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Contents
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The Nile
The River Nile was very important to the Ancient Egyptians because it provided much needed water for drinking, washing and farming. This was vital in a country as hot and dry as Egypt. The Nile runs from central Africa northward to the Mediterranean Sea. The main river is called the White Nile, which begins in Lake Victoria and flows steadily throughout the year. In Ancient Egypt the Nile overflowed its banks every summer. During the flood the banks of the river were covered in mud and water, and when the floodwaters went down they left a rich, damp layer of silt. The annual flood was caused by the White Nile's two main tributaries, the Blue Nile and the smaller Atbara River, which carry water from the heavy winter rains in the mountains of Ethiopia At the height of the flood, the amount of water increased as much as 50 times the normal flow. This was enough to fertilize a strip of land along the course of the river which was as much as 40km wide in some places.
Above The picture above shows the highly fertile land that lies by the side of the Nile.
The flooding of the Nile was the most important event of the year. The Egyptians organised their life around it, dividing the year into three seasons - Flood, Seed and Harvest. Life itself depended on the flood. In good years, people grew fat. In bad years, when the river was very low, they went hungry.
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