4 - 10 October 2001
Issue No.554
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 4 - 10 October 2001 Issue No.554 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
The edge of the world
In ancient times the cataracts at Aswan, a natural boundary of great granite boulders rising from the river bed, were believed to be where the life-giving waters of the Nile rose from the eternal ocean to render Egypt fertile. Now the river has been harnessed and the flood waters controlled by the High Dam. Even this year's excessive rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands, which has resulted in devastating flooding in the Sudan, has hardly affected Egypt. Surplus water has been drained into Toshka.
That is why this photograph taken by Sherif Sonbol last week is of special interest. On the left are massive granite rocks, torn in primaeval times from the mother rock and rounded by the action of countless floods. A date palm struggles to keep its hold just above the water line, and on the right, silhouetted against the modern city, is an odd metal structure. This pole with a platform is a nilometer, probably erected when the first Aswan Dam was built at the turn of the 20th century. It shows the extraordinary height to which the waters once rose.
There was no need, in those days, for factory-produced fertiliser, because the rich alluvial soil brought by the flood was all that was needed to ensure a bountiful crop. Even the ancient monuments along the edge of the Nile valley were safer than they are today because, although successive floods have totally destroyed the reliefs on the lower reaches of temple walls, those in the higher registers were in good condition. Today, while we can thank the High Dam for controlling what would otherwise be a devastating flood, the stabilising of the river has resulted in salts rising to the surface of the land, which has adversely affected both ancient monuments and agriculture.
Looking at this photograph, one cannot help but feel a certain nostalgia for those long-ago days when the power of gods, not man, controlled the flood. Hapi, the Nile god, was believed to dwell in a grotto at Bigeh Island (now inundated), and his role was a dual one: to receive the waters with outstretched arms and direct its flow to the north. On his head were aquatic plants, the papyrus symbolising his role as giver of water to Lower Egypt and the lotus to Upper Egypt. Having received the "first water,"' it was left to two guardian goddesses of the cataracts to control and direct the flood. Anukis, a goddess on the island of Sehel, clasped the river banks and compressed the swirling waters, directing their flow northward. Satis, on the island of Elephantine, "let fly the current with the force of an arrow." Classical writers described the sound of the flood, dancing and whipping round granite obstructions such as these, reeling and rushing, churning and roaring to find an outlet, and hurling into the channels of Aswan, so great as to cause deafness.
Early travellers -- Greeks, Macedonians, Carians and Romans -- fell under the spell of Aswan, its healthy climate and the breathtaking sunsets. And this, fortunately, has remained a constant. Aswan is the most beautiful of Egypt's river cities, a tourist destination, and a felucca ride around the granite rocks is included as a highlight of both Nile and Lake Nasser cruises.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page