Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-01-22
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT
AND THE SOuDAh
Antiquity of irrisation-Evidence Of
Gigantic Irrigation Works Built by
the Ancient Egyptians.
CBy A. w. Hadley.l

lHt hNdhsIihS iOT IITiButlOn uuTing
the three years that our governmen.
has been actively engaged in 1t, has
so stimulated general interest in the
subject that we now read with eager
ness and understandings, not only of
that which Is being accomplished in
tries as well.
In common with all great subjects
Of Universal importance. the antiqui-
ties of irrigation are now being sought
out and widely discussed by press and
public. As a practical medium for
public betterment 1t is as yet to the
average person a decidedly novel in
novation, and we are inclined to refer
to our Twentieth Century Crusade
to Conquer Arid America" with much
the degree of first night" enthusiasm
that the Lick Observatory heralds the
discovery of a new comet.
But it is very far from new sub
ject. Back in the dim ages when the
mind of man and the legends of his
lorelathers ''runnetn not to the CON
trary," irrigation was the live topic
OF the times. The ancients absolutely
depended upon it. So did prehistoric
man in this country. Our own efforts
arc but bit OF ancient American his
tory about to repeat ITSELF With In
liza II was the same, and Italy, Spain
and Egypt as well. In almost every
country where modern works are be
ing installed you will find the ruined
traces of dams, reservoirs and canals
80 very old that in computing their
probable age scientists differ some
times by a thousand years. The pres
ent generation is but viewing the ire
incarnation of a noble art that bloom
ed and flourished ages ago.
Undoubtedly the oldest and most
fascinating evidence of early irriga-
ton is found in Egypt; not on account
of unsual preservation, but because OF
the vast amount of historic data that
has been discovered In the tomLs,
temples and pyramids, and which we
have deciphered and translated. b.
these means we have been able to
carry the clear and consecutive his
tory of Egypt farther back than that
of any other country
Epochs of irrigation.
Irrigation in Egypt is best divided
into three ages or epocns; the first
or Ancient period, the second or Mid
die period and the third or Modern
period.
The Ancient period has to do with
that accomplished during the reign OF
the Pharaohs. kings of Egypt, who
ruled 1000 years ago and carried out
irrigation plans so bold in conception
and colossal in execution that modern
works are dwarfed into practical in,
significance.
Recently discovered ancient writ
lngs and subsequent investigation by
scientific explorers reveal substantial
evidence 10 the effect that the famous
six cataracts of the Nile between As
souan and Khartum are not, as had
been supposed for ages, mere works
of Nature, but are, instead, the Tuins
of gigantic works of man, who con.
structed them for irrigation, power
iuu hdNlSdllOH purposes.
If this be true. then is Egyptian IT.
rigation, like its civilization and lit.
erature, but another of the Lost Arts
OF the Ancients," for so stupendous
were the plans and SO perfectly were
The tehcincal details of engineering
carried ont that later efforts paled In
10 insigniiicance.
For hundreds OF miles over the bar.
rem wastes on either side of the Nile
where history tells us there once flour
ished populous cities, can now be
found the traces of great canals, ex.
tending northward to the Mediterran.
can and. in fact, radiating over the en-.
tire Soudan. These are found to lead
10 the vicinity of the several cataracts
where the gigantic blocks of granite
which form them extend for more
than mile across the river and are
visible at low Nile. Furthermore,
these blocks are of peculiar forma-
ton of granite, totally unlike any
other rock in the vicinity. and found
only built up in this way at the sever.
al cataracts.
As additional writings are discover
ed and exploration progresses the ev.
idence continues to grow until we are
now practically convinced that i'm.
mense areas in the great Soudan.
with its miles of trackless, sun n-scorch.
ed waste, We're once under the most
intensive cultivation, and the support
OF vast population.
Who may say but that the surviving
ruins of the pyramids, temples and
'ombs were but at the elevated gate.
way TO sucn a region, and that there
now lies hidden beneath hundreds OF
leet OF silently shifting sand the
graveyard of an empire, with its cit.
les, towns and hamlets and its one
lime fertile valleys; but with its in.
labitants destroyed or scattered panic
stricken or degenerate to the fou,
corners of the Earth? What nigh;
have happened back In those dis, INT
ages to so completely obliter,te a
peopleY Possibly a dread pc .,!l,rce.
IA terrific storm. a movement OF he
ca ms crust or a mighty flood. Who
cal tell?