The Nilometer

After had been two and half years settling in Egypt, alhamdullillah, at last we finally landed at one of the island along the longest river in the world called the Rowda Island. We had been planning to visit this place since 2007, but due to time and work constraints, the plan deferred many times. The significance of this Island is one can fine an old instrument used to measure the Nile’s level – the Nilometer. The entrance fees are LE 15 for adults and LE 8 for children and/or students. Amid the hazy weather eight of us, M Yacob, Haziah, Humairah, Nasihah, Nana, M Aiman, Afiqah and I, dared ourselves to learn in depth the significant of this historical instrument to the Egyptian's economy in the past.
The Nilometer in Arabic known as a miqyas, was used to measure the flood levels of the Nile River. It is a heritage of Egypt's distant past, when such structures marked the course of Egypt's grand river. These types of devices continued to be useful up until the modern era when the Nile was tamed by modern dams. During August and September, it was used to regulate the distribution of water as well as to compute the levy of taxes paid as tribute by Egypt to the Arab Caliph, since the generosity of the Nile was in large part an indication of Egypt's prosperity. It was built by order of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-861) under the direction of Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Hasib at the end of his reign in 861. Devised by Abu'l 'Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farqhani, a native of Farghana, West Turkestan who was known in the West as the astronomer Alfraganus, the Nilometer undergone several restoration. Ibn Tulun had the Nilometer restored between 872 and 873 AD, and it was again restored in 1092 by the Fatimid Caliph, al- Mustansir. It remains mostly original, except for the wooden painted conical dome roof, which is a modern restoration.
It consists of a pit that extends well below the level of the Nile that in turns connects with the Nile through tunnels dug on three levels on its eastern side. The pit, which is lined with stone, is circular at the bottom and rectangular at the top, is accessed by a staircase on the interior walls. Its walls have four recesses with pointed arches, and small, relatively thin columns to either side adorned with two types of zigzag framing decorations carved on its stone voussoirs. Though these arches, known as "tiers-point" are the same type as those used in Gothic architecture, they preceded the Gothic arch by some four hundred years. In the center of the pit a marble, octagonal column with a Corinthian capital that rises from its depths surmounting a millstone. At the top there is a wooden beam spanning the Nilometer. To measure the Nile flood, this column is graded and divided into 19 cubits (a cubit is slightly more than half a meter, and hence, it was capable of measuring floods up to about 9.2 meters). The flood that this Nilometer measured was both important to the rulers of Egypt as well as the whole population. An ideal flood filed the Nilometer up to the sixteenth mark and less then this could mean drought and famine. On the other hand, if the measurement exceeds the 19 cubits, a catastrophic flood was at hand. In the days prior to the expected flood, this column would be anointed with saffron and musk in order to help induce a good water level.
Plain Kufic inscriptions adorn the walls of the Nilometer and are the earliest surviving examples of architectural epigraphy (inscriptions considered as a group) in Egypt. However, the inscription recording the establishment of the Nilomter by al-Mutawakkil has been removed. Creswell, a well known historian of this period, believes this was done by Ibn Tulun, who replaced it with additional verse, as part of a campaign to assert his independence from the foreign Caliphate. Part of the original inscriptions read:
"We send down rain as a blessing from heaven, whereby we cause gardens to spring forth and the grain to harvest." (50:9) "Hast thou not seen how that God has sent down out of heaven water, and in the morning the earth becomes green?" (22:62)

Because of its importance in determining the prosperity Egypt would experience during the following year, this Nilometer was the departure point of the greatest of Cairo's celebrations throughout the medieval period. This was the Fath al-Khalij, the festival of the Opening of the Canal, which ceased in 1899 when the Khalij (Khalig) was filled in (this Nilometer itself probably continued to be used up until the last flood in 1970). The Khalij Canal started opposite Rawda Island, bordered the medieval city to the west, and irrigated its outlying gardens and fields. The Khalij canal was blocked with an earth dam and was cleaned before the flood. It would then be opened when the water level reached the sixteenth cubit level, when the caliph and later sultans and pashas would inaugurate the celebrations that lasted for several days.

The summer flood from the Nile would then fill this canal, together with many ponds that would have winter beds green with vegetation. During the celebrations, decorated boats would crow the waters, and among these, the most splendid would be that of the ruler and its shores were lined with entertainment. Those who witnessed this event refer to it as Cairo's most spectacular celebration. Near the Nilometer was a mosque for prayers during the flood celebration, and a palace for banquets held by the various rulers.

On the Eastern side of the panaromic scenery, one can find a Ummu Kalthum museum, which provides information on the significant contibution of the late Ummu Kalthum, one of the greatest Egypt celebrities to the socio-economy then. Well, as usual you will have to fork out LE 2 from your pocket to enjoy the five minutes walk inside the museum.