Fitzgerald
Chapter - Ancient Egypt and Nubia
Section - The Geography of the Nile
Heading
Questions
Map of
Ancient Egypt
and Nubia
Paragraph Main Idea
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The Nile River flows through Egypt to the Mediterranean.
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p. 69
Introduction
p. 70
The Course of
the Nile River
p.71
p. 71
flows north
flowing downhill from elevations of 1600 - 6500 feet to
elevations of 0 - 650 feet
The Greek historian Herodotus called Egypt the gift of the Nile.
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he explored the river in 400 BCE
he had to stop at rapids
never found the source
basic truth - There would be no Egypt without the Nile.
The Nile is the world's longest river.
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The Nile
through
Ancient Nubia
Detail
Detail
Flows north
Source East Africa
Flows to Mediterranean Sea
4000 miles
Two sources - Blue Nile and White Nile
Blue - highlands of Ethiopia - races in thundering
torrents
White from East African swamps - calmer
Meet in present-day Sudan
Flow through desert
After the White and blue meet, the Nile makes two huge bends
forming a huge S.
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1000 miles of river in this S
the land of Nubia was here
The S had 6 cataracts
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a cataract - rock-filled rapids
between the 1st and 2nd cataracts - dessert and granite
mountains lined river
o no farm land
o but still lived close to Nile  rarely rained
Additions and
Corrections
o
called Lower Nubia
Last 4 cataracts - Upper Nubia
 still very little farmland
 only 2 miles on each side of river
 but did rain so could plant
The Nile
Through
Ancient Egypt
p.72
Ancient Egypt from First Cataract to Mediterranean
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700 miles
Upper Egypt - narrow fertile land 6 miles on either side
of river
Lower Egypt - wider fertile marshy area in north
deserts on both sides after fertile land
Near Mediterranean, at mouth, forms delta.
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The Gifts of
the Nile p.72
Black Land
and Red Land
p. 73
rivers split into streams as reach sea level
streams take different paths down to sea
form a triangular area - Greek letter "delta" looks like
triangle
Waters rush in Spring and carry rich fertile sediment called silt.
 deposits silt when spills over its banks
 makes land ideal for farming
Egyptians called rich soil along river "Kemet," the black land.
 because of dark soil left by Nile floods
 timing and height of floods could vary
 but no worries of sudden (flash) floods
 dry years rare - but could cause famine
Land beyond fertile soil called "red land"
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Desert
Protection
p. 73
red land = desert
Sahara Desert to west
Eastern Desert to east (also part of Sahara)
not friendly to human life o useless for farming
o only traveled by those who knew it very well
Deserts formed a protection Mesopotamia did not have
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Hot sands of Sahara like a shield
Mesopotamia invaded often
In 2000 years Egypt faced few invasions
Draw picture here
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The Growth of
Communities
and Trade
Along the Nile
p. 74
Living Along
the Nile p.74
Not isolated though - Nile connects to Central Africa
Mediterranean and Red Sea to Southwest Asia
(Mesopotamia)
Settlement in area began 600 BCE
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First settled hunting and fishing communities in Nubia
Then farming communities in Nubia ad Egypt in 5000
BCE
Trade grew with communities
Communities along fertile banks
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In delta and fertile valley
Later in Upper Egypt
Homes of bricks made from mud and straw
Nubians must add to diet because have less farmland
A Highway of
Trade p.75
 Fish
 Ducks and other birds along bank
Transport goods along Nile
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Routes
through Nubia
Ships can go north and south on Nile - ADD - THIS IS
RARE!!!
o north - downstream
o south - sail with prevailing winds
Caravans also go across Eastern Desert to Red Sea ports
or Mesopotamia
Export - gold, silver, copper, fine pottery
Import
o cedar wood from Phoenicia across
Mediterranean
o gold through Nubia
goods sold in marketplaces - called bazaars
Nubia can only trade by land due to cataracts
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still famous traders because in the middle
Connect goods between Central Africa and Egypt and
Mesopotamia
One famous caravan had 300 donkeys
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Carried ebony wood, elephant ivory, otrich feathers
and eggs, and panther skins
Other popular object - African boomerang used for
hunting