Nilometer on the Blue Nile riverbank, Wad Madani, Sudan

"A Nilometer on the Blue Nile at Wad Medani, ninety miles from Khartoum. Sudanese gauge the height of the Nile by the steps of the Nilometer and from this predict the height of the annual floods. The ancient Egyptians also built Nilometers, usually bu cutting lines on a smooth rock on the river's edge." [Elisofon E., Van Der Post L., 1964: The Nile, The Viking Press].

"Sudan is the largest country on the African continent. One major topographical feature of Sudan is the Nile river (Nīl, Nahr an-). The White Nile (Abyad, Al-Bahr al-)goes into the country through the Uganda border and meets the Blue Nile at a point near Khartum, and forms the Nile proper. the Blue Nile (An-Nīl al-Azraq ) rises in the Ethiopian plateau , and flows across east central Sudan. Wad Madani is the capital of Al Jazirah state in east-central Sudan. It grew rapidly following the 1925 Gezira Scheme to stimulate local economic development. The beaches of Wad Madani are situated on the eastern river bank of the Blue Nile." This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from January 8, 1947 to end of June 1947.