Nile

IMG:file78.png: *Netlos, Nilus, Nil*, the name of the river of Egypt. It is almost unnece ary to remark that these names are none of them ancient Egyptian. The derivation of the word "Nile" is given by Brugsch as coming from the Semitic "Nahar" or "Nahal," signifying a "river." The hieroglyphic names for the river of Egypt are: 1. **Hapi**: "he who overspread eth," an undoubted reference to the inundation. 2. **Nut**: a name it has in common with the sky, signifying "lifted up." It is an obvious allusion to the fact so often spoken of in the texts that the Nile was "raised up" from its source by a divinity who is sometimes called Isis, sometimes So this, and at others Has or. 3. **Uka**: a word expre ing "rushing forth," "leaping"; another allusion to the inundation. 4. **Akba ura**: lit. "the great weeping," a recognized name for the overflowing of the Nile. The Egyptians also spoke of their river as a serpent, and even represented it thus in art. At Philae is a well-known picture which shows the Nile i uing from a cavern in the shape of a serpent. Renouf has shown that in every one of the Nomes a divine serpent was worshipped, this being none other than the good genius or portion of the river which pa ed through that district. The Nile is also called *Kam-ura*, the "great extender," in the "Book of the Dead," chap. 64. This river is represented in the sculptures in human form, partaking both of the male and female sex. A group of aquatic plants forms the head-dre . It is often figured on the sides of the thrones of colo al statues, where two figures, representing the Nile of the north and the south, are seen standing opposite to each other, and binding flowers of papyrus and lotus to the *sam*. (See Amulets and Hapi.) Statues of the Nile are very rare, and are usually painted green or red to represent the colour of the river before or after the inundation. The source of the Nile has been from time immemorial a mystery; modern travellers place it in the Victoria Nyanza Lake, but it is quite po ible that it rises even further south of the equator. The river, after pa ing through Lake Albert Nyanza, proceeds as far north as Gondokoro, 5° N., where it is joined by the Bahr-el-Gazelle and the Sobat; from this point to Khartum it is called the Bahr-el-Abyad (White Nile). The stream then flows on to the sea, receiving on its way only one tributary, the Atbara. Its length is about 3300 miles. Every year the Nile overflows its banks. About the time of the summer solstice it begins gradually to rise, and continues so to do until the end of September, when it gradually subsides, leaving behind it a deposit of rich, black mud. The prosperity of the country depends upon the height to which the flood Nile rises. Should there be an exce ive overflow the dikes break down, houses are swept away, and sometimes whole villages damaged. If there is a deficiency, the land which is left unmoistened is not fertilized and must remain barren. As long ago as the days of Amenemhat III. (Dynasty XII.) so much importance was attached to the rising of the Nile that me engers were despatched from Semneh, above the second cataract, to carry the news through the towns and villages. There are some inscribed rocks at Semneh recording the average height of the inundation during the reign of this monarch, and it surpa es that of our days by 11 1/2 ft., while the highest rise recorded is 27 ft. 3 ins. above the greatest inundation known in our times.