existed.

Having waited out the first wide and foamy wave that rustled between the shores, Ata’s boat calmly continued on its way, since, as we have already said, the flood this time was neither violent nor sudden. The waters of the river, initially clear, became cloudy and acquired a greenish tint. In a few days they will change color and turn red-red. From the push that shook the sailboat, Mirinri shuddered and jumped up, looking at Unis.

It’s okay,” the old man reassured him. - This is the beginning of the spill.

Nefer foresaw it,” said the Son of the Sun, as if waking up from a long sleep. - He'll get us to Memphis faster, won't he, Unis?

Are you excited to see the big city?

I still can’t wait. What have I seen so far? Sands, pyramids, palm trees and crocodiles. And not a tiny bit of what I am entitled to.

Take your time, Mirinri. You must wait until everything is ready for the uprising, which will transfer the most powerful kingdom in the world into your hands.

Patience is not for the young, especially if the blood of warriors flows in their veins. Where's Nefer?

“I’m here, my lord,” the girl said, silently approaching him.

You sang not so long ago, did you?

Yes my Lord.

And I thought I was dreaming.

Nefer bowed her pretty head and smiled sadly.

Mirinri did not answer. He looked at the shore, where there were many primitive mechanisms, similar to a well crane, that pumped water to higher places. They were controlled by only one person, and nearby the bulls came to drink.

Do you see him, Nefer? - the young man asked, pointing at something with his hand. “That day he also sneaked up on the young princess, and I snatched her almost from his mouth.

Who, my lord?

Crocodile. A little more - and the insatiable animal will become his prey. Do you see how he lurks under the water?

Nefer leaned over the side. A monstrous six-meter reptile slowly made its way between the reeds and large leaves lotuses, gradually disappearing under the water. She was clearly heading towards the shore, where a huge black bull was drinking and couldn’t get enough.

Do you see? - asked the young man for the second time, who seemed very interested in the monster’s maneuvers.

“I see,” Nefer answered.

He is about to attack the bull.

What do you think, my lord?

And he will defeat him.

Nefer was silent for a minute, and then suddenly asked him with a strange expression:

So have you rescued the princess from the terrible jaws of Thames?

Yes,” Mirinri answered. “He was already going to bite her and would probably have eaten her if I had not intervened in time.”

You could have died, my lord.

The young man shrugged.

“The sons of the Sun don’t die so easily,” he said nonchalantly. - I was never afraid of these monsters, just as I was never afraid of lions.

So, can you kill a lion?

Yes, if necessary.

But why did you risk your life for this woman? Because she's a princess? - Nefer asked impulsively.

I didn't know she was a princess. I found out only when I came to that place and found in the grass on the shore a symbol of power that she had lost.

A strange fire flashed in Nefer’s huge black eyes.

Oh! - she whispered.

“There he is, look, Nefer,” Mirinri repeated, not noticing how excited his words had caused the sorceress. - Do you see how he climbs between the stems of lotus and reeds? Only a piece of the muzzle is visible. One more step and the bull will be captured.

Nefer did not seem to listen to him, but she very carefully followed with her eyes the huge monster that was coming closer and closer. And suddenly she jumped up onto the bulwark, as if she wanted to get a better look at how the dramatic scene would unfold.

This place was separated from the river bed by a large sandbank, and therefore the current was very weak, and the small boat moved slowly, rustling its keel through the reeds. The entire team, including Unis and Atu, lined up along the sides and watched the maneuvers of the gigantic alligator.

The bull, a magnificent, powerful animal with long, curved back horns, continued to drink calmly, putting almost his entire muzzle into the water, and behind him twelve cows grazed on the shore without any supervision.

Suddenly he groaned wildly and hoarsely and rushed back. Wasted work! The crocodile caught him by surprise and grabbed him by the nose, sinking his sharp front teeth into it and holding it tightly.

Got it, got it! - the Ethiopians shouted.

Now he’s finished,” Mirinri noted.

Unless they offer him better prey,” Nefer whispered darkly.

The bull desperately resisted to prevent himself from being dragged into the water, and firmly planted his hooves, straining his powerful tendons, and the monster clenched his teeth and clenched his teeth, staring at the large victim with his greenish, expressionless eyes.

Unfortunately for the bull, in the very first days of the flood the shore became very muddy, and therefore the wide hooves of the poor animal sank in the mud, despite all his efforts, his legs sank deeper and deeper, and therefore he was deprived of the opportunity to retreat back. The bull roared pitifully, hoarsely, his nostrils were covered with bloody foam, but he desperately resisted. The powerful sides were shaking, the tail was whipping through the air, the eyes were bloodshot and bulging as if they wanted to crawl out of their sockets.

The crocodile froze in place, not taking his eyes off his solid prey. He was clearly waiting for the half-strangled bull to fall so that he could be dragged into the river.

Nefer fell into the water! Drop anchor!

Either the sorceress felt dizzy, or she lost her balance, but she plunged headlong into the greenish water, and in this place the river was quite deep.

Hearing the splash that signaled easier prey, the crocodile unclenched his jaws, released the bull and turned around, lashing his tail furiously. Nefer, meanwhile, surfaced a few steps from the starboard side. Her light clothes fluttered on the surface of the water, and her eyes glared at Mirinri, who in one jump found himself at the side.

Nefer! - the young man shouted. - Give me the weapon! Give me the weapon!

An Ethiopian ran past the side, intending to launch a boat attached to the stern. On his belt hung a double-edged bronze dagger. Snatching the dagger from its sheath and throwing himself into the river upside down was a matter of one second.

A desperate cry burst from the old man’s chest:

My unfortunate one! What are you doing?

Boat on the water! - Ata shouted, turning deathly pale. - Let's save the Son of the Sun!

The crocodile had already seen Nefer, who was floating on the water, feverishly working with her hands, and moved towards her with the indomitable and arrogant determination characteristic of the crocodile tribe. With a few powerful strokes of his tail, he crossed the thicket of reeds and red and white lotuses and rushed at full speed towards a delicate human body that would not resist as much as a huge bull.

The giant reptile had already opened its mouth, and its monstrous jaws were ready to bite the sorceress in half, but then Mirinri appeared right in front of her. The fearless young man clutched a dagger in his hand. Making a strong kick with his legs, not paying attention to the danger that threatened him, he wedged himself between Nefer and the crocodile and struck him with two powerful blows between his gaping jaws, cutting them open right up to his neck.

Maddened with pain, filled with blood, the vile creature spun around in fear, made a sound similar to either a growl or the distant roar of a drum, struck its tail several times, raising a real wave, and ran away, hiding in the papyruses.

Mirinri turned around and grabbed the girl across the body, letting go of the weapon that was no longer needed. Nefer lost consciousness and was already beginning to drown. The brave young man barely managed to lift her head above the water. Pushing off from the bottom with a strong kick of his heels, he rose sharply above the current, which threatened to turn him over, and swam with powerful strokes towards the ship, which had already drifted and was slowly moving away.

Hurry up, Mirinri! - Unis shouted, and the Ethiopians quickly launched the boat.

“I’m swimming,” the heroic monarch simply answered.

Clutching Nefer to his chest, he courageously fought against the current, and the rising water carried him faster and faster. Long hair the girls wrapped themselves around his neck, but the Son of the Sun did not seem to feel any excitement about this.

The giant reptile had already opened its mouth, and its monstrous jaws were ready to bite the sorceress in half...

In two strokes, he swam to the boat, where the Ethiopians were working with all their might with the oars, handed Nefer to them and, without any outside help, he climbed out of the water into the boat and sat down on the bench. It seemed like something was bothering him a lot.

She didn't die, did she? - he asked Ata, who jumped into the boat along with the rowers.

No, my lord,” the Egyptian answered, holding Nefer in his arms. “The heart is beating, and she will soon come to her senses.” Why did you risk your life for this witch? The crocodile was huge and strong and could easily bite you in half.

Mirinri shrugged and smiled. Then he paused and answered:

A ruler must take care of the safety of his subjects, if I am truly a ruler.

Do you doubt it? - Ata asked in surprise.

No,” Mirinri answered.

The boat approached the sailboat. Mirinri grabbed the end that was thrown to him and climbed onto the deck, where Unis was waiting for him in great excitement.

“You are the true son of the great Aunt,” the old man told him. “Your father would have done the same thing.” First there was a lion, now a crocodile.

“It was not the same crocodile that was chasing the princess,” Mirinri said and added, as if speaking to himself: “No, this girl’s body did not give me such awe.” The blood didn't speak.

Until now, our research has convincingly shown that the astronomical activities of the ancient Egyptians were mainly associated with observations of phenomena accompanying the onset of the new year. It is also quite clear that in the most distant antiquity the solar year of the Egyptians began at summer solstice and that this solstice, then and now, coincided with the beginning of the Nile flood in Heliopolis and Memphis, the most important centers of Northern Egypt in the era of the first dynasties.

At the dawn of civilization it was not at all obvious that the sun could be used to measure time as we do now; and in this regard, it is enough to note how differently the ancient peoples looked at this issue. For example, Egypt was very different in this respect from Chaldea and Babylonia, and then from the ideas that existed among the Jews. In Egyptian inscriptions we find references to the moon, but they only prove that it occupied a subordinate position in relation to the sun, at least in later times. The seven-day week was completely unfamiliar to the Egyptians. Everything connected with it belongs to later periods. The passage from the Book of the Dead quoted by Lepsius does not prove anything, since, according to Krall, his translation is erroneous. In Babylonia, apparently, the moon was worshiped in the same way as the sun, and, naturally, they used it to measure time. I mean it's been quite a few months good way. In addition, it is natural that in Babylonia, where people had to travel a lot through the desert at night, they very carefully watched the movements of the moon.

One related to this interesting point: among these ancient peoples celestial bodies, which provided them with methods and units for measuring time, were considered almost in the same category. Thus, for example, in Egypt the sun was used, and the unit of time was the year; and in Babylonia the unit of time was the month, because the main measure of time was the moon. Therefore, when it came to periods of time, one people could very easily decide that the period used by another people is a year, when in fact it is a month, and vice versa. There is an assumption that the life expectancy of Methuselah and other characters who allegedly lived very long life, in fact, it is not necessary to count in sunny years, and in lunar ones - that is, more precisely, in lunar months. This is quite reasonable, because if you divide the number of years by twelve, it turns out that this is quite close to modern life expectancy, and there is no reason why this could not be so.

There seems to be little doubt that Egypt was a country where the sun was considered the most accurate measure of time.

Ra, the sun, was the main god Ancient Egypt. He was worshiped in all nomes. Already the most ancient texts (see the texts of Menkaure in the British Museum) tell about the shining path of Ra across the sky and his daily struggle with darkness.

“The Egyptians,” says Ranke in the first chapter of his General History, dedicated to Egypt, “determined the apparent movement of the sun and, in accordance with it, divided the year, unlike the Babylonians, in a scientific and practical manner, so that Julius Caesar adopted the calendar from the Egyptians and introduced it to the Roman Empire. Other nations followed, and from then on the Egyptian calendar was used everywhere for seventeen centuries. It can be considered the most remarkable heritage of ancient times, influencing the whole world.”

Wherever the ancient Egyptians came from - from a region where time was measured by the moon or not - once they settled in the Nile Valley, where then, as now, the annual flood of the river at the summer solstice, like a pendulum, steadily measures out the years, their the calendar was firmly established on a solar basis. Consequently, it was nature, the Nile - on which the well-being of the country depended - that contributed to the establishment of the Egyptian year. The solstice and the flood of the Nile became the starting point of the ancient Egyptian year.

In saying that Egypt is the gift of the Nile, we owe it to the father of history, who meant not only the fertilizing effect of the river, but also the fact that the conditions of human life in Egypt depend entirely on the Nile and the processes associated with it. It is also true that the Egyptian year, and this part of Egyptian archeology, and the myth that mainly interests astronomers, are also gifts of the Nile.

The heliacal rising of Sirius and other stars at the beginning of the annual flood, all the myths that arose from the symbols of these stars are numerous proofs that the river with its different levels of water in different time years played a big role in the life of the people. Essentially, this was the true and unique basis of the life of the people.

In this, Neil has an analogue or even analogues. What the Nile was to Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates were to the vast region of Western Asia, where we also see that the annual flood was a source of fertility, a spectacle that inspired poets, and an event that attracted much attention from astronomers.

It is quite natural that the Euphrates, Tigris and Nile were looked upon as deities, that the gods of the Nile valley, on the one hand, and the region watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, on the other, were gods in whose names oaths were sworn, and worshiped in order to secure their favor. , and who had local temples and their own cults.

The god of the Tigris and Euphrates was Ea. The god of the Nile was Hapi. This is the same name as the Apis bull, whose cult is attributed to Menes. Of course, Menes, Men or Meni, as he is called, had every reason to found the cult of the river god, since he seems to have been the first of men to come up with the ideas of irrigation, and I have heard the honored officials who have recently been in charge of modern irrigation systems, spoke with admiration about the ideas and works of Menes. Whether the Tiger had the same Menes in the same antiquity, history is silent; but, according to the stories of travelers, the flood of the Tigris is even more majestic than that of the Nile, although the Nile during its flood makes a strong impression: the entire fertile valley turns, so to speak, into a sea bay with islands here and there, which, on closer examination, turn out to be a village, and its mud huts are too often destroyed by the lashing of the waves driven by the strong north wind.

Of course, the time when these rivers flooded influenced not only the lives of the people, but even the entire country located on their banks. The Tigris and Euphrates flood into the vernal equinox- the main thing in the country was the equinox, the temples are directed to the east. The Nile floods at the solstice - the religion was based on the solstice, and the solar temples no longer faced the east. For the Egyptians, the flood of a river onto agricultural land was like the dawn driving away the darkness of the night; solar god of the day he defeated the star gods of the night; the victorious ruler of the earth again defeated his enemies.

Egypt, according to Amr ibn al-As, first opens up as a dusty plain, then fresh sea and finally a meadow full of flowers.

At first glance, it seems that if the year was determined, so to speak, by local natural conditions, then its division into seasons should be the same as us. This is not true. The land and the river provide completely different conditions.

No one, perhaps, described what was actually happening so truthfully and poetically than Osborne, who writes about the time when the water level in the Nile is low: “The Nile shrank in its banks until it became twice the usual width, and its muddy, slimy, stagnant water seemed to barely flow in an unknown direction. Wide shallows and steep drifts of black, sun-baked Nile mud form both banks of the river. Everywhere behind them there is sand and barrenness; for the khamsin, or sand wind of fifty days' duration, had just ceased. Here and there, in the dusty, unclear, scorching air, trunks and branches of trees are visible, but their leaves are so thickly covered with dust that from a distance they cannot be distinguished from the sand of the surrounding desert. During this season, only the most onerous and labor-intensive watering can preserve any hint of green even in the Pasha's pleasure gardens. The first sign that this most terrible season is drawing to a close is the rising north wind (aethesia among the Greeks), which blows sharply, often with fierce gusts, throughout the day. Soon the wind clears the dust from the crowns of the groves covering Lower Egypt, which continue to turn green. The fierce heat of the sun, standing at its very zenith, is also, as a rule, softened by this powerful influence, which prevails in this and the next three months throughout the entire Egyptian land.

Then the flood begins: “Perhaps there is no more joyful picture in nature, a spectacle that more strongly awakens confidence in God’s mercy than the rise of the Nile. Day after day and night after night, the muddy tide majestically drives the waves across the scorched sands of the earth, the dull wastelands. Almost every hour, as we slowly climbed it in front of the Etesian wind, we heard the deafening fall of the muddy shore and saw from the fussiness of all living things rushing towards this place that the Nile had overcome another obstacle and that its oncoming waves were spreading life and joy across another desert . There are few experiences I remember with greater pleasure than the time I saw the Nile burst into one of the great canals of its annual flood. All nature screams for joy. Men, children, buffalo jump in its refreshing waters, the wide waves glisten with schools of fish, and all kinds of game fly in clouds above. But this celebration of nature is not limited to creatures of a high order. The moment the arrival of fertile waters moistens the sandy soil, it literally comes to life due to countless insects. It is impossible to stand on the bank of one of these majestic streams, to see how every second it sweeps away some obstacle in its sublime path, becoming ever wider, and not to feel how the heart is overflowing with love, joy and confidence in the great Creator of this annual miracle of mercy.

After the spill, it's time to sow. The effects of the spill, Osborne says, “are revealed in a picture of fertility and beauty such as is rarely seen in any other country at any time of the year. The bright green of germinating cereals, groves of pomegranate trees ablaze with bright scarlet flowers, fresh breezes filled with the fragrance of rose gardens and orange thickets, every tree and bush covered with fragrant flowers. A stranger in the land of Ham meets few natural beauty. It is true that they are quite similar, and he will notice little difference between the trees and plants whether he first comes to the gardens of Alexandria or the plain of Aswan. However, all this is the same only because it is impossible to add anything to the sweetness of the smells, the brightness of the flowers, or the exquisite beauty of the variety of plants among which he wanders. It’s monotony, but the monotony of heaven.”

The flood reaches Cairo on a day very close to the summer solstice. The river reaches its maximum rise and begins to decline around autumn equinox. TO winter solstice The Nile calms down again on its banks, and the blue color returns to it. This period is sowing time.

Since the flood (summer solstice) we have:

1) season, or tetraman, floods, from July to October;
2) sowing season, from November to February;
3) harvest season, from March to June.

Since ancient times, the year has been divided into twelve months, and the first month was dedicated to the god of wisdom Thoth (Djehuti):

The names of seasons and months can be found even on building material the largest pyramid in Dahshur, and already in ancient inscriptions we see links to the calendar. On the steles in the mastabas where the dead pray to Anubis for a good burial, there is a list holidays, in which sacrifices should be made to the dead.

The modern calendar (as described by Brugsch and de Rouget) has undoubtedly been preserved from ancient Egyptian times. It is well suited to the terrain in the Cairo area. The ratio of the main moments of the flood to the solstice in this part of the river is as follows:

In order to show that ancient Egyptian astronomy - if we take it specifically - was mainly concerned with the annual flood and all the consequences of this flood and how, as far as we know, the first tropical year on the planet was established, it is necessary to carefully consider the actual facts of the flood not only for Egypt as a whole, but also for different points along a line several thousand kilometers long, along which cities and temples have been scattered here and there since ancient times.

IN time immemorial Fluctuations in river water levels were carefully recorded to different points rivers. In the French Description of Egypt we find Full description the so-called nilomere in Aswan (at the first threshold), which dates back perhaps to the beginning of the V dynasty.

In Ebers's wonderful book on Egypt there is a description of a much more modern nilometer on the island of Roda.

The Nilomer or "mikyas" which we now see in Rhodes is said to have succeeded that which was brought there from Memphis at some unknown time. According to Ebers, Macrizi saw the remains of an old nilomere in 1417.

The modern nilometer is located inside a structure whose roof is supported by simple wooden columns. In a quadrangular container, which communicates with the river via a canal, there is an octagonal pillar with measuring divisions inscribed on Arabic. The unit of measurement is pica (sometimes called cubit) = 0.54 meters, which is divided into 24 qirat. Due to the fact that in relatively late times the river bed rose, the Nilometer during the high Nile is flooded to a depth of 2 cubits.

The rise of the Nile can now be carefully studied, as water gauges are placed along the river. These are the Aswan water meter of 1869, the Armant water meter of 1887, the Sohag water meter of 1889 and the Asiut water meter of 1892. These water meters are located at the following distances from Aswan.

The Roda Island water meter should not be relied upon as the dam has destroyed its value as a measuring device. The height of these water meters above sea level is:

	Meters
Aswan	84,158
Armant	69,535
Sohag	56,00
Asiut	53,10
Rhoda	13,14

Much uncertainty arises from the fact that there are no clear differences between water gauge readings in summer and during periods when the rise is continuous. Apparently, at the end of spring there are enough heavy rains, so that the Nile rises noticeably, just as in winter there are noticeable rises throughout the valley, when mud marks are left on the rocks at Aswan and Manfalut. Regardless of the readings of the water gauge during the rise of the Nile, there are some facts that amaze any observer. At the beginning of the ascent appears green water . This occurs in June, but the dates vary, as do the dates of maximum rise.

Modern observations show that the days of the beginning of the rise, the first flood, the second flood and the final decline vary, and from this it seems clear that the ancient Egyptians could not have had a water gauge with a fixed zero level and a fixed point for the beginning of the physical rise of water, but they one had to guess from a series of observations the average time of onset, the average time of appearance of red water, or the average rise to a certain level.

First, let's deal with green water. Typically, a nilometer on the island of Roda notes a rise in the river by 2-5 centimeters; the water slightly loses its transparency and freshness, which it still retains. Green color is the matte finish of slimy, brackish water from the tropics, and no filter has yet been found that can purify such water. Green it owes to algae.

Fortunately, this phase rarely lasts longer than three to four days. Those who have to drink water in this condition even so a short time, suffer greatly from disorders Bladder. City residents usually prepare for this in advance by stocking up on water in reservoirs and tanks.

As the colonel noted engineering troops Ross in 1887 and 1890, when, due to the slow withdrawal of the Nile, irrigation workers had to hold many reservoirs in the province of Giza, and also in 1888, when the water remained stagnant for a long time, the water in the reservoirs turned green - algae and a swampy smell appeared - also like June green water.

Because of this, it was decided that since the Nile water in the riverbed - even in the most stagnant dams - does not turn green, then, apparently, greenness appears only when the water is absolutely still. Above Gondokoro there are extensive wetlands, and it is therefore believed that the summer green water that appears unexpectedly comes from these marshes when it is pushed from behind new water, that's why it precedes the spill. Until now, no one has yet made careful observations of the gradual arrival of green water.

The river rises quickly and the water gradually becomes cloudier. However, ten to twelve days pass before Neil last time and changes in the most unusual way appearance. Mr. Osborne describes it this way: “It was at the end of what seemed to me a long and very stuffy night that I rose from the sofa on which I had been trying to sleep, onto the deck of a ship lying quietly near Beni Suef, a city in Middle Egypt. The upper halo of the sun's disk had just appeared over the eastern hills. When its rays hit the water, I was surprised to see dark red reflections. The color of the water gradually became more saturated, as it became more and more illuminated by the sun, and even before it completely emerged from behind the tops of the hills, a veritable river of blood appeared before me. Suspecting some kind of trouble, I hastily stood up and, leaning over the side, saw that my eyes were not deceiving me. The whole mass of water was opaque, dark red in color, very reminiscent of blood, more than any other a natural phenomenon, with which it could be compared. Then I noticed that the river had risen noticeably several inches overnight. While I was looking at this amazing picture, the Arabs came up to me and explained that this was the Red Nile. The red color and opacity of the water in this extraordinary state of the river are constantly changing. On some days, when the rise of the river does not exceed a few inches, the water returns to a state of translucency, although when the Nile is high it never seems to lose its dark red hue, which cannot be filtered. However, this is not the same as green impurity, which is completely harmful; Nile water is never healthier, tastier or more refreshing than when it is in full flow. On other days the river rises much more quickly, and then the amount of silt suspended in the water in Upper Egypt exceeds anything I have seen in any other river. More than once I saw that silt interfered with the flow of the stream. Once a glass of water was left standing in this state for some time. Top part The water was completely opaque, the color of blood. The sediment of black mud took up about a quarter of a glass. A significant part of it settles before the river reaches Middle and Lower Egypt. There I have never seen the Nile water in such a state, and, moreover, there are no observations of the river turning red. It is clear that the redness cannot come from the White Nile, but it must be the first floods of the Blue Nile and Bahr el-Azral that are coming down.”

One of the important questions in the framework of our research is related to how the local calendars of different regions of the Nile Valley are affected by variants of the phenomena with which the Egyptians counted the new year.

If you take only solstice, its date will be the same for all parts of the valley; but, of course, the Egyptians did not consider the solstice in isolation obvious reason, that they needed some kind of sign warning about the rise of the Nile, and in the lower reaches of the river the rise precedes the solstice. They also did not take the heliacal rising of Sirius in isolation, which will be discussed in more detail below.

But the question was mainly about the date of the beginning of the flood, and the date of the beginning of the flood was completely different in different parts Egypt.

So, according to modern water meters, it can be understood that the river takes some time to cover the 900 kilometers between Elephantine and Cairo.

At the beginning of a flood, when the river rises from, say, 1 cubit to 6 cubits in Aswan, where there are many dry sandbanks and the width of the river is large and there are no waves rolling in behind, the time of propagation increases to fifteen days, and the earliest the sign of rise may appear even later, but it is very difficult to notice.

The flood takes 1¾ days from Wadi Halfa to Aswan and six days from Aswan to Roda Island (941 kilometers). When the Nile is very high, the time is probably reduced to five days.

Consequently, the Green and Red Nile are spreading at different rates.

The rise is 13.7 meters in Aswan, 11.6 in Thebes and 7.6 in Cairo.

Mr Garstin, Deputy Secretary of the Department public works Egypt, kindly provided me with the data of the above-described water gauges, and from them I found that the average time after which the first signs of a flood appear, when it travels between Thebes and Memphis, is in our time about nine days.

However, we must remember that the river bed is now higher than before; in the Thebes region, Budge believes the ground level has risen by 2.7 meters over the past 1,700 years.

This means that if in all major cities, such as Thebes and Heliopolis, the beginning of the new year depended entirely on the beginning of the flood, then not only the day was not known exactly, but also the difference in the time of the beginning of the flood in different areas would lead to a difference in the time of the beginning of the new year in these areas, compared with which our time zones fade, because in them we're talking about only about a few hours.

The inconsistency in claims about the Nile flood occurs because the maximum rise is usually recorded in Cairo 40 or more days after the maximum rise in Aswan.

The following account of how this happens was kindly provided to me by Colonel Ross:

“The overflow of the river at the Aswan water gauge occurs as follows: between August 20 and 30 the rise often reaches an average level of 16 cubits, and between August 27 and September 3 there is often a decline of about 30 centimeters. It is believed that the August rise is due to the Blue Nile and the Atbara River. Between September 1st and 8th, irrigation workers typically see the peak rise near Aswan. It was probably caused by the first wave of flooding from the White Nile. In mid-September there are usually two small rises, but in the last twenty days of September, as a rule, the water is noticeably lower than in the first week. The last rise of the Nile rarely occurs later than September 21 or 25.

All this water doesn't just flow down the Nile; it floods various bodies of water. The opening of these reservoirs begins from south to north. This usually occurs between September 29 and October 22. The large reservoirs of Central Egypt are not connected to the Nile for the purpose of discharge into the river between Asiut and Vasta, that is, on a length of 395 − 90 = 305 km.

The area located in the middle, or Central Egypt, is wide, and therefore great amount water flows from these reservoirs into the lower reaches of the river around October 20, which causes the Nile in Cairo to rise significantly, and on average the Cairo water gauge (on Roda Island) registers an annual maximum around October 22, so guidebooks say that the Nile is highest at the end October.

With the water gauge at 16½ cubits in Aswan, while the reservoirs are filling, the level at Roda (Cairo) does not rise above 21 cubits, but since the pools at 16½ cubits are filled by September 10, the level from 16½ to 16 cubits in Aswan does not guarantee a constant level at the Cairo water gauge, since a large mass of water passes through reservoirs and reaches Cairo. Therefore, we often see a paradox when the water level at the Aswan water meter stands still or decreases, while in Cairo there is a steady rise.

If the level in Aswan remains above 16 cubits almost until the end of September, then the emptying of the reservoirs is greatly delayed, since the emptying of each subsequent reservoir fills the Nile above 16 cubits; therefore the lower halves of the reservoirs do not overflow, and thus, when the great reservoirs of Middle Egypt discharge their water, they do not raise the Nile as much as if in the second half of September the Nile is below 16 cubits at Aswan.

In years such as 1887 and 1892, which differ from each other only in the date of the maximum rise at Aswan, the river, having filled its reservoirs in a period of 15 to 20 days instead of a period of 25 to 30 days, reaches Cairo, so increased in volume that in Cairo, a truly dangerous water level of 25 cubits lasts for more than two weeks (the average October level in Cairo is about 23 cubits), and from September 10 to October 25, the river remains at a level of 24 to 25½ cubits, and the reservoirs of Central Egypt discharge water so slowly that that the day of the beginning is practically invisible on the Cairo water gauge.

The most legendary river on earth.

If it were not for the Nile, carrying its waters from the Ethiopian Highlands and Central Africa to Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, with its negligible rainfall, would be almost uninhabitable. Thanks to this river, back in the 3rd millennium BC. e. has become the largest and most prosperous state Eastern Mediterranean and remained so until the Roman conquest in 30 BC. e. In the Middle Ages, it regained its former greatness and to this day is the largest, most populous country in the Middle East. Moreover, over the centuries, Egypt managed to maintain its historical integrity, since its borders remained almost unchanged.

In ancient times, the position of Egypt was determined by favorable opportunities for Agriculture that the river provided. The Nile with its inexhaustible riches and others geographical factors had a direct impact on political development countries and the formation of the Egyptian worldview.

During the Pleistocene period, ending around the 10th millennium BC. e., the territory of Egypt included part of the Eastern Sahara and was inhabited by nomadic tribes of hunters and gatherers. The climate then was much less arid than now, and they could easily feed themselves in those places that are now swallowed up by the desert. The valley and delta of the Nile with swampy, flooded lands provided reliable water and food. They attracted both people and animals. In the 12th millennium BC. e. The tribes that inhabited Egypt, in addition to hunting and fishing, collected wild cereals, but grain required more careful processing than other products. This allows us to conclude that the need for food resources increased.

The Nile not only provided conditions for agriculture, but was also the main means of communication. In Egyptian writing, travel was represented by the image of a boat. Heavy loads were transported along the river; it connected the country into a single whole. At the same time, the complex configuration of the delta and its mouths created an obstacle to foreign invasion. Traveling deep into the desert or to Asia was associated with incomparably greater difficulties than in Egypt. But the river also contributed to social stratification - a person who did not have a boat was considered poor and, in order to get across the river, was forced to use the services of those who were luckier in life. Death was also a “transition” for the Egyptians, a journey to another world, “going into the earth,” “to the other side.”

EGYPT

The Nile Valley today presents the same picture of human settlement as it did 4-5 thousand years ago. Between the two chains of hills stretches a narrow, flat strip 700 versts long and 10 to 15 versts wide, and only near the sea, where the Nile is divided into many branches, does the plain diverge 200-250 versts wide. This is the entire inhabited Egypt, the “black land,” as the Egyptians said: its area is smaller than small Belgium, while the rest of the country classified as Egypt is twice the size of France; but this rest of the country is stone and sand, “red earth”: there are no settlements in it. But in the Nile valley with its fertile alluvial soil, more people accumulated than in the most densely populated country modern Europe: Cities and towns stretch continuously along the river.

Versta - Russian measure of length = 500 fathoms (1.0668 km).

NILE SPILLS

This entire strip is alive only from the annual floods of the Nile. By the time our summer begins in Egypt, everything freezes in the dry and hot air; the foliage is covered with gray dust blown by the desert wind. The Nile flows lazily between dried mounds of black mud. From June the water begins to rise. Its color changes. The azure Nile turns blood red: the river gets this color from the sediment it carries with it. The mighty stream breaks one obstacle after another on the way, overflows over the hillocks, tears off clods of earth and is widely distributed throughout the entire valley: the ancient Egyptians called the river at this time of flooding the sea. A bright and noisy life begins among the river: the Nile is covered with a rich thicket of reeds, grass and flowers; Many water birds fly in, and the backwaters are abundantly filled with fish. Cities and villages, built on hills, stand as islands in this sea: only in some places wide dams serve as roads; all other intercourse is carried out on boats.

Around the beginning of September the water is at its highest, then it begins to fall, and by November the Nile is again on its usual banks; the population plows and sows fields during the next 3-4 months of moderate weather, which falls during our winter; we must hurry so as not to be caught up in the drought that is coming at the time of our spring. Immediately after the water recedes, sheep and pigs are driven into the fields to trample the grains into the soft ground. Thus in Egypt the three seasons of the year are clearly marked; they depend on the changes that the Nile makes in the life of the country and people with its floods. The ancient Egyptians did not know the causes of beneficial floods; it was a miracle for them. But they understood that the Nile was the source of their entire existence. The river was for them a god to whom they offered prayers: “Glory to you, Nile, who comes in the world to give life to Egypt... your waves spill over the gardens that the sun created, you quench everything that thirsts with heavenly moisture; when you descend to earth, its god supplies grain, and work begins to boil in the workshops. You are the creator of wheat and barley, by you the temples are held together. When your hands become tired from labor or you suffer, all living things, gods and people, die, the herds groan, the whole country, all great and small, suffer. When your prayers are heard and you come, the earth begins to play with joy, everyone laughs... You give everyone happiness according to their desire and never refuse. You are a king, and your orders are distributed throughout the whole earth.”

No matter how great the benefits of the river are, it takes complex and persistent work of people to take advantage of them. If water is left free to flow, it will form low places lakes and swamps will stagnate and will not allow the soil to be sown in time; it will not reach higher places at all. Gradually, the Egyptians learned to evenly direct and spend the precious moisture from the spill of their only great river. At right angles to the river they drew wide canals, to which others adjoined, extending along the river; In this way, new channels were created throughout the entire valley. When the Nile rose, its waters quickly poured into the wide transverse roads; To prevent water from overflowing over the edges, the banks were reinforced and raised with dams at bends and along canals. First, the water was released into the strip of land closest to the Nile, blocked its further path with dams and allowed to spill over the fields of this first strip; then, when the Nile arrived, they cut through the dams and let the water flow further to the next strip. Water was transferred to the distant high strips by scoops, which were lowered and raised on several rows of long rockers.

To the west of the Nile, not far from its entry into the plain, lies, cutting into the desert, the large oasis of Fayum. It is below the level of the Nile and is separated from the river by a rocky wall. The Egyptians widened the narrow gorge in this wall and brought the water of the Nile branch there: after this, the oasis became the richest and most grain-producing region in all of Egypt. In order to clean up the spills in it, one corner of it was blocked with high dams and turned into a huge reservoir; When there was a strong spill, the water was diverted there; when there was a weak spill, water from the pool was used as a reserve.