How did they measure the Nile?

A nilometer was a structure for measuring the clarity and water level of the Nile during the annual flood season. There were three main types of nilometers, calibrated in Egyptian cubits: (1) a vertical column, (2) a corridor staircase with steps leading down to the Nile, or (3) a deep well with a culvert.

Who measured the Nile?

So long before the Aswan Dam was built to handle the flooding of the great river, the Egyptians invented an instrument to measure the water to predict the behavior of the Nile: the nilometer. There were three kinds of nilometer, and examples of all three can still be seen around Egypt.

John Hanning Speke
John Hanning Speke discovered the source of the Nile on 3 August 1858. John Hanning Speke, an army officer's son from the West Country, was drafted into the army by the East India Company in 1844 at the age of seventeen.

How long is the length of the Nile?

In 2006, an expedition was made of the Nile, and using high-tech mapping equipment, it was determined that the Nile measures 4,175 miles long, or 6,719 kilometers.

How important was the Nile to ancient Egypt?

The sacred waters of the Nile characterized every important aspect of Egyptian civilization. Africa's longest river, flowing down into the Mediterranean, becomes a great source of water at the ancient city of Khartoum, where the Blue Nile and the White Nile merge.

Where did the White Nile come from?

The White Nile originates in subtropical Africa by Lake Victoria. Ancient Egyptians developed very complex irrigation methods to maximize the effect of the Nile's waters. When the Nile overflowed in mid-summer, the Egyptians diverted the water using canals and dams.

Why does the Nile flood every year?

In addition, routine annual flooding no longer occurs along parts of the Nile. These floods were necessary to flush and clean the water of human and agricultural waste. As a result, the water becomes more polluted. The Nile also remains an important trade route linking Africa with markets in and outside of Europe.

How did they measure the Nile?

A nilometer was a structure for measuring the clarity and water level of the Nile during the annual flood season. There were three main types of nilometers, calibrated in Egyptian cubits: (1) a vertical column, (2) a corridor staircase with steps leading down to the Nile, or (3) a deep well with a culvert.

What did the Egyptians use to measure the Nile?

nilometer
A nilometer was a device used by the ancient Egyptians to calculate the water level of the Nile during its annual flood, therefore predicting the success of the harvest and calculating the tax rate for the year.

How did the Egyptians measure length?

Ancient Egyptians did not measure things using centimeters and meters. They used the cubit, span and fingers. A cubit is the measurement from the tip of your longest finger to the base of your elbow. A palm is the distance across your palm.

How did ancient Egypt use the Nile?

The Nile also supplied a lot of building materials to the ancient Egyptians. They used the mud from the river banks to make sun-dried bricks. These bricks were used to build homes, walls and other buildings. The Egyptians also quarried limestone and sandstone from the hills along the Nile.

Why was the Nile important to ancient Egypt?

Every year the Nile begins to rise in the summer, the water overflowing its banks and depositing on the surrounding floodplain. It is this annual flood that makes the land fertile so that it can be cultivated and civilization can exist.

Why was the nilometer important to ancient Egypt?

This Nilometer was considered to be the most important, as Aswan used to be Egypt's southernmost border and thus the first place where the Nile entered Egypt. So the annual floods would reach Aswan first and this reading would then be the first prediction of the harvest and taxes for the coming year.

How can you tell the level of the Nile?

There are depth markings / gauges all the way down the stairs, on the walls, which allow one to see the river level quite easily: literally the last step you can go down without getting wet!

How did the ancients measure the level of the river?

At first these records were little more than marks on the river bank, but later distinctive steps, columns, wells and other structures called nilometers were built. The royal priest monitored the daily level of the river and kept records. It was his duty to announce the expected arrival of the summer flood, or lack thereof.