The Nilometer

In ancient Egypt, the priests of Hapi, god of the Nile floods, would gather in underground sanctuaries built along the Nile banks to take measure of its rising waters before the coming of akhet, the flood season. Each year, the flood waters would deposit onto the banks of the river the nutrient-rich alluvial mud that was critical to the growing of crops. From the time of the Pharoahs, devices known as Nilometers were used to measure the water level of the Nile and thereby predict the sufficiency of that year's harvest. A reading of 16 cubits on the Nilometer was ideal, and meant abundance for the land. 12 cubits suggested that the river would not yield enough silt to grow a full crop, and many families would go hungry that year. On the other end of the Nilometer, a reading of 18 cubits indicated the possibility of disastrous over-flooding, with the crop fields drowning and entire farms and homes being swept away.

One basic type of Nilometer used was a simple vertical column submerged in the river with measurements marked out in Egyptian cubits. Another variety was a stone staircase that led from high ground to a depth corresponding to a low-water level of the Nile, with a culvert built at the bottom to carry water from the river into the staircase. There were other types as well, and Strabo in his Geographica, describes yet another variety, located on Elephantine Island, at the First Cataract of the Nile:

"The nilometer is a well on the bank of the Nile constructed with close-fitting stones, in which are marks showing the greatest, least, and mean rises of the Nile; for the water in the well rises and lowers with the river. Accordingly, there are marks on the wall of the well, measures of the complete rises and of the others. So when watchers inspect these, they give out word to the rest of the people, so that they may know; for long beforehand they know from such signs and the days what the future rise will be, and reveal it beforehand."

Depictions of Nilus, the personification of the Nile river, were common on drachms of Roman Egypt during the rules of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. On some of these issues we find an Iς field mark, representing the 16-cubit measurement on the Nilometer that predicted a year of bounty and happiness. In one of Naville's recent sales, I picked up a rare variety showing a dome-shaped structure to the left of Nilus, with a baby Genius standing before it. The coin is a well-circulated example of the type, but despite the wear, you can see the Genius with his hands raised, and faintly visible above his head is the Iς Nilometer mark inscribed on the structure. The coin is dated L-IZ, or year 17 of Antoninus Pius's reign, probably a good year for the crops .

Feel free to post your Niluses!


ANTONINUS PIUS
AE Drachm. 21.24g, 32mm. EGYPT, Alexandria, RY 17 (AD 153-154). RPC 14929 (this coin cited). Dattari-Savio Pl. 141, 2763 (this coin). O: Laureate head right. R: Nilus, with crocodile beside him, reclining left, holding reed and cornucopia from which issues Genius holding wreath; to left, a dome inscribed Iς (for 16 cubits), in front of which stands a Genius; L-IZ (date) in field.
Ex Dattari Collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1853-1923)

Nilometers were built and used from Pharaonic times until the 20th century, when the completion of the Aswan Dam finally made them obsolete.


River entrance of the Assuan Elephantine Nilometer.


An Umayyad period Nilometer on Roda Island, designed by the astronomer and mathematician Ahmad al Farghani (Alfraganus) in AD 861.


From a wall relief at the Temple of Rameses II at Abydos : blue-skinned Hapi, Lord of the Fish and Birds of the Marshes, god of the Nile inundation.

 

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Nice coin and excellent post

 

Another fantastic StoryCoin, and with cool pedigree! Thanks for the writeup. I learned some things . I had assumed that the "dome" on these coins was the arched figure on the coin, something obelisk-like. Seeing your nilometer images showing buildings or enclosures, maybe I was wrong? Are the arched structures on these coins the river entrance to an enclosed nilometer?

I also have a nilometer drachm but it's a liiiiitttle less awesome. If you squint you can see a figure in the "entrance" to the nilometer


EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius
AE drachm, regnal year 17 (CE 153/4)
Obv: laureate bust left
Rev: Nilus, with crocodile below him, reclining left, holding reed and cornucopia; to left, a nilometer entrance (dome?), in front of which stands a Genius; L-IZ (date) in upper field
Ref: Emmett 1622.17; Dattari 2764
Ex Robert L. Grover Collection of Roman-Egyptian Coinage, previously held by the Art Institute of Chicago (1981.475); Supposedly ex Dattari Collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1853-1923), not in Savio.

Nilus is a frequent figure on coins of Roman Egypt. Somehow I've accumulated a bunch of mediocre examples of Nilus for several emperors.


Antoninus Pius drachm / Nilus reclining right, some creature below which is theoretically a crocodile but which looks more like a mutant hippo. Emmett 1621, RY 13


Hadrian drachm / Nilus seated left, holding reed, crocodile below right. Emmett 1016, RY16


A "what was I thinking" acquisition . Severus Alexander tetradrachm / Nilus reclining left, head turned right, holding reed and cornucopia, a bunch of little genius rug rats climbing up his leg. Emmett 3124, year 2.

I have more but this is, sadly, a fairly accurate representation of the quality of my Niluses.

 

I see the descriptions "small Genius inscribes Nilometer" and "domed Nilometer" used, but I'm not very convinced. I don't think it depicts an entrance either, primarily because "Iς" is clearly inscribed within the arch. Perhaps it represents a display of the Nilometer reading for the benefit of the public. I'm not sure one way or the other.

Here's an extremely rare and incredibly interesting drachm of Trajan (only $6500, just a tad above my pay scale ), showing Hapi and what's clearly a stairway-type Nilometer.

 

Well, I've just been educated! Excellent information @zumbly.

 

I neglected to mention that it's a fine looking coin as well.

 

The coolest ! Thanks again for the pic of the Dattari plate...

 

Thanks, Bing. It was perhaps just 5 or 10 years of circulation away from being worn slick, but whatever's on there looks good to me too.

 

A Gordian I believe with Nilus reverse.

 

My two show no meter but only the 16 (Iς) reading as desired. The Hadrian is year 12 spelled out in exergue while the Antoninus Pius shows year 13 (TPICKA) around the edge spelled out with the numeral 16 (Iς) immediately following it.

 

Very cool coins and regrettably I have no depictions of Nilus on my coins. I have visited several Nilometers though including the one on Elephantine, and another nearby the temple of Seti in Abydos. The ram-headed god Khnum was also responsible for the flow of the Nile along with Hapi, and legend has it that both Hapi and Khnum at Aswan controlled the waters.

 

WOW!! What a terrific thread---wonderfully presented with so many cool coins!!

Although I've gone after a few of the 'Nilus reclining' type, I still lack any in my collection

 

FYI here's Khnum, who wasn't often, if at all, depicted on the coinage.

 

I'll be darned, that's neat!

Man, I wish mine had a Nileometer!



Hadrian 117-138 AD Æ Drachm (35mm, 15.4g) Dated yr 2 (117/8 AD) Alexandria

Laureate bust right, slight drapery. / Nilus reclining left, holding reed and cornucopia; below; L B (date) in ex. Köln 760.

 

Cool thread @zumbly

 

That sounds like a very cool experience indeed!

Unfortunate but unsurprising that relatively few Egyptian gods made it onto coinage. Apparently some Alexander the Great type coins struck at Egyptian mints had a control symbol of ram-head wearing an Isis crown that was thought to represent Khnum. However, a recent CNG listing says that it's more likely Amon-Ra.

Not my coin:

 

Great write up @zumbly It's not often I'm paying enough attention on a Monday to say I learned something. But this time I was and learned something I didn't know.

 

Great point @zumbly and a nice example of the head of Amon-Ra. The Greeks (and after them, the Romans) tended to favor the syncretic Egyptian-Greco deities such as Serapis, Isis, and so on for the coinage, though Isis was originally an Egyptian goddess that became popular with the Ptolemaic rulers, eventually spreading throughout the roman empire after the time of Cleopatra. One thing potentially holding Khnum back was the 2nd century B.C.E. prophecy of the Oracle of the Potter (potter being Khnum) which predicted the demise of Alexandria and the return to prominence of the Egyptian people and their old gods. The god Thoth (wisdom and scribes) was associated with Hermes by the Ptolemies, resulting in the character of Hermes Trismegistus, which was popular in Egypt up until the time of the neoplatonists in the 3rd century C.E. If I recall correctly there are some later 4th century imperial bronzes that featured the Anubis festival on the reverse, but I don't have any examples of this type.

If anybody is interested here's a link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_of_the_Potter

 

Love this thread @zumbly !!! Sorry I cannot contribute, but I really enjoy your write up and the coins posted

 

Awesome coin with a neat provenance - and great write-up!