Name: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Class Per: _____________
B
The Geography of Egypt
The Nile River flows north through Egypt, slowly getting wider as it passes the villages, fields, and distant red cliffs of the valley. As the river widens into the Delta, smaller streams branch away from the main river and flow through tangled, thick growths of reeds. In ancient times, clumps of papyrus grew here in abundance, providing
Egyptian villagers with the materials to make baskets, rope, boats tools, and bedding mats. Wildlife was also abundant in the Nile Delta. Pigeons, ibis, herons, cranes, ducks, and quail fed on insects and fish. Hippopotamuses shared the marshes with crocodiles, weasels, rabbits, and wild cats. Birds and mammals all watched carefully for the poisonous snakes that slithered through the long Delta grasses. In most places, the land was too wet or overgrown for farming, and as a result human villages were rare compared to the fertile Nile valley upstream.
1. What is the central idea of this paragraph?
2. Use context clues to figure out what the word abundant means. Explain your thinking.
3. In your own words, describe what the Nile Delta would have looked like. Use details from the paragraph to support your answer.
Egypt’s farmers depended on the flooding of the Nile River for their survival. Each year, and always at the same time, the waters of the Nile and the Delta began to rise. Rain falling in the south and eastern Africa caused the floods to begin in the summer and to gradually move north. After several weeks, the flood waters reached the fields of Lower Egypt, the Delta, and finally the river’s end at the Mediterranean Sea. The river reached its highest point in September, then slowly returned to its main channel, leaving behind a layer of fertile silt in which plants could thrive.
4. What is the central idea of this paragraph?
5. Use context clues to figure out what the word thrive means. Explain your thinking.

6. Why was the river so important to the farmers of Egypt? Explain two reasons using details from the paragraph.
For the Egyptians, the flood was a time for celebration, for it was a sign that the gods were rewarding them for their faith and offerings. The ancient Egyptians saw the Nile as a blessing that represented Egypt’s fertility and prosperity. But when the Nile flood failed, as is occasionally did, the Egyptians saw this as a sign of unhappiness from the gods. A low flood, or no flood at all, was the worst kind of natural disaster for a people who also experienced dust storms, earthquakes, and locust invasions. These other disasters were temporary, however, whereas the failure of the flood meant a long period of dry, unproductive fields and many hungry people. The excellent farming along the Nile Valley allowed the Egyptians to store surpluses to guard against famine in times when the flood was low and the crops failed. If the public storage rooms were empty, however, or if the food could not be distributed, then poverty, disease, and starvation resulted.
7. What is the central idea of this paragraph?
8. Use context clues to figure out what the word famine means. Explain your thinking.
9. What advantages would people have if they lived by the river? What disadvantages? Explain using details from the reading.
10. Egypt is called the “Gift of the Nile.” Why would people use this phrase to describe this area? Explain using details from the reading.