Name of Object:

The Barrage or Nile dam

Location:

London, United Kingdom

Holding Institution:

The British Library

Date of Object:

1897

Description:

This picture, from the book A Pilgrimage to Egypt: An Account of a Visit to Lower Egypt, shows the Delta Barrage dam built by the French engineer Mougelle during the reign of Muhammad 'Ali Pasha to maintain the Nile water at a balanced level all the year. The barrage also served as a fortification against attack on Cairo or Upper Egypt. It consisted of a double bridge, the eastern part spanning the Damietta branch of the Nile, the western the Rosetta, with the head of the Delta between the two. The barrage had to be improved from 1883 by Sir Colin Scott Moncrief to solve structural problems with the foundations and the gates of the dam. The barrage and other dams testify to the importance of these structures to provide the water needed for irrigation in Egypt since antiquity.

Archival or Bibliographical Reference:

Smith, James - Minister of St. George's-in-the-West Parish, Aberdeen, A Pilgrimage to Egypt: an account of a visit to Lower Egypt ... With ... Illustrations, Aberdeen: J. Avery & Co., 1897, p. 261

Citation of this web page:

Maria Francesca Carvelli (MWNF) "The Barrage or Nile dam" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;uk;135;en;N

Prepared by: Maria Francesca Carvelli (MWNF)

MWNF Working Number: UK 135