The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-30


above the cataract. The opposition of
the Egyptians was not because the |
ruins possessed any historic value to
them but for the reason that their de-
struction would deprive them of an an
nual revenue obtained from visitors
from all parts Of the world. To archi-
tects Philae has been Mecca for many
years. The determined opposition from
all sides has led to a modification of
the original plans. AS the dam is now
to be Constructed the island will be
only slightly submerged for a short
time each year, and the ruins of the
once great temple of Isis will remain
intact
EXTENT OF THE DAM.
The work of construction will be I'M
der the personal direction of Sir Ben.
jamin Baker. who says that the be-
ginning of the twentieth century will
witness the completion of the dam and
steamers passing through its locks on
Their way UP and down the Nile. 1t
will be built of granite from the quar-
Cies of Assuan which for thousands of
years furnished the building material |
for many Of the temples of Egypt The |
original plan would have raised the !
dam to a height of 106 feet. AS now
modified it will be seventy feet. It will |
be forty feet wide, affording an ample
roadway, and from shore to shore a
mile and a quarter long. On the west |
ern side there will be a chain of locks |
for vessels passing UP and down tha
Nile Each lock will be $50 feet long
and average fifty feet in height The
water at flood time will be damned
back for IA miles. The crest of the
dam will be 800 feet above the Lowest
water level below the cataract. 1t will,
therefore, be a most imposing sight
The Nile at this pOnt-Assuan and
Philae-is filed with many beautiful
Islands, and at the first cataract, aa
will be seen from the photograph, ia
filled with huge masses of rocks. It is
across these rocky islands that the dam
will be constructed. thus securing
good foundation. No other site between
Wadi Halfa and Cairo would enable a
dam to be built with such great Sc,
curity and economy.
It is estimated that the cost of build
ing the main dam at this point will be
$4,000 900. To this amount must be
added 100000 more for supplementary
dams further down the river, making
total of $15,000000. This sum the
Egyptian government will pay in year,
~ instalnents, covering a period tof
thirty years The annual payments
will begin as soon as the receipts WELD
a profit.
MATERIAL BENEFIT TO EGYPT. i
1t is impossible to estimate the full
value Of the enterprise to Egypt TT
will increase the present cultivated
area of Egypt by over 100000 cres and
bring under constant cu1tiva ton the
whole OF that portion Of 5000, 900
acres which is now only under annual
irrigation. The water that will be
needed for this purpose will be about
800, 600, 600 cubic centimetres, flowing
at a maximum rate Of $50 metres a
md In rIooIo of /,
affected. The annual return to the
state will be 81 900, 600. 1t will increase
the land valuation to over $3.50, 600, 000
The annual productive increase will be
over $SO00OO00 and the annual rental
over SIS, 800, 900. The value of the crops
Will be increased about $50 an acre. To
the above estimates must be added
other material advantages.
In northeasterly direction from the
cataract is the bed of an ancient
branch of the river. It was filed down
to historic times. In the reign of
Amenemhat III, of the twelfth dynasty
about $500 years B. c., the Nile at its
annua! overflow rose, according to
Lersius, twenty-six feet eight inches
higher than the highest level it now
reaches during its greatest floods
Thirteen photographic records of this
kings reign still remain in the form
of rock inscriptions at this point, and
five in the time Of his two immediate
successors. 1t must have been some
time after that this bed become dry
For nearly three thousand years it has
been the highway for armies and cara
vans in passing around the cataract
The present bed Of the Nile being low
err, has of course, always been filed
7 By the modification of the original
plans for building the dam not only
have the more important ruins of Phi
lac been saved, but those further up
the river, at Dabod, Qartassi, Tafa,
KaIabsha, Dendur and Dakka all
would have been more or less sub
merged and in time destroyed
THE RUINS OF PHLAE.
After the great dam had been com
pleted the traveller approaching Philae
from it will behold the famous ruins
rising like a mirage out CT a great lake.
When he reaches the island he will
find, doubtless, that the interesting
ruins of the Christian period, of brick,
and which now show the remains of
several buildings and an early church,
have been resolved into the primitive
mud. The small temple or porch Of
Nectanebo, at the south end Of the ISL
and, Will be immersed to nearly the
whole height Of its columns. He will
IND much of the painted sculpture and
decorations on the buildings destroyed.
Otherwise he will see the ruins as they
are today.
IN
that true description Of the natural.
artistic and architectural beauties of
Fhilae never has been and never can
be written. 1t is called the Holy island
because it shares with Abydos the
claim of being the burial place of Osi
ris. In this its religious history is car
ried far back into the past. It's great
temple, of the Ptolemaic period, of sur
pTising beauty and marvellous archi-
tectural achievement was dedicated tc
Isis, the wife and sister of Osiris and
mother of Horus. The island was re-
garded as sacred SOIL and 10 one wa:
permitted to land upon it's shores with
out permission The most cherished
pilgrimage that the Egyptians could
make was to this tomb of their god
and their most solemn vow was, "By
him who sleeps at Philae''
- AS the long day of Egypt's nationa
glory was drawing to a close, when al
ready native rulers had been banisheG
from the Egyptian throne, never to re-
turn again, and the SUCCESSORS of Alex
aTder the Great filled their places, the
ties that bound the Egyptians to thi.
far away sacred spot grew stronger
Their rulers respected their veneratior
for their holy land, and Joined will
them in erecting the most characters
tic temple that Greek art and resource
could produce. And when Greek rill
was supplanted by the Roman tn
same reverence of the Egyptians 70