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View of the “Nilometer” portion of the mosaic located on the eastern portion of the southern aisle of the church. Many portions of the mosaic are representation of Egyptian/Nilotic scenes—including this one. The upper portion of the Nilometer is original. Note the Greek letters used to indicate the height of the river.
Nilometers were placed all along the Nile to measure the extent of its inundation. The higher the rise of the Nile—the higher the taxes that year!
Some readers of Greek will notice the "odd" character that is the fifth from the top. This character is called a episemon/Diagamma/Stigma and in modern Greek is used as a numeral.
For a map and a brief description of Tabgha/Heptapegon Click Here.