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Geography of Egypt
CHW 3M
Another River Civilization
• Civilization in Egypt began about 3100 BCE,
not long after it began in Mesopotamia
• Like Mesopotamia, Egypt developed around
a great river system
• Egyptian civilization began as a scattering of
villages and settlements along the mighty
Nile River, the longest river in the world
• Greek historian, Herodotus:
“Egypt is wholly the gift of the Nile”
Similar to Mesopotamia
• Land along the banks of the Nile was
extremely fertile
• The river flooded annually, depositing rich
supplies of silt for surrounding fields
• To the Egyptians, the Nile was a lifeline
• It provided water for both irrigation and
drinking, silt for their fields, and a natural
highway to link their communities
Different from Mesopotamia
• The Nile was a friendlier river than either the
Tigris or the Euphrates, and so life was more
stable in ancient Egypt than in Mesopotamia
• Sudden and disastrous floods like those in
Mesopotamia happened rarely
• The flooding of the Nile was more
predictable
• In fact, flooding was so predictable that
Egyptians could set their agricultural calendar
according to the river’s schedule
White Nile and Blue Nile
• The waters of the Nile River come from the
convergence of two rivers: the Whilte Nile
and the Blue Nile
• The Blue Nile, fed by the summer monsoons
in Ethiopia, led to the flooding of the Nile
• This flooding occurs annually between July
and October
• The receding waters leave behind a rich soil,
which makes the Nile River Valley a fertile
and productive region
The White Nile is called so because of the
light-coloured clay sediment in the water
giving the river a light grey colour.
The Blue Nile is so-called because
during flood times the water is so high, it
changes colour to an almost black. The
local Sudanese language world for
black is also used for the colour blue
Egypt in Development
• As ancient Egyptian civilization developed, it stretched from
the mouth of the Nile on the Mediterranean Sea south to
Elphantine, near the First Cataract of the Nile (cataracts =
white water rapids)
• Filled with granite rock, this cataract served as a natural
border between Egypt and Nubia to the south
Nubia
• For years, Egypt traded or fought with Nubia
• During the New Kingdom, Egypt conquered
Nubia
• Nubians served in Egyptian armies and
influenced Egyptian culture
• Egyptian art from this period shows Nubian
soldiers, musicians, or prisoners
• When Egypt declined, Nubia conquered
Egypt. Nubians did not see themselves as
conquerors. They respected Egyptian
traditions
Black Land and Red Land
• The Egyptians called the region of rich soil
along the banks of the Nile the Kemet, or
Black Land
• Beyond this fertile strip of land were the dead
sands of the surrounding deserts: the Libyan
Desert to the west and the Arabian Desert to
the east
• The Egyptians called these forbidding
territories the Deshret, or the Red Land
Desert Treasures
• The desolate appearance of the Red Land was somewhat
deceiving
• A treasure house of minerals lay beneath the shifting sands
• The Arabian Desert was a source of gold and fine gems,
including garnet, agate, and chalcedony
• The desert lands farther east in the Sinai Pininsula provided
copper for manufacture of tools and weapons
• The Libyan Desert in the west yielded valuable building
materials such as granite, quartzite, flint, marble, and slate
Garnet
Agate
Chalcedony
Amethyst
Desert Treasures cont.
• The Deshret was also valuable in other ways
• In the Libyan Desert, running parallel to the Nile, were six
oases (fertile areas) called wadis.
• Two of the wadis became important suppliers of wine;
another, the Wadi Natrun, was a source of natron, a salt
used in the embalming of bodies (mummification process)
Geographic Barriers of Egypt
• The deserts also acted
as a buffer, shielding
Egypt from invasions
and, to some extent,
insulating it from
outside influences
• Red Sea to the East
• Mediterranean to the
North
Upper Egypt
• There were also major differences between the landscapes of
the upper and lower regions of the Nile
• The landscape of Upper Egypt was marked by the Nile river
valley, which ranged from 6 to 20 km wide
• In this region, called the ta-shema or land of the shemareed, the Nile flows from the highlands in a single stream
towards modern Cairo creating a deep trench with cliffs
towering on either side several hundred metres high
• The people living in the Nile river valley could never forget
how close they were to the desert, its mountains and cliffs
stood in clear view, reminding the Egyptians of their
dependance on the Nile
Lower Egypt
• In Lower Egypt, north of present-day Cairo, the
Nile separates into different branches that veer
northeast and northwest to the Mediterranean Sea,
creating a fertile triangular plain
• This area was called the ta-mehu, the land of the
papyrus plant, or the Nile delta
• Here, the land was black and flat, often swampy,
but with extensive areas of ideal pasture land
• The delta was more isolated and protected from
land invasions than the valley of Upper Egypt
• The outlet to the sea was also important for trade
and cultural exchange
The Nile Delta
• The area in which the Nile empties into the
Mediterranean Sea is known as the Nile Delta
• The Nile Delta is the largest area of fertile
land in Egypt
The Mediterranean
• Another geographic feature that significantly
shaped Egyptian history was the
Mediterranean Sea, Egypt’s major outlet for
trade
• The extensive trade routes that were
established allowed Egypt to obtain a wide
diversity of goods
• Trade was also a key factor in the exchange of
cultures
• One cannot help but notice the tremendous
influence the Egyptians had on the
architecture and art of the Greeks
The Faiyum
• Lake Moeris, which lies at the end of a branch of the Nile, is
at the centre of an oasis known as the Faiyum
• Through extensive irrigation, the ancient Egyptians were
able to make the Faiyum the third largest area of settlement
and agriculture in Egypt
•Nile allowed huge territory to be
ruled by one leader
•Strong leadership needed to
organize harvest after flooding
•Other geography important too
•Big desert protected Egypt
(more time to develop)
THE NILE METER
A Nilometer was a structure for measuring the Nile River's clarity and
water level during the annual flood season. It was a step-like structure that
measured how high the flood would be. If it was low, there would be
famine. If it was too high, it would be destructive. There was a specific
mark that indicated how high the flood should be if the fields were to get
good soil.