Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1897-02-11
THE CANAL OF JOSEPH.
A. Useful as Ever ut tho End Of Fou1
Thousand Years.

Thousand Years.
How many of the engineering works
of the nineteenth century will there be
in existence in the year COCO? Very
few, we fear, and still less those that
will continue in the far-off ages to
serve a useful purpose. Yet there is at
least one great undertaking conceived
and executed by anengineer which dur
ing the space of 1000 years has never
ceased it's Office, on which the life of 4
fertile province absolutely depends to-
day. We refer to the Bahr Joussuf-
the canal of Joseph-built, according
10 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 it's rise from the Nile
at Asiut, and ran almost parallel with
1t 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 it to turn westward through
narrow pass and enter 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 ele-
walton from the river Through this
cut ran perennial stream, which wa.
tered a province named the Fayoum,
endowing it with fertility and support
ing large population. In the time of
the annual flood q 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 salt which takes the
place of manure and keeps the sod in
state of constant productiveness.
All this, with the exception of the
traditions that Joseph built it, can be
verified to-day, and it is not mere sup.
position or runpor. Until eight years
ago it was firmly believed that the de-
sign has always been limited to an ir-
rigation 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 accumulated in the Birket Ell Quorum,
but still essentially the same in charac-
ter. Many accounts have been written
by Greek and Roman historians, such as
Herodotus, Strabo, Mutianus and Pliny,
and repeated in monllish 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 Israelites
served to carry the surplus waters of
the Nile into an extensive lake lying
south of the Fayoum, and so large that
1t not only modified the climate, temper
ing 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 country, but also added
to the food supply of the land such i'm
mense quantities of fish that the royal
prerogative Of the right of piscary Mt
the great weir was valued at $250,O0O
annually. This lake was said to be $50
miles round, and to be navigated by
fleet of vessels, and the whole circum-
ference was the scene of industry and
Observation-Disclosures