DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14562#0199
155
northern direction, to the Nile below the observatory. This
canal insulated the section of the east bank of the river, the
southern extremity of which, being occupied by the obser-
vatory, acquired the appellation of ' Roda' Island, the Arabic
word ' roda/ signifying ' garden/ being a homophone of the
Coptic word 'rot.' It would appear that the artificial
channel was made with the view of keeping the port of the
Reed clear of the river's deposits which accumulated under the
east bank of the great canal entrance, and in the canal itself,
through the neglected state of the lower works of the line of
navigation which secured to the stream flowing through them
a certain velocity necessary to prevent the settlement of matter
held in suspension by it in its first entrance into the port of
the Reed. The canal itself has perished, and nothing but
an insignificant cunette remains to indicate its former course;
and the port of the Reed has been entirely silted up, and has
made room for the modern town of Cairo Vecchio, situated
between the Roman station (called Cassr Shamaa) and the
observatory. In our time, at high Nile the distance across
from the edge of the river at Cairo Vecchio to the Roda Point
measures 128 yards, with an average depth of 4-3 fathoms; in
front of the river-walls revetting the southern point of Roda,
and distant from the observatory-chamber about 10 yards,
the river gauges about 11 fathoms, in consequence of the
powerful eddy, and has a rocky bottom probably below the
Mediterranean level; but the distance from the Roda Point
across to the western edge of the river under Gizeh measures
1152 yards, and has a mean depth of 6"3 fathoms. The river
in this latitude descends about 25'9 feet. The building is a
quadrangular chamber, 81 feet in interior periphery, having
its east and west sides measuring 2083 feet each; it is com-
posed of forty courses of regular and accurately worked
masonry of compact calcareous sandstone, each course ave-
raging 0'8032 of a foot in vertical scantling. A frieze in
white marble, bearing a continuous Arabic inscription in
Coufic characters, crowns the above-mentioned masonry, and
adds T79 foot to the height of the walls. This frieze stood
much above the highest flood-level when it was first put up.
northern direction, to the Nile below the observatory. This
canal insulated the section of the east bank of the river, the
southern extremity of which, being occupied by the obser-
vatory, acquired the appellation of ' Roda' Island, the Arabic
word ' roda/ signifying ' garden/ being a homophone of the
Coptic word 'rot.' It would appear that the artificial
channel was made with the view of keeping the port of the
Reed clear of the river's deposits which accumulated under the
east bank of the great canal entrance, and in the canal itself,
through the neglected state of the lower works of the line of
navigation which secured to the stream flowing through them
a certain velocity necessary to prevent the settlement of matter
held in suspension by it in its first entrance into the port of
the Reed. The canal itself has perished, and nothing but
an insignificant cunette remains to indicate its former course;
and the port of the Reed has been entirely silted up, and has
made room for the modern town of Cairo Vecchio, situated
between the Roman station (called Cassr Shamaa) and the
observatory. In our time, at high Nile the distance across
from the edge of the river at Cairo Vecchio to the Roda Point
measures 128 yards, with an average depth of 4-3 fathoms; in
front of the river-walls revetting the southern point of Roda,
and distant from the observatory-chamber about 10 yards,
the river gauges about 11 fathoms, in consequence of the
powerful eddy, and has a rocky bottom probably below the
Mediterranean level; but the distance from the Roda Point
across to the western edge of the river under Gizeh measures
1152 yards, and has a mean depth of 6"3 fathoms. The river
in this latitude descends about 25'9 feet. The building is a
quadrangular chamber, 81 feet in interior periphery, having
its east and west sides measuring 2083 feet each; it is com-
posed of forty courses of regular and accurately worked
masonry of compact calcareous sandstone, each course ave-
raging 0'8032 of a foot in vertical scantling. A frieze in
white marble, bearing a continuous Arabic inscription in
Coufic characters, crowns the above-mentioned masonry, and
adds T79 foot to the height of the walls. This frieze stood
much above the highest flood-level when it was first put up.