THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE NILE  

The Nile River is the lifeline of Egypt which is on the north east coast of Africa. Without it, the land would be nothing but desert. The Nile which is the longest river in the world, travels more than four thousand miles from Lake Tana in the Ethiopian high land to the Mediterranean Sea.

At six places along the Nile's twisting course, stone cliffs and boulders force it's waters through narrow channels. The rushing of the water makes waterfalls and rapid called cataracts. The very first cataract is on the Southern border of ancient Egypt. From the first cataract, the Nile River flows for about six hundred miles north. For most parts of this journey, it flows along as one river but, just south of Cairo, it divides itself up into many small channels and streams. This triangle of marshy and very wet land is called the Delta

(Here is a satellite photograph of the Nile Delta showing the triangle of marshy wet land which is in sharp contrast to the surrounding desert.)

ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE

Desert covers more than ninety percent of Egypt. The dessert called the Red Land supported only small settlements in wadis and oases. The Egyptians lived on the banks of the River Nile or beside canals leading from it. This was Kemet or the Black Land, named after the rich silt on which the farmers grew their crops. Without this fertility, there would have been no civilization in Egypt. Until the modern days the pattern of life in Egypt for the majority of people has depended on the exploitation of its agricultural resources. Today the increase of population, growth of cities and building of large industries is changing Egyptian lifestyles.

(Here is an interesting article on the Black Land.)

About two thousand five hundred years ago, Herdotus, who was a visitor from Greece, called Egypt "the gift of the Nile". The Egyptian people sang special hymns to the river. The hymn below was written down during the period of time called the New Kingdom (which was from about 1570 to 1070 B.C.). :

"Hail to thee O Nile that
issues from the earth
and comes to keep Egypt alive!
÷ He that waters the meadows
which Ra created."

To make the best use from the flooding of the Nile, the people built irrigation channels to carry water to their fields. They even built dams to hold back the water to be used during droughts. Many things these people did sound very similar to some people now. In some ways it was the same things the Sumerian people did. Since the floods came at predictable times in Egypt farming was much easier. The Egyptian people needed less cooperation than the Sumerians to get their work done. As a result they did not develop cities until a much later time.

Besides water, another very important gift of the Nile was the thick black mud which gets left behind during the flooding. This thick dark mud made the soil much richer and made the farmlands very productive.

The Nile gave the people other gifts too. Fish, geese, ducks and many other water birds that could be eaten made their homes in land of delta. A plant called papyrus which is a long, thin reed grew along the riverbanks. The Egyptians harvested papyrus and made lots of different things with it like: baskets, sandals, boats, and material to write on. The word paper that we use comes from the word papyrus.

(Here is a link to more information on papyrus.)

The Egyptian people used the precious gifts of the Nile extremely wisely. Here in this land of fertile riverbanks and barren deserts, floods and drought, Black Land Red Land these people somehow managed to build one of the most amazing civilizations in history.