How Did The Nile River Affect Ancient Egypt

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In Ancient Egypt, rainfall is almost nonexistent, making the Nile River essential for Egyptians. The Nile River is important because it was the primary source to water and sustain crops for Ancient Egypt. It is the longest river in the world that is located in Africa and is about 4, 160 miles long. This river flows from the north of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile river is essential in Ancient Egyptians lifestyle and without it, Egypt would not have existed. Every year, the Nile river would flood, leaving fertile soil in its wake. Egyptians were able to grow crops because of the fertile soil. Some crops that they grew were wheat, flax and papyrus. This was the only source of water in this desert region. Without this annual …show more content…

Ancient Egyptians believed that gods controlled these floods. Primarily, they believed the god Hapi, god of the Nile, controlled the waters during these annual floods. To appease Hapi, the Egyptians would put sacrifices and other offerings into the Nile River. This would ensure that Hapi would provide them with enough water for the fields. On the tomb of Nebamun, it showed the Ancient Egyptians giving offerings such as rabbits and foods like grain. A Tomb- Chapel is also depicted in the painting which is where Ancient Egyptians would come to make offerings to the gods. The hymn of the Nile reflected the importance of the Nile River to the Ancient Egyptians. It states "O Hail to thee, o Nile! Who manifests thy self over this land, and comes to give life to Egypt( Halsall 20). This shows how the fertile soil gave life to Egypt gifting them with the ability to grow crops. The hymn also mentions how the gods brought them all sorts of gifts. "You create the grain, you bring forth the barley, assuring perpetuity to the temples"( Halsall 2). This provided evidence that they believed in gods, such as the god Hapi and they believed he controlled the waters in the floods in Egypt. "They believed the Nile River was the river way that was taken from life to death and then enter the afterlife" (Castro 2). The Nile River was very important to the Egyptians and was even part of their religion. As Geography impacted religion , it also

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