Abstract
THE country of Egypt consisted principally in its natural state of level, arid plains with a few patches of vegetation on the higher parts. Its agricultural prosperity depends entirely on the irrigation derived from the River Nile. It is many thousands of years ago that the first attempt was made to regulate this river and make it serviceable to mankind. In the time of Menes, the west side of the river was embanked, and the water led by a system of canals and embankments to the land lying between the river and the Libyan mountains. When the river was in flood, openings were cut in the banks and the country converted into a series of lakes, the land being enriched and rendered fertile by the warp brought down in suspension by the turbid water of the river. When the floods subsided, the water drained off and the openings made in the banks were again filled up.
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The Great Irrigation Dam at Assuan . Nature 67, 184–185 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/067184a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067184a0