Roda Island

Island in Cairo, Egypt

For other locations bearing similar names, see Rawda.

Roda Island

Native name:

جزيرة الروضة

Nile branch between Roda Island and Old Cairo

OpenStreetMap rendering of Roda Island

Geography
Location| Nile River, Cairo
Coordinates| 30°01′15″N 31°13′32″E﻿ / ﻿30.02083°N 31.22556°E﻿ / 30.02083; 31.22556
Administration

Egypt

Roda Island (or Rawdah Island, Arabic: جزيرة الروضة, Jazīrat ar-Rawdah  [ɡɪˈziːɾɪt eɾˈɾoːdɑ]) is an island neighbourhood in the Nile in central Cairo, alternatively or partially known as Manial al-Roda, or al-Manial,[1] in reference to the main village that existed on the island before it was urbanised,[2] and is part of the Misr al-Qadima district.

## History

[edit]

The island was known in Antiquity as Babylonian Island (Ancient Greek: Νῆσος Βαβυλῶνος), referring to the Babylon Fortress.[3]

During the reign of caliph Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik of the Umayyad dynasty, a nilometer was built on the southern tip of the island opposite the mouth of the Khalij canal in AD 715 to measure the annual Nile flood.[4][5] The structure was replaced in AD 861, during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil,[6] overseen by the astronomer Alfraganus, and despite a number of modifications, is still extant today and known as the Roda Island Nilometer.[7]

The Ayyubid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub (Reigned 1240 to 1249, great-nephew of Saladin) built a palace at the southern tip of the island near the nilometer.[8][9]

The mamluk Bahri dynasty originally settled on Roda Island at the palace.[9] The name of the dynasty, "Bahriyya", means 'of the river', referring to their original settlement on the island on the Nile.

The Bostan al-Kebir (Great Gardens) started to be planned and grown on the island in 1829 by Viceroy Ibrahim Pasha, of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty.[10] In 1851 the Manasterly Palace, also known as the Kiosk was built on the island's southern tip on the ruins of the Ayyubid palace for Hassan Fouad Pasha Al-Manasterly, Katkhoda of Egypt during the reign of Abbas I.[8] Later in the early 20th Century the Prince Muhammad Ali Palace was built in the island's mid-north.[11]

Today, the island is a bustling neighbourhood of Cairo.[1]

## Gallery

[edit]

* Northern tip

* c.1800 map of Roda Island

* Wooden bridge near the Nilometer

* The Roda Island Nilometer, and island in the Nile

* The Manasterly Palace

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Manial Al-Roda: Birdsong and the call to prayer - Features - Al-Ahram Weekly". Ahram Online. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
2. ^ Egyptian Survey Department (1915). "Map of Cairo". Al-Madaq. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
3. ^ Maspero, Jean; Wiet, Gaston (1919). "Materiaux pour servir à la Géographie de l'Égypte". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 53 (4): 68.
4. ^ Brian Fagan (1 August 2010). The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 167\. ISBN 978-1-59691-780-4.
5. ^ Ibn ʿAsākir. Tārīkh Madīnat Dimashq. pp. 8:84.
6. ^ Doris Behrens-Abouseif (1992). Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction. BRILL. p. 51\. ISBN 90-04-09626-4.
7. ^ "Rawda Island Nilometer". egymonuments.gov.eg. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
8. ^ a b "A Virtual Tour through Al-Manasterly palace and the Nilometer". egymonuments.gov.eg. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
9. ^ a b Al-Maqrizi, p.405/vol. 1
10. ^ Rafaat, Samir (1997-11-27). "Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik Manial Retreat". www.egy.com. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
11. ^ "Manial Palace Museum". egymonuments.gov.eg. Retrieved 2023-02-19.

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Rhoda Island at Wikimedia Commons

* The Al-Manyal Palace Museum and gardens
* (in German) Wikivoyage.org: Rōḍa \- on Wikivoyage.org

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