The Nilometer
مقياس النيل
The Nile gauge in al-Mas'udi's account: sixteen cubits means full kharaj, seventeen the perfect flood, eighteen floods a quarter of Egypt and augurs plague — the record nineteen came in 99 under Umar II; the gauge's thirteenth and fourteenth cubits are named Munkar and Nakir and below them Egypt prays for rain; the four great canals open at the Feast of the Cross on 14 Tut 1.
At a glance
- Era
- Abbasid Fragmentation
- Region
- Egypt & Nile
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Agriculture and botanyWater and animals
Overview
Al-Masudi describes the Nile gauge and what its cubits indicate. The Nile's rise begins in the months of Baunah, Abib, and Masra. When it reaches sixteen cubits, the land tax is complete and the land is fertile, and the full rises are seventeen. 2
When it reaches eighteen, a quarter of the land of Egypt is flooded and this is harmful, and if it rises further, a plague occurs. It reached nineteen cubits in the year 99 AH, in the caliphate of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. 2
The two cubits at which water is drawn are the thirteenth and the fourteenth, and they are called "munkar" and "nakir" (Munkar and Nakir). The four canals are opened on the feast of the Cross. 2
People and things also explored
Hima (protected reserve)· Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah's detachment to the sea coast (the Khabat raid)· Surad ibn Abdullah's campaign against Jurash and the conversion of its people· Ibn al-Bitar Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Ahmad· The Prophet's letter to the district of Kharif and Hamdan
Sources
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p. 301-302
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p.301-302
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Nilometer”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/miqyas-al-nil/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.