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The Four Divisions
Four divisions are useful in considering Egypt's geography. The first division is between Upper and Lower Egypt, while the
second is between the Red Land (Desert) and the Black Land (Kemet). English speakers sometimes suffer confusion about the first
division, because Upper Egypt is in the south, while Lower Egypt is in the north. Upper or southern Egypt, is a narrow river valley,
rarely more than twelve miles wide, and more frequently only one or two miles wide. High cliffs hem it in on both sides. Lower or
northern Egypt is the broad delta above modern Cairo. The land is flat and fertile, and the rich soil of the Inundation often winds up
here. It was richer but softer than Upper Egypt.
Upper, or southern, Egypt, extended from Memphis in the north to Abu (Elephantine) in the south. This is approximately the
distance from the 30-degrees North line to the Tropic of Cancer. The western oasis of Fayum is within this district, as are the major
cities of Herakelopolis, Quis, Thinis, Abydos, Dendera, Nekhen/Hierakonpolis, and Edfu. Upper Egypt is a narrow river valley, with
steep cliffs rising on either side. Numerous wadis feed into the Nile in this region, and the river itself is rarely more than a mile wide.
The valley is often as narrow as six or eight miles.
Lower, or northern, Egypt is the delta. Almost three hundred miles across at the mouth of the Nile, the great fan-shaped
region was the breadbasket of ancient Egypt and later of the Roman Empire. Archaeology in Lower Egypt is difficult, since the
regularly shifting paths of the rivers and the annual Inundation have often swept away both artifacts and buildings.
The second major division, between Red and Black Lands, is a division between the black and fertile soil of the Nile Valley,
and the ruddy, sandy and arid wastes of the desert. While oases existed in the western desert, the eastern desert was largely empty of
habitation, except around a few mines and quarries for especially valuable stone. The ancient Egyptians were conscious of how much
they lived in a narrow strip of farmland surrounded by hostile wilderness to the east and west.
Ancient Egyptians referred to the deserts around their country as the desert, meaning "Red Land". The 'red land' was the
barren desert that protected Egypt on two sides. These deserts separated ancient Egypt from neighboring countries and invading
armies. They also provided the ancient Egyptians with a source for precious metals and semi-precious stones. Hot and arid, the Red
Land grew no food, and was thought to be a place of wildness and danger.
The desert provided Egypt with numerous products, despite its raw and wild nature. Dry lake beds near the delta in Lower
Egypt provided natron, the salt used to preserve mummified corpses. Quartzite for grinding and drilling tools, and limestone for
building, came from a desert region northeast of Memphis. Copper came from mines in the Sinai Peninsula and the eastern desert.
Alabaster for fine carvings came from near Cusae. Granite quarries near the Red Sea provided stone for sculpture and construction.
Diorite for hammers and flint for stone knives traveled downriver from the region of the First Cataract. Then there was gold. It was
said by a Hittite ruler that there was as much gold in Egypt as there was sand. This enormous wealth, and the natural barrier of the
deserts, allowed Egypt to carry out its natural role as the trade link between Africa and the Near East. Gold purchased straight timber,
a necessary but locally-unavailable commodity, as well as lapis, lazuli, silver, ebony, ivory and olive oil.
In contrast, the khemet or "Black Land" was the Nile valley, where the soil was black and moist, and life was capable of not
only surviving, but thriving. The Egyptian word khemet is thought to be the term from which the name Egypt springs. The 'black land'
was the fertile land on the banks of the Nile. The ancient Egyptians used this land for growing their crops. This was the only land in
ancient Egypt that could be farmed because a layer of rich, black silt was deposited there every year after the inundation of the Nile.