The River Nile | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 22, 1868

The River Nile.

The Nile, the celebrated river of Egypt. It takes this name only after the junction of the two great streams of which it is composed, namely, the Bahr el Abiad, or White river, which rises in the mountains of the Moon, in the interior of Africa, and runs north-east till it is joined by the other branch, the Bahr el Azrek, or Blue river, which rises in Abyssinia, and after a large circuit to the south-east and south-west, in which it passes through the lake of Dembea, flows northward to join the White river. This Abyssinian branch has in modern times been regarded as the real Nile, although the White river is much the larger and longer, and was in ancient times considered as the true Nile. The junction takes place about latitude sixteen degrees north. From this point the Nile flows always in a northerly direction, with the exception of one large bend to the west. About thirteen hundred miles from the sea, it receives its last branch, the Tagazze, a large stream from Abyssinia, and having passed through Nubia, it enters Egypt at the cataracts near Syene, or Essuan, which are formed by a chain of rocks stretching east and west. There are here three falls; after which the river pursues its course in still and silent majesty through the whole length of the land of Egypt. Its average breadth is about seven hundred yards. In Lower Egypt it divides into several branches, and forms the celebrated Delta.

As rain very seldom falls, even in winter, in Southern Egypt, and usually only slight and infrequent showers in Lower Egypt, the whole physical and political existence of Egypt may be said to depend on the Nile; since without this river, and even without its regular, annual inundations, the whole land would be but a desert. These inundations, so mysterious in the view of ancient ignorance and superstition, are caused by the regular periodical rains in the countries further south, around the sources of the Nile, in March and later. The river begins to rise in Egypt about the middle of June, and continues to increase through the month of July. In August it overflows its banks, and reaches its highest point early in September; and the country is then mostly covered with its waters. Amos viii, 8; ix, 5; Nah. iii, 8. In the beginning of October, the inundation still continues; and it is only toward the end of this month that the stream returns within its banks. From the middle of August till toward the end of October, the whole land of Egypt resembles a great lake or sea, in which the towns and cities appear as islands.

The cause of the fertility which the Nile imparts, lies not only in its thus watering the land, but also in the thick, slimy mud, which its waters bring down along with them, and deposit on the soil of Egypt. It is like a coat of rich manure; and the seed being immediately sown upon it, without digging or ploughing, springs up rapidly, grows with luxuriance, and ripens into abundance.

It must not, however, be supposed that the Nile spreads itself over every spot of land, and waters it sufficiently without artificial aid. Niebuhr justly remarks, “Some descriptions of Egypt would lead us to think that the Nile, when it swells, lays the whole province under water. The lands immediately adjoining the banks of the river are indeed laid under water, but the natural inequality of the ground hinders it from overflowing the interior country. A great part of the lands would therefore remain barren, were not canals and reservoirs formed to receive water from the river, when at its greatest hight, which is thus conveyed everywhere through the fields, and reserved for watering them when occasion requires.” In order to raise the water to grounds which lie higher, machines have been used in Egypt from time immemorial. These are chiefly wheels to which buckets are attached. One kind is turned by oxen; another smaller kind, by men seated, and pushing the lower spokes from them with their feet, while they pull the upper spokes toward them with their hands. Deut. xi, 10.

As the inundations of the Nile are of so much importance to the whole land, structures have been erected on which the beginning and progress of its rise might be observed. These are called Nilometers, that is, “Nile measures.” At present there is one, one thousand years old and half in ruins, on the little island opposite Cairo; it is under the care of the government, and according to it the beginning and subsequent progress of the rise of the Nile were carefully observed and proclaimed by authority. If the inundation reached the hight of twenty-two Paris feet, a rich harvest was expected; because then all the fields had received the requisite irrigation. If it fell short of this hight, and in proportion as it thus fell short, the land was threatened with want and famine, of which many horrible examples occur in Egyptian history. Should the rise of the water exceed twenty-eight Paris feet, a famine was in like manner feared. The annual rise of the river also varies exceedingly in different parts of its course, being twenty feet greater where the river is narrow than in Lower Egypt. The channel is thought to be gradually filling up; and many of the ancient outlets at the Delta are dry in summer and almost obliterated. The drying up of the waters of Egypt would involve its destruction, as a habitable land, to the same extent; and this fact is recognized in the prophetic denunciations of this remarkable country. Isa. xi, 15; xix, 1-10; Eze. xxix, 10; xxx, 12.

The water of the Nile, although during a great part of the year turbid, from the effects of the rains above, yet furnishes, when purified by settling, the softest and sweetest water for drinking. Its excellence is acknowledged by all travelers. The Egyptians are full of its praises, and even worshiped the river as a god.

The Hebrews sometimes gave both to the Euphrates and the Nile the name of “sea,” Isa. xix, 5; Nahum iii, 8. In this they are borne out by Arabic writers, and also by the common people of Egypt, who to this day commonly speak of the Nile as “the sea.” It is also still celebrated for its fish. Compare Num. xi, 5; Isa. xix, 8. In its waters are likewise found the crocodile, or leviathan, and the hippopotamus, or behemoth.—Bib. Dic.