Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1897-02-25
THE CANAL OF JOSEPH.
A. Useful "a Ever at the End Of Yoas
Thouannd Years.

A. Useful - Ever At the End Of Yoav
ThouaAd Years.
How many of the engineering
works of the nineteenth century
will there be in existence in the year
e0oof Very few, we fear, and still
less those that will continue in the
faroff ages to serve a useful pur-
pose. 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 a fer
tile province absolutely depends to-
day. We refer to the Bahr Joussuf
the canal of Joseph-built, accord
ing 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 from the
Nile at Asiut and ran almost paral-
lei with it for nearly $50 miles,
creeping along under the western
cliffs of the Nile valley, with many
a bend and winding, until at length
it gained an eminence as compared
with the river bed, which enabled 1t
to turn westward through a narrow
pass and enter a district which was
otherwise shut off from the fertiliz-
ing floods on which all vegetation in
Egypt depends. The northern end
stood II feet above low Nile, while
at the southern end it was at an
equal elevation with the river.
Through this cut ran a perennial
stream, which watered a province
! named the Fayoum, endowing it
with fertility and supporting a large
population.
In the time of the annual food a
great part of the canal was under
water, and then the rivers current
would rush in a more direct course
into the pass, carrying with it the
rich silt which takes the place of
manure and keeps the soil in a state
of constant productiveness.
All this, with the exception Of the
traditions hat Joseph built 1t, can
be verified today, and it is not mere
supposition or rulnor. Until eight
years ago it WIS firmly believed that
the design has always been limited
to an irrigation scheme, larger no
doubt than that now in operation,
as shown by the traces of abandoned
canals and by the slow aggregation
Of waste water which had accumu-
lated in the Birket ell Quorum, but
still essentially the same in charac-
ter. Many accounts have been writ
ten by Greek and Roman historians,
such as Herodotus, Strabo, Mutianus
and Pliny and repeated in monkish
legends or portrayed in the maps of
the middle ages, which agreed with
the folklore of the district. These
tales explained that the canal dug by
the ancient Israelite served to carry
the surplus waters of the Nile into
an extensive lake lying south OF the
Fayoum and SO large thatit not only
modified the climate, tempering the
arid winds of the desert and con-
verting them into the balmy airs
which nourished the vines and the
olives into a fullness and fragrance
unknown in any part of the coun-
try, but also added to the food sup
ply of the land such immense guam.
titles of fish that the royal preroga-
tive of the right of piscary at the
great weir was valued at $3.50, 600
annually. This lake was said to be
$50 miles around and to be navigat-
ed by q feet of vessels, and the
whole circumference was the scene
of industry and prosperity.-En-
cheering.