Manasterly Palace and Nilometer (Greater Cairo)

Al Manasterly palace is situated in the south western corner at the end of Al Roda island. It is the remaining part of a development
built by Hassan Fouad Al Manasterly Pasha 1851 A.D. His mosque where he is buried is situated near the palace. On the left side
stands the Nilometer that dates back to 861 A.D. in the reign of Caliph Al-Mutawakkil `Ala Allah Al Abbasi, bestowing more beauty
and significance on the place.

The Nilometer was used since civilization began to measure the progress of the Nile thus predicting the resulting harvest and
taxation. With the Nile now ensnared behind Aswan's High Dam, the Nilometer serves as a reminder that for seven thousand years of
recorded history the annual floods had religiously synchronized the nation's entire psyche. The first recorded evidence of the present
Nilometer goes back to 715 AD during the reign of Omayad Caliph Sulayman Abdel Malek. Restored in 815 by Caliph Al Mamoun it
toppled over during an exceptionally high flood in 850. Rebuilt by Caliph Al Motawakil and subsequently restored by Fatimid Caliph Al
Mostanssir in 1092 the Nilometer survived albeit in shambles up until the arrival of the French Expedition under Napoleon in 1798.

www.manasterly.com/
www.touregypt.net/featurestories/nilometerroda.htm