The Old Egyptians Erected A Fine
Marble Pillar Of Excellent Workmanship In An Island At This Place, Rising
Twelve Cubits Above The Ordinary Surface Of The River; And When The Water
Overflows That Column, The Inhabitants Are Satisfied That Their Whole
Country Is Overspread For Fifteen Days Journey.
If the water rise only half
the height of the pillar, they then conclude that only half the country is
overflowed.
A person is stationed by the pillar, who proclaims the height
of the water every day at noon. When the water rises to a sufficient
height, it indicates a year of fertility and plenty in Egypt; but when it
does not overflow, nothing is sown, and sterility and famine are the
consequences. The people of the country have trenches dug in their grounds,
in which great numbers of fish are caught when the river recedes, which
they either use in their families, or salt them for sale. These fish are
very fat, and supply oil for lamps. It is an old question, on which there
is great diversity of opinion, as to the cause of the overflow of the Nile;
but the Egyptians suppose, that it proceeds from the falling of heavy rains
in the land of Habash, which we call Havilah or Abyssinia. The fields are
usually sowed in the month of September, as the Nile has then retired into
its channel. Barley is reaped in February, and wheat in March; and in that
month, grapes, cherries, and almonds are ripe; and encumbers, gourds,
pease, beans, and lentils; and various pot-herbs, as purslain, asparagus,
lettuce, corianders, succory, coleworts, &c. The gardens and orchards are
watered by means of trenches filled from the Nile.
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