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The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture and the only member of the genus Neophron. It is widely distributed; the Egyptian vulture is found from southwestern Europe and northern Africa to India. The contrasting underwing pattern and wedge-shaped tail make it distinctive in flight as it soars in thermals during the warmer parts of the day. Egyptian vultures feed mainly on carrion but are opportunistic and will prey on small mammals, birds, and reptiles. They also feed on the eggs of other birds, breaking larger ones by tossing a large pebble onto them. The use of tools is rare in birds and apart from the use of a pebble as a hammer, Egyptian vultures also use twigs to roll up wool for use in their nest. Egyptian vultures that breed in the temperate regions migrate south in winter while tropical populations are relatively sedentary. Populations of this species have declined in the 20th century and some island populations are endangered by hunting, accidental poisoning, and collision with power lines.
-Wikipedia
Egyptian Chain Bridge
Egyptian bridge. Engraving Poppel. 1830s
The need to build a new bridge across the Fontanka was determined by two circumstances: the large distance between the Kalinkin and Izmailovsky bridges and the long-overdue need for improving transport links between the areas separated by the Fontanka .
The design of the bridge was compiled by engineer V. A. Khristianovich (in consultation with Tretter) [4]. The prototype of the bridge was the Panteleymonovsky Chain Bridge over the Fontanka River near the Summer Garden. The third project was approved, providing for a bridge perpendicular to the embankment, not taking into account the direction of streets approaching the bridge (the two previous projects, which provided a slanting plan in the plan, were rejected due to the higher cost) .
The start date of construction can be considered August 1825, when piles began to hammer under the foundations of coastal abutments (from August 9 to 25, 264 piles 8.52 m and 10.65 m long were driven in) [3]. From August to the end of October 1825, work was carried out on the construction of granite foundations of the bridge, up to 130 masons were employed in these works .
The metal structures of the bridge were made at the Byrd factory. It should be noted that all the metal parts of the bridge were previously subjected to tensile testing by a machine specially designed and manufactured at the Byrd plant .
Sculptures of sphinxes were also cast at the Byrd factory according to the model of the sculptor P. P. Sokolov .Pedestals were made in Petrozavodsk .Shore foundations and stone work were carried out by contractor Gavriil Vasiliev. In this case, granite blocks were taken out of the walls of the moats surrounding the Engineering Castle [3] as the facing material.
The construction of the Egyptian bridge was a significant event in the history of bridge construction in St. Petersburg .
A month before the end of construction, the opening ceremony was developed [10]. On August 25, 1826, at eight in the afternoon, the bridge was opened in the presence of professors, engineers and students of the Railway Corps, teachers and students of the Military Construction School and a large number of townspeople .
The Egyptian chain bridge, in principle, was not much different from the Panteleimon bridge built earlier by the same authors. By design, the bridge was chain, suspension, single-span. The span was supported by three rows of chains anchored into the foundations .
Egyptian bridge in 1896
The bridge had abutments protruding into the river, lined with granite. On foundations, within the walls of embankments, on four granite pedestals, cast-iron sphinxes were installed, over whose heads were small hexagonal lanterns .
Chains with articulated joints made of iron links “welded” from bar and strip iron of oblong-annular cross-section were connected by bolts .
The authors made a number of improvements to the bridge construction (compared to the Panteleimonovsky bridge construction), which were supposed to reduce vertical and lateral rocking: the span structure was supported by three rows of chains (instead of five by Panteleimonovsky); the arrangement of sidewalks on consoles outside the outer chains and the location of the chains so that they barely touch the flooring; installation of movable bogies or cylinders over chain supports .
The technical characteristic of the bridge was as follows: bridge span - 54.8 m; bridge width - 11.7 m; the distance between the points of application of the chains to the portals is 48.46 m; boom lift 1/10 span; the height of the columns of the portal is 6.5 m; the diameter of the columns at the base is 65 cm, at the top - 50 cm .
The bridge had a rich architectural design in the "Egyptian style." The columns, frieze and cornice - elements of the portal - were most lavishly decorated. The columns and buttresses were covered by an architrave beam with a developed Egyptian cornice, on which small and large gilded images of the god Ra in the form of a winged sun were strengthened. The portals were decorated with a gilded ornament, and lanterns with “Warsaw” lamps were arranged in them [9]. The joints of the elements of chains and fences were covered with gilded rosettes. Stylized ornaments in cast iron, covered with gold leaf on a brown background of a painted surface, were distinguished by subtle and highly artistic forms.
The cast-iron railing of the bridge was also designed in the “Egyptian manner”. Portals, bars, pedestals under the sphinxes and chains were painted brown and imitated under the old bronze, and the sphinxes were covered with yellow paint “under the bronze” .At the beginning of the XX century. all parts of the bridge, including previously gilded, were repainted in dark red. In later repairs, the cast-iron gratings of the bridge were replaced with iron ones of a different design .
Malaya Nevka. Marina with sphinxes
For the bridge, two trial sphinx sculptures were originally cast at Bird’s factory. At the beginning of the XX century, they were bought by the merchant Galaktionov, who was engaged in metal trading, and installed at his house on Vereiskaya Street. When the merchant moved to Mozhaiskaya Street, these sphinxes were also transferred there. In the 1960s on the initiative of the chief engineer of the Lenmostotrest P.P. Stepnov, the sphinxes were restored and in 1971 installed on the staircase descent of Malaya Nevka embankment near the Kamennoostrovsky bridge. In 2005, the sculptures affected by the vandals were dismantled and, after restoration, temporarily installed in front of the building of the State Unitary Enterprise Mostotrest on Industrial Avenue. On April 17, 2010, the sphinxes were returned to the embankment of Malaya Nevka .
The collapse of 1905 [edit | edit code]
The Egyptian bridge served for 79 years, during which repeated repairs were carried out: in 1866 [18], 1876, 1887 ,1894 (replacement of the lower flooring) 1900
On January 20 (February 2), 1905, a squadron of guards cavalry passed over the bridge, 11 sledges with chariots were moving towards it. At this moment, the bridge collapsed on the ice of the Fontanka. There were no casualties; three horses died [10].
The daily “News of the day” wrote on January 21, 1905
Today at 12 ½ hours. days following the Life Guards of the equestrian-grenadier regiment over the Egyptian Chain Bridge over the Fontanka, in the direction from Mogilyovskaya Street to Novo-Petergofsky Prospekt, at the moment when the head of the regiment was already approaching the opposite bank, the bridge collapsed. The officers in front managed to slip ashore, the lower ranks, in the amount of two platoons, which went into operation on the right, 3 in a row, together with the horses (fell) into the water. One draftsman and four passenger cabs without riders and several pedestrians also fell into the water. The entire bridge deck, along with the railing and fasteners, breaking the chains and breaking part of the cast-iron support, broke the ice and ended up at the bottom of the river. By 2 o’clock in the afternoon, people and horses were removed from the water. The victims were sent to the nearest emergency rooms and to the infirmary of the Nikolaev artillery school. According to official figures, there were no seriously injured. Of the horses, one sank, two were crippled and dragged ashore, shot. The cause of the disaster, as suggested, is the buildup of the bridge by cavalry with a not quite solid construction.
The New Time newspaper wrote: “The former Egyptian bridge now presents a miserable picture ... Only cast-iron sphinxes painted in red paint silently and mysteriously look at the worrying crowd ...” [22].
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Image-silk.png Report of the preparatory commission with an expert opinion on the reasons for the collapse of the Egyptian bridge over the Fontanka. 1906. TsGIA SPb
A special commission of the City Duma was established to investigate the causes of the destruction of the bridge and clarify the circumstances of the accident. According to the commission, the cause of the accident was the poor quality of iron - the presence of an internal shell in the metal of one of the chain links .
You can hear and read a lot of fables, various inaccurate opinions about the causes of the Egyptian Bridge accident, and in physics textbooks this fact without any evidence serves to explain the resonance phenomenon .
After analyzing the remains of the structures from the chain bridge, only coastal foundations and sculptures of the sphinxes remained. The accident caused skepticism about the Panteleimon chain, which was dismantled in 1907 .
Instead of the destroyed bridge in the Usachev Lane alignment, a wooden five-span bridge of the trapezoidal-strut system was built according to the project of engineer P. A. Likhachev. The temporary bridge was opened on April 16, 1905 .The bridge route was very inconvenient, since the transport entries were carried out at right angles along the narrow Fontanka embankments. With repeated repairs, the bridge lasted until 1955.
Egyptian vultures are widely distributed across the Old World with their breeding range from southern Europe to northern Africa east to western and southern Asia. They are rare vagrants in Sri Lanka. They occur mainly on the dry plains and lower hills. In the Himalayas, they go up to about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in summer. European populations migrate south to Africa in winter. Vagrants may occur as far south as in South Africa although they bred in the Transkei region prior to 1923. They nest mainly on rocky cliffs, sometimes adopting ledges on tall buildings in cities and on large trees.
Most Egyptian vultures in the temperate zone migrate south to Africa in winter. Like many other large soaring migrants, they avoid making long crossings over water. Italian birds cross over through Sicily and into Tunisia making short sea crossings by passing through the islands of Marettimo and Pantelleria. Those that migrate through the Iberian Peninsula cross into Africa over the Strait of Gibraltar while others cross further east through the Levant.
Migrating birds can sometimes cover 500 kilometres (310 mi) in a single day until they reach the southern edge of the Sahara, 3,500 to 5,500 kilometres (2,200 to 3,400 mi) from their summer home. Young birds that have not reached breeding age may overwinter in the grassland and semi-desert regions of the Sahel.
The Temple of Edfu is an Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in Edfu, Upper Egypt.
It is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt. The temple was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Hellenistic period in Egypt. In particular, the Temple's inscribed building texts "provide details [both] of its construction, and also preserve information about the mythical interpretation of this and all other temples as the Island of Creation." There are also "important scenes and inscriptions of the Sacred Drama which related the age-old conflict between Horus and Seth."
Monastère orthodoxe situé à 1570m au pied du Mont Sainte Catherine. Sa fondation date du VI ème siècle (Empereur Justinien). C'est un des plus anciens monastères chrétiens encore en activité.
Il est entouré de fortifications.
Had a chance to do some bird photography the other day. These Egyptian geese were in a smaller pond covered with duck weeds (Lemnoideae). Waited and finally got them together inside the frame for a close-up shot.
They spend most of the day in our yard foraging and chasing bugs. Then they go for a swim and come back. The male has a limp.
The Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) is a member of the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. It is native to Africa south of the Sahara and the Nile Valley.
~~La roussette d'Égypte - (Rousettus aegyptiacus) est une grande chauve-souris frugivore. C'est la plus connue de toutes les roussettes.
~~Cette espèce vit en colonies pouvant réunir plusieurs milliers d’individus. Pendant la journée, les roussettes se reposent dans l'obscurité de grottes ou de ruines, parfois dans les arbres. En fin d'après-midi, elles partent s'alimenter, à la recherche de fruits mûrs qu'elles affectionnent tout particulièrement.
~~Leur vue et leur odorat sont très performants. Pour s'orienter, elles utilisent à la fois leur vue et un système d'écholocation (elles produisent des "clics" avec leur langue) qui leur facilite la navigation dans le noir.
Prompt: legendary Cleopatra, beautiful and elegant Egyptian pharaoh, gold and luxurious, realistic 3d, dark vignette, cinematic lighting --ar 3:4 --v 6.1
Digital photographic fine art created using Midjourney AI v 6.1
Now well established in the area. Many tend to lay very early so will soon be sitting on their eggs.
Sarcophagus of the High Steward Djehutihotep, 19th dynasty.
1295 - 1186 BC. He is depicted as he was in his lifetime.
On the side of the sarcophagus, right to left, are representations of the gods Thoth, Amsit (?) then Anubis, Douamoutef and Thoth again at the other end.
Had to get one portrait in profile. Looks handsome rather than like an angry bird. Perfect colors for Halloween.
Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)
White Rock Lake, Dallas
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com