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Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Focus Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Cascading through the ages
By Rushdie SaidThe charm of the Cataract Hotel in Aswan owes a great deal of the beauty to its location, perched above the Nile where it flows over the rocks of the First Cataract. This water-race is the most northerly of a series of six which punctuate the course of the Nubian river. The sixth and most southerly of these, the Shabluka cataract, lies about 85 km to the north of Khartoum.
While much of the course of the river through Nubia was defined a long time ago, when the waters of Equatorial Africa first reached Egypt some 800,000 years ago, the section which the Cataract Hotel overlooks is relatively new. It was formed a mere 10,000 years ago, when the river was diverted from its original path into a valley to the east. The abandoned channel forms a loop, running from slightly north of Aswan to slightly south of the High Dam, which today contains the railway line between Aswan-Al Shallal (Al-Sad Al-Ali) and the Kima fertiliser plant. Holes drilled in the base of this channel have revealed a substantial core of Nile sediment, from which we can deduce that this was the course of the river from the time of its inception right up until its later diversion.
This shift of course occurred as a result of the dramatic change in climate which followed the last Ice Age, and brought great rains to the Nile basin after a long period of drought. A wall of water flooded into the land, changing the course of the river which over the years had grown sluggish with silt. The new tumultuous river of this period lasted for some 5,000 years, during which time it wore away the rocks and islands which give this stretch its characteristic modern form. This period was then followed by a drought throughout Egypt and Northern Sudan, which produced the river regime that still prevails today.
The Cataract Hotel was erected in the early 20th century on a mantle of Nile alluvium covering a massive bed of granite, which was once the site of an important quarry that supplied the Old Kingdom pharaohs with quantities of ornamental stone. The alluvium seems to have accumulated since the quarry was abandoned some 4,000 years ago. This build-up resulted from the annual flooding of the river which, prior to the establishment of the irrigation structures of the 19th and 20th centuries, used to submerge the entire country. In addition to transforming the countryside into a sea of turbid water, from which the towns and villages, built on higher ground, rose like islands, the annual inundation would strew the fields with layers of silt which eventually reached a depth of some 8 metres. From this, we can deduce that the rate of sedimentation was about 20 cm per century.
Visitors to the Cataract Hotel can see this mantle of sediment where it fills the old quarry on the bank of the Nile, next to the swimming pool. There is even a secluded sitting area, with magnificent views over the Nile towards Elephantine Island. The exposed granite bedrock on both sides of the seats shows evidence of having been prepared for quarrying, before the work stopped once and for all. Many guiding notches have been carved out, into which the old quarrymen would have inserted the wedges they used to dislodge the granite blocks. Each notch measures about 8 cm by 6 cm by 5 cm. Similar notches can be seen in many of our country's old quarries, and especially at the quarry of the unfinished obelisk at Aswan.
The Cataract Hotel's location must have been as perfectly adapted for the quarryman's art as for the leisure of the modern tourist. The granite is of high quality, and could be loaded directly onto Nile ships for transport to its destination. In fact, I would even venture to guess that the little landing pier at the foot of the cliff where residents now set off on their felucca rides, is probably the direct successor of an ancient Egyptian landing pier.
