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The Nile River Valley
• With an astounding length of 4,145 miles,
the Nile River is the longest river in the
world, and the only major river that flows
south to north.
• The Nile River is often called the
“lifeblood” or “The Gift” of Egypt.
Upper and Lower Egypt
• Ancient Egypt includes two regions,
upper (southern) and lower (Northern)
Egypt
Blue and White Nile
• At its source, The Nile is 2 separate rivers:
the Blue Nile flows out of the mountains
and meets with the White Nile.
Cataracts
• Along the Nile there are locations called
cataracts. The cataracts prevented
invasions from the South along the Nile
River. The rushing and swirling water was
too difficult to travel along.
Geography of Egypt
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Harsh deserts surrounded the Nile river. The Libyan
and Eastern deserts acted as a natural barrier against
invasions.
The Nile River flooded each year to create a long
narrow corridor about 12 miles wide of very fertile soil.
•
When the land was covered in silt ,it looked black.
They called this the black land or Kemet.
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The dry area looked red so they called it the red land.
Delta
• Before the Nile reaches the Mediterranean Sea,
it splits into many branches. These waterways
form a fan-shaped area of fertile land called a
delta.
Flood season
• The “Inundation” was the time from June
to September. This was the time of the
flood. During this time, Egyptians were
paid to work for the Pharaoh on building
projects.
Flood season
• The “Emergence” of the land from the water
covering was from October to February. During
this time, Egyptians planted and captured as
much water as possible in irrigation ditches.
• The last of the three seasons was the “drought”
season. During the drought, the harvest took
place.
Papyrus
• Papyrus was one of the most versatile
plants growing along the Nile. The plant
was used to make paper, sandals, boats,
ropes, and even paintbrushes.
Hieroglyphics
• The Egyptians came up with a writing system called
hieroglyphics. It was a combination of pictures and
sound symbols.
• Scribes wrote on papyrus.
People of the Nile
• Egyptian people also ate fish from the river, but
the Pharaoh never ate fish because it was
considered “unclean” from the Nile waters.
• Most Egyptians were farmers. They lived in
mud-brick one story houses on small rented
plots of land.
•
Advances in farming
• Canals were dug from the Nile to the
farms for irrigation. Egyptians also used a
shadoof (bucket attached to a long pole) to
get water from the river.
Uniting Egypt
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At first Upper and Lower Egypt were not united.
Upper Egypt was symbolized by a white cone-shaped
crown.
Lower Egypt was symbolized by a red crown.
Around 3100BC, Narmer (Menes) from Upper Egypt
conquered Lower Egypt and married one of their
princesses, uniting both kingdoms.
Dynasties
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Menes is considered Egypt’s first Pharaoh.
He also created the first dynasty (line of rulers
from the same family) in Egypt.
He also built a new capital city that was later
called Memphis.
From 3100 BC to 332 BC a series of 32
dynasties ruled Egypt. These time periods are
known as the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom,
and New Kingdom.