Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-18
FOUR THOUSAND YEARS.
The Wonderful Endurance of Great
Engineering Work.

The Wonderful Endurance of a Great
Engineering Work.
How many Of the engineering works Of
the nineteenth century will there be in
existence in the year 5000? Very few, it
is feared, and still less those that will con-
tinue in the far-of age to serve useful
purpose. Yet there is at least one great
undertaking conceived and executed by an
engineer, which, during the space of 1000
years, has never ceased its office, on which
the life of fertile province absolutely de-
ponds to-day. We refer to the Bahr Jous-
suf-the canal of Joseph-built, according
to tradition, by the son Of Jacob, and
which constitutes not the least of the
many blessings he conferred on Egypt
during the years of his prosperous rule
This canal took its rise, as given in En-
| qiaeennq, from the Nile at Asiut, and ran
nearly parallel with it for nearly 250
miles, creeping along under the western
! cliffs of the Nile valley, with many bend
and winding, until at length it gained an
eminence, as compared with the riyer-bed,
which enabled it to turn westward
through narrow pass and enter dis
trict which was otherwise shut off from
the fertilizing floods on which all yegeta-
ton in Egypt depends. The northern
end stood seventeen feet higher than low
| Nile, while at the southern end it was at
an equal elevation with the river.
| Through this cut ran perennial stream,
which watered province named the Fay
cum, endowing it with fertility and sup
porting large population.
In the time of the annual food a great
part Of the canal was under water, and
then the river current would rush in
more direct course into the pass, carrying
with it the rich silt which takes the place
of manure, and keeps the soil in state of
constant productiyeness. And this, with
| the exception of the tradition that Joseph
built it, can be verified to-day, and is not
mere supposition or rumor. Until eight
years ago it was firmly believed that the
design has always been limited to an irr1-
cation scheme, larger, no doubt, than that
now in operation, as shown by the traces
of abandoned canals, and by the slow ag-
gregation of waste water which had ac-
cumulated in the Birket ell Queran, but
still essentially the same in character.
Many accounts have been written by
Greek and Roman historians, such as
Herodotus, Strabo, Mutianus and Pliny,
anu fepedIeU III iuOUkISu lSSSuuS Ut poI-
trayed on the maps of the Middle Ages,
which agreed with the folklore of the dis
trict. These tales explained that the
canal dug by the ancient Israelite served
to carry the surplus water of the Nile into
an extensive lake lying south of the
Fayoun, and so large that it not only mod
fled the climate, tempering the arid winds
of the desert and converting them into the
balmy airs which nourished the vines and
olives into fullness of fragrance unknown
in any part of the country, but also added
to the food supply of the land such i'm
mense quantities of fish that the royal pre-
rogative of the right of piscary at the
great weir was valued at S250000 annu-
ally. This lake was said to be 450 miles
round, and to be nayigated by feet Of
vessels, while the whole circumference was
the scene of industry and prosperity.