nd of Philse, one of the results of
which has been the partial submergence of the island and its temples,
including the picturesque Kiosk. The following account, taken from the
new edition (1906) of Murray's _Guide to Egypt and the Sudan_, will
suffice better than any other description to explain what the dam is,
how it has affected Philse, and what work has been done to obviate the
possibility of serious damage to the Kiosk and other buildings.

"In 1898 the Egyptian government signed a contract with Messrs. John
Aird & Co. for the construction of the great reservoir and dam at
Shellal, which serves for the storage of water at the time of the flood
Nile. The river is 'held up' here sixty-five feet above its old normal
level. A great masonry dyke, 150 feet high in places, has been carried
across the Bab el-Kebir of the First Cataract, and a canal and four
locks, two hundred feet long and thirty feet wide, allow for the passage
of traffic up and down the river.

[Illustration: 447.jpg The Great Dam Of Aswan]

Showing Water Rushing Through The Sluices

The dam is 2,185 yards long and over ninety feet thick at the base; in
places it rises one hundred feet above the bed of the river. It is built
of the local red granite, and at each end the granite dam is built into
the granite hillside. Seven hundred and eight thousand cubic yards of
masonry were used. The sluices are 180 in number, and are arranged at
four different levels. The sight of the great volume of water pouring
through them is a very fine one. The Nile begins to rise in July, and at
the end of November it is necessary to begin closing the sluice-gates
to hold up the water. By the end of February the reservoir is usually
filled and Philae partially submerged, so that boats can sail in and out
of the colonnades and Pharaoh's Bed. By the beginning of July the water
has been distributed, and it then falls to its normal level.

"It is of course regrettable that the engineers were unable to find
another site for the dam, as it seemed inevitable that some damage would
result to the temples of Philae from their partial submergence. Korosko
was proposed as a site, but was rejected for cogent reasons, and
apparently Shellal was the only possible place. Further, no serious
person, who places the greatest good of the greatest number above
considerations of the picturesque and the 'interesting,' will deny
that if it is necessary to sacrifice Philae to the good of the