Ancient Egypt
The Geography of the Nile
The Course of the Nile
The Nile River is the longest
river in the world. It starts in
central Africa and flows north,
and dumps into the
Mediterranean Sea. The Nile
is over 4,000 miles long,
which is longer than the
distance across the United
States.
The Nile has two main sources (the
place a river starts) - The Blue Nile
rises in the highlands of Ethiopia and
the White Nile begins deep in central
Africa. The two rivers meet at
Khartoum, Sudan and travel north the
the Mediterranean Sea.
The Nile Through Ancient Nubia
From Khartoum
northward, the Nile
makes a large S
shape. The northern
tip of the S is at the
city of Aswan in
Egypt. The land
from Khartoum to
Aswan was once
called Nubia.
The Nubian section of
the Nile contained six
rock-filled rapids
called cataracts.
Lower Nubia was
between the First and
Second Cataracts.
Lower Nubia was had
little farmland, and it
didn’t rain much there.
Farther south,
between the
Second and Sixth
Cataracts was a
region that was
referred to as
Upper Nubia.
There is rainfall
in upper Nubia,
but there is only
about two miles
worth of
farmland on
either side of the
river.
The Nile Through Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptian
section of the Nile ran
for about 700 miles,
between the First
Cataract at Aswan to
the Mediterranean
Sea. It passed
through Upper Egypt,
which was a narrow
region of fertile soil.
There was about 6
miles of fertile soil on
each side of the river
in Upper Egypt.
The Nile Through Ancient Egypt
In the north, the Nile
spread out to form a
fertile, marshy area.
This was called Lower
Egypt. Dry deserts
surrounded the river’s
green banks. At the end
of the nile, the river split
into several streams that
flowed into the
Mediterranean Sea.
These streams formed a
delta, or triangle shape,
of extremely fertile soil.
The Gifts of the Nile
Every spring,
waters came
rushing down
from the
highlands. The
rushing waters
carried a rich,
fertile soil called
silt. Each spring
the Nile flooded
the dry land, and
deposited a layer
of the silt, which
was ideal for
farming.
Black Land and Red Land
The ancient Egyptians
called their land Kemet,
which meant “the black
land.” The rich fertile
soil that was left by the
Nile’s floods was dark in
color. The Egyptians
could count on the
floods nearly every year.
Sometimes the floods
would not come, which
caused a famine.
Beyond the fertile lands lay
the vast deserts, or “red land.”
Most of the Sahara Desert lay
to the west of the Nile, and
there was also desert lands on
the east. The deserts were
dangerous and could not grow
anything. The deserts helped
protect the ancient Egyptians
from attackers. Unlike the
wide open lands of
Mesopotamia, which were
constantly under attack, Egypt
faced few invaders.
Civilizations Along the Nile
Communities began
in the Nile delta of
Lower Egypt by
around 4000 B.C.
These people built
villages with straw
and mud homes.
The first Nubian
communities appeared
around 3800 B.C. Since
farming was more difficult
in Nubia, the Nubians also
fished in the Nile River and
hunted ducks for food.
The Growth of Trade
The Nile River
provided a great
transportation route for
trade. Ships could
float downriver
because the river
flowed north. They
could also sail upriver,
because the wind blew
toward the south.
Trade routes over land also
developed. Because of the
cataracts, people could not
travel through Nubia on the
Nile River. The Nubians
developed trade routes over
land, and one went through
the Nile River Valley. The
Nubians became famous
traders, and would bring
things from central Africa to
trade at bazaars in Egyptian
cities.