{"product_id":"old-map-of-rhoda-island-cairo-by-norden-1755-nile-stone-bridge-aqueduct-canal-dike","title":"Old Map of Rhoda Island, Cairo by Norden, 1755: Nile Stone Bridge, Aqueduct, Canal, Dike","description":"\u003cp\u003ePlan de l'Isle de Rodda, avec ses Environs presents mid‑eighteenth‑century Cairo through the microcosm of Roda Island, poised between the banks of Cairo and Giza on the Nile. Norden’s refined engraved style and ornate cartouche frame a scene where city and river negotiate space, commerce, and power. The map is a notable city plan not only for its island focus, but for how it situates Roda within the broader urban fabric, labeling “Partie de Cairo” and “Partie de Gizeh,” and tracing major thoroughfares such as the Grande rue and Rue de l’Isle. Norden records a living topography—streets, gardens, official residences, and working riverfronts—while noting candidly that “Partie de l’Isle qui reste inondé” persists, a constant reminder of the Nile’s seasonal sovereignty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHydrology, measurement, and control are the protagonists of this sheet. The Mokkias pour observer l’accroissement du Nil—the famed Nilometer of Roda—anchors the island’s scientific and administrative significance, where each cubit of rising water once foretold taxation, planting, and prosperity. Norden sets this instrument within a network of interventions: the Digue shielding neighborhoods from flood, the Aqueduc and Canal knitting water supply and movement, and the Pont de Pierres linking riverine and urban circuits. Together they show a city shaped by engineering as much as by tradition. The explicit shading of permanently wet ground and the careful delineation of embankments make this an unusually candid and revealing urban map of Cairo’s hydraulic heart.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCommercial and civic life thread the island’s lanes with equal clarity. The Bazar and its Rue du Bazar announce a busy market quarter fed by river traffic, while the Grande rue channels movement between quays, workshops, and dwellings. Power and prestige are inscribed in the Jardin du Gouverneur and the Rue du Gouvernement, and in the Maison du Bachau (Pasha), whose placement proclaims authority along the Nile’s edge. Norden even notes the Calisch à sec, a dry dock attesting to Roda’s boatbuilding and maintenance economy. Leafy retreats—Jardin, Rue du Jardin, and Rue de la Terrasse—punctuate the dense urban texture, while Rue d’Eau and Rue de l’Isle map the intimate dialogue between street, shoreline, and current.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAntiquarian imagination and deep memory gleam in the labels. The Grenier de Joseph evokes long‑standing lore that read ancient structures through biblical narrative, and Rue de Memphis gestures westward to the age‑old capital beyond the river. By marking “Partie de Cairo” and “Partie de Gizeh,” the map places Roda at a hinge of history, where Ottoman‑era administration looked across to pharaonic landscapes and medieval neighborhoods. This layered sensibility makes the sheet far more than a local plan: it is a chorography of connections—markets to ministries, gardens to barrages, sacred measurements to seasonal floods—rendered with a precision that lets the viewer walk the shoreline and cross the stone bridge in the mind’s eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrederic Louis Norden, the Danish cartographer, explorer, and painter behind Voyage d’Égypte et de Nubie, brought a draftsman’s discipline and an artist’s sensitivity to Egypt and Nubia. His line work balances clarity and atmosphere, distinguishing embankments from streets, cultivated plots from inundated ground, and civic landmarks from humble lots. Long before the Napoleonic savants, Norden captured Cairo’s urban dynamics with an empirical attention rare for the time, and Roda Island—home to the Nilometer and the mechanisms of flood management—was central to that story. For collectors and historians alike, this map offers an authoritative, intimate city portrait, where infrastructure, ceremony, and daily life converge on a sliver of land at the very pulse of the Nile.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStreets and roads on this map\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAqueduc\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCanal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDigue\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGrande rue\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMokkias\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRue du Bazar\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRue du Gouvernement\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRue du Jardin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRue de Joseph\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRue de Memphis\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRue de l'Isle\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRue d'Eau\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRue de la Terrasse\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotable Features \u0026amp; Landmarks\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBazar\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCalisch à sec\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGrenier de Joseph\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJardin du Gouverneur\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMaison du Bachau\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMokkias pour observer l'accroissement du Nil\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePont de Pierres\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePartie de Cairo\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePartie de Gizeh\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePartie de l'Isle qui reste inonde\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJardin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDivers settlements and lots within the urban layout\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical and design context\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1755 Copenhagen edition of Frederic Louis Norden’s Voyage d’Egypte et de Nubie (plate 25).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEngraved 18th-century style with intricate line work and an ornate cartouche; clear delineation of river, urban fabric, and topography.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHighlights significant buildings and notes that much of Roda Island remains continuously flooded.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDepicts Roda Island within Cairo, situating it between Cairo and Giza on the Nile.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReflects mid-18th-century urban dynamics and infrastructure of Cairo, especially flood management and measurement.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMapmaker: Frederic Louis Norden, Danish cartographer, explorer, and painter known for detailed depictions of Egypt and Nubia.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/it\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eThis map is taller than most, which would make it a perfect statement piece in a panelled room, on a gallery wall, or perhaps alongside another tall piece of art or furniture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the \u003ca href=\"\/it\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003ebest old maps\u003c\/a\u003e to see if something else catches your eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease \u003ca href=\"\/it\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003econtact me\u003c\/a\u003e to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex\/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58722164736384,"sku":null,"price":364.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58722164769152,"sku":null,"price":978.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x18in (30x45cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58722164801920,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"14x24in (36x60cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58722164834688,"sku":null,"price":680.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"14x24in (36x60cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58722164867456,"sku":null,"price":1490.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"14x24in (36x60cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58722164900224,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"24x36in (60x90cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58722164932992,"sku":null,"price":820.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"24x36in (60x90cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58722164965760,"sku":null,"price":2235.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"24x36in (60x90cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58722164998528,"sku":null,"price":2514.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"28x45in (70x114cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58722165031296,"sku":null,"price":1071.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"28x45in (70x114cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58722165064064,"sku":null,"price":4376.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"28x45in (70x114cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58722165096832,"sku":null,"price":4376.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"31x50in (79x127cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58722165129600,"sku":null,"price":1955.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"31x50in (79x127cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58722165162368,"sku":null,"price":8146.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"31x50in (79x127cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58722165195136,"sku":null,"price":7029.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"33x60in (84x150cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58722165227904,"sku":null,"price":2607.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"33x60in (84x150cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58722165260672,"sku":null,"price":13033.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"33x60in (84x150cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58722165293440,"sku":null,"price":12102.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"44x70in (112x178cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58722165326208,"sku":null,"price":4283.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"44x70in (112x178cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58722165358976,"sku":null,"price":17455.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true},{"title":"44x70in (112x178cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58722165391744,"sku":null,"price":16291.0,"currency_code":"CNY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/0344\/8638\/files\/file_e6f2e7bb-ea7f-4a81-9e09-d3f453b20437.jpg?v=1786982698","url":"https:\/\/uniquemaps.co\/it\/products\/old-map-of-rhoda-island-cairo-by-norden-1755-nile-stone-bridge-aqueduct-canal-dike","provider":"The Unique Maps Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}