Nilometer

Example Sentences

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Lanchester concludes that “words longer mean what they once did. It is not a process intended to deceive, but, like the Nilometer, it confines knowledge to a priesthood—the priesthood of people who can speak money.”

From Forbes • Aug. 7, 2014

If the Nilometer which measures the height of the flood indicates eight cubits, the crops will be scanty; but if it reaches fourteen cubits, there will be a plentiful harvest.

From History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) Revised Edition by Draper, John William

Roda Island contains a mosque built by Kait Bey, and at its southern extremity is the Nilometer, by which the Cairenes have for over a thousand years measured the rise of the river.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various

We know that the column of the Nilometer has been frequently repaired, which fact explains the apparent discrepancy between the height of the gauge as given in Benjamin's narrative and the figures just mentioned.

From The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela by Benjamin of Tudela

Nilometer, nī-lom′e-tėr, n. a gauge for measuring the height of water in the river Nile: any river-gauge—also Nī′loscope.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various