The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-08
Twentieth Century Egypt
the Tears Of Isis.
By FREDERIC }. HAsKIN.

Cairo. Egypt.-In ancient Egypt it was
believed that tears shed ~ Isis over the
tomb of Osiris caused the annual flood
ing Of the Nile. Can man arrest ths
tears of Isis as they flowg'' was q ques-
ton implying the impossible. Today the
tears OF isis are stored behind a great
dam al AssOuan in a lake that contains
a billion tons and is 40 miles long. Ac-
cording TO a popular superstition, pearls
mean tears. IN Egypt the tears OF Isis
mean pearls 20 agriculturists; and VII
liam Willcocks, who made the plans for
the dam wears an order Of British knight
hood conferred in recognition of his ser
vices
Agriculture in the Nile valley is. OF
course. older than the oldest monuments
Of Egypt irrigation is as old as agricul-
ture, but scientific irrigation upon a scale
commensurate with its Importance as d
factor in the development OF the country
Is product Of modern times. There are
two kinds Of irrigation along the Nile
One is 100 years old. IT consists Of a
basin system which mandates the fields
during the freshet The other is perennial
and depends upon storage reservoirs and
a modern system Of releasing the water
as il is needed.
The first crops were the result of seed
sOwn upon the mud when the flood had
receded. InterlOcked with the known and
unknown political history of Egypt from
the beginning is the story of the eXpan-
sion Of systems for increasing the area
OF land made tillable by retaining the silt
laden overflow and causing il TO take the
place of rain during the season of low
Nile At present the lode of syenite gran
tie that furnishes the material for the
temple Of the Sphinx. and the obelisKs,
is the backbone Of plan of irrigation thar
cOntemplates still greater results than
have been already achieved.
Tillable Egypt, except in the province
of Fayoum and in the Nile delta. is mere
ly a narrow strip of reclaimed desert
-
Of the stream. According to tradition,
Lake Moeris, a great reservoir to irTigate
FayOum. was constructed by King Amen
emaht of the twelfth dynasty 1t is be
lieved that Mehemet Ali the vicerOy who
planned. but never completed. a system
Of perennial irrigation. was inspired by
the example of Amenemaht. But Great
Britain claims, and must be accorded,
credit for planning, financing and COM
pleting the dam at AssOuau.
In Upper Egypt the traveller sees today
in active operation the basin irrigation
which tradition says dates back to King
Menes, who reigned some seventy CEN
turtles before the British occupation of the
land Of the Pharoahs. 1t is simple IN its
rudimentary form, although complex in
its development The banks of the Nile
are Of deltaic formation and higher than
the valley behind them The sources OF
the river are Approximately $500 feet
above the level OF the sea. Along the
river, as its shores slope northward to-
ward the Mediterranean, earthen dykes
are run at right angles to the stream.
Dykes parallel to the stream and close TO
the 'berms" or high banks, connect them
forming basins enclosed on the desert side
by the rising ground that marks the limit
Of arabic area. The basins drain from one
to another and the last Of a series drains
back into the Nile. In this manner the
land is arranged in a succession of ter
races falling gradually toward the north.
Where the lay Of the land admits of Ii.
the system is extended by the construction
of a second OF third dyke parallel to the
river
The -berms" are irrigated either by
high level canals starting from above the
beginning of the basin system or by lift
ing the water from the river. Feeder ca
nails vary in size from insignificant bitches
to considerable rivers upon which large
sailbOats ply. From the train as the
traveller traverses Egypt, picturesque tri-
angular sails and slanting bamboo boOms
of the Egyptian dahabeahs seem to rise
from ploughed fields.
Upper Egypt at flood time is a vast
lake bounded on the east and west and
gTidirOned by a network Of dykes. The
lealKes are dotted by the mud huts of the
fellahesn. or peasants. always builGed on
mounds or in clusters OF small villages.
The fellah and his family lead a some
what precarious existence during the in
undatiOn. If the water reaches the nuts
they Crumble ike mud pies dipped in a
duck pond, and the homes became mass
of muck The fellaheen and their live
stock live throughout the flood period
which form their roads. Goats, sheep
water buffalOes. camels. little donkeys
hardly larger than Great Danes, horses
and human beings. are nerded in narrow