Bellringer
• What was silt and why was it so beneficial to
the Egyptian people? (page 63)
Bellringer
• How long was the Nile River in ancient Egypt?
Page 62
Bellringer
• Why was the area around the Nile River good
for farming?
Chapter 3 Ancient Egypt & Nubia
Section 1: The Geography of the Nile
The Course of the Nile
• Nile is the world’s longest river
• Flows north from its sources in central Africa
to the Mediterranean Sea for more than 4,000
miles
• More than the distance across the U.S.
The Nile Through Ancient Nubia
• Nile makes two bends, forming an S shape
• Northern tip of the S is the city of Aswan,
Egypt
• Land here is called Nubia
• Nubian section of the Nile contained six rock-filled
rapids called cataracts
• Rain does not fall in Lower Nubia so people must live
close to Nile
• Rain does fall in Upper Nubia and people farm in the
summer and fall very close to the river
The Nile Through Ancient Egypt
• Ancient Egyptian section of the Nile ran for 700
miles
• Nile spread out to form a fertile, marshy area
called Lower Egypt
• At the end of the Nile to the north, the river split
into several streams that are shaped like a
triangle and called the delta
• Delta contained very fertile farmland
The Gifts of the Nile
• Every spring, waters come from the highlands
and bring rich, fertile soil called silt
• Each spring, the Nile spills over its banks
• Silt was very good for farming
• Egyptians praised Hapi, the god of the Nile
Black Land and Red Land
• Ancient Egyptians called their land Kemet- black
land, because of the dark soil left by the Nile’s
floods
• Timing of the floods and height of the flood
water varied from year to year
• Egyptians did not have to worry about flash
floods and dry years were rare
Black Land and Red Land Cont.
• Red land was vast desert spread out on either
side of the river
• Most of this land is the Sahara Desert and
were not friendly to human life because you
could not farm
• Deserts protected Egypt and Nubia from foreign
attacks, unlike the Mesopotamians
• Egypt was still open to trade through the
Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and a path
through Central Africa
Civilizations Along the Nile
• Communities appeared in the Nile delta of
Lower Egypt around 4000 B.C.
• People built villages around the fertile river
beds
• Homes were built of straw or bricks made
from a mix of mud and straw
• First Nubian communities emerged around
3800 B.C.
• Nubians also fished and hunted since farming
was difficult
The Growth of Trade
• The Nile was a highway for trade
• Were able to travel up and down the river
easily
• Many caravans also traveled through this
region.
• Because of cataracts, people could not travel
through Nubia by river
• Nubians developed trade routes over land
• Nubians became famous traders of the
ancient world
Section 1 Review
1. How did the Nile River affect the lives of the
early Egyptians and Nubians?
Annual flooding of the Nile River left fertile land for
Egyptians and Nubians to farm
2. How did trade develop in various places
along the Nile?
Nile was a natural highway for Egyptian boats to sail
to other African and Southwest Asian countries for
trading