The Nile played an important role in the life of the ancient Egyptians. It makes life in the deserts of Egypt possible. It provided drinking water, a source of irrigation for crops, and most importantly the fertile soil used to grow crops. Without the Nile River it would have been difficult for Egyptian civilizations to survive. The Nile provided the crucial resources needed by a growing civilization. It caused all the ancient Egyptian communities to develop alongside the river. It also created a way of transportation of goods and people. This caused the development of boats and other water traveling methods.
Providing extremely fertile soil is one, if not the most important, roles the Nile River played in the life of the ancient Egyptians.
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The Nile has hundreds of fish that Egyptians would catch using cast nets. Some of the fish in the river included: catfish, mullet, bolti, and perch. Not only was fishing practiced to feed people, it also became a sport. Other animals were also attracted to the Nile as a source of water. This led to ancient Egyptians hunting them for food and also for sport. There are many wild birds, ducks, and geese that flocked to the marshes alongside the Nile. Crocodiles and hippopotamus’ also used the river and became game to Egyptian spears and arrows. Without the Nile, the animals used for both food and sport would not have been able to survive and thrive like they did. The Nile acted as a watering hole for the animals and as a hunting ground for the ancient Egyptians. By providing the resources for agriculture and attracting the animals for hunting, the Nile River has basically played a role in providing for all the food of ancient Egyptian cultures.
Another product from the Nile is the papyrus plant. This plant was used by ancient Egyptians to create papyrus paper. This paper allowed for Egyptians to record important events and other legal documents. Egyptians could now record religious rituals and write down information that would be passed on from generation to generation. The Nile provided all of this. Papyrus paper was used for political
In document B, the chart and document C, the illustration, people had seasons based on the Nile and farming. In document B it states, “ Crops in the lower Nile harvested and sent to market.” So therefore, without the Nile crops wouldn't grow. Also, people used the Nile for transportation. They had a flood season, a growing season, and a harvest season. If the Nile flooded more than 30 feet, it would flood the villages and if it flooded under 25 feet then it wouldn't be enough water. They transported food, tombs, and obelisks on large barges. Not only did the Nile shape Ancient Egypt through economics but also spiritual life.
One of the ways that the Nile shaped Egypt was through economy. According to document A, the Nile’s location was perfect for trade and interaction with other nearby ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia and the Indus
The Nile River helped shape Ancient Egypt into the civilization we know of today. There were a lot of contributing factors that the Nile had on Egypt. For example, the Nile allowed for transportation between the surrounding cities. The Nile River could be navigated all year long, and this was a way that the cities could communicate. Egypt is located in Northeastern Africa and has the Libyan and Arabian deserts surrounding the river. Without the river, Egypt would have remained a desert and not been transformed into the civilization that we know it as. The Nile River was truly considered “the gift of Egypt” because the Nile economically, socially, and spiritually provided support for Egypt; without the Nile, Egypt would have remained a desert
Agriculture- farming in Egypt was completely depended on the Nile River. If you were to go a couple miles farther away from the Nile River you would see nothing but bone dry desert so the Nile was very important to the Egyptians. Flooding season lasted from June to September, depositing a layer of silt beside the river. After the flooding season was over growing season lasted from October to February Egypt had very little rain fall so farmers made canals and ditches to the field.
Egypt was without question the first great civilization in Africa. Surrounded by the hostile desert, Egypt arose as a populous settlement as a "gift of the Nile River," which flooded surrounding plains and thus supported game and wild plants. Straddling the strategic land crossroads between Africa, Asia, and Europe, Egypt also became a point for interchange between the Mediterranean and Red seas and the Persian Gulf. Many developments affecting the rest of Africa took place in or near the Nile Valley, such as the cultivation of plants and the development of metal smelting. Thus, Egypt's major role in forming early African civilizations has been well established.
The Egyptians had three four-month seasons (Doc B). The seasons were flooding (Akhet), planting (Peret) and harvesting (Shemu). The Nile set the Egyptian calendar and the agricultural cycle for farmers’ work activity and crop growth. Several occupations depended on the Nile River (Doc C). Sailors, boat builders, fishermen and farmers depended on the river transport to market crops and make money. The Egyptians used sailboats, barges and tugs for transportation and trade (Doc C). The Nile was like the superhighway of ancient Egypt. It helped them move crops and goods up and down the river and sell beyond their local market. Nothing could happen without the Nile.
Then by some chance, the river Nile formed and allowed Egypt to fructify into a populous civilization. Evidently, the river Nile affected a number of factors in Egypt’s development. Agriculture became widespread and possible due to the stable periodic inundation of the Nile, while the art and culture of the Egyptians became much more sophisticated and refined by the influences of the Nile. Commerce was manifest by the Nile when foreign countries sailed by the Nile to make their trades. Despite the Nile not being the only factor in affecting ancient Egypt’s trade and culture, the river itself is satisfactory enough, in that removing it from Egypt’s geography will significantly change the course of Egyptian trade and culture. Therefore, it is certain to declare that the Nile river has indeed substantially affected the agriculture, trade, and culture of ancient
The Egyptians were accomplished farmers. They knew the Nile would flood each year and bring new life and abundant grain. The Nile's flooding was predictable and left rich new deposits of silt for new crops, making irrigation easy to plan. A basin irrigation system allowed the flood waters to flow gently into each field, cleansing and renewing the earth each year.
Conscious of the geographical region, Egyptians settled around the Nile, as the Nile provided substance (agriculture, irrigation, trading routes, etc.). The Egyptians noticed that the Nile would flood regularly, and exploited this natural flooding by building an irrigation system to support their agriculture, as well as their society. “Hymn to the Nile” depicts this prosperous age of agriculture, “Lord of the fish, during the inundation, no bird alights on the crops. You create the grain, you bring forth the barley, assuring perpetuity to the temples.” ("Ancient History Sourcebook: Hymn to the Nile, c. 2100 BCE."). However, the Nile might have contributed to the eventual collapse of ancient Old Kingdom Egyptian civilization. The Nile partially destroyed the society that it had once nurtured. A series of low or high floods over the course of a few years immensely impacted their agriculture, which in turn created epidemics of famine and civil unrest. The Egyptian civilization eventually prospered once more, only centuries later and with new social
"All of Egypt is the gift of the Nile." It was the Greek historian Herodotus who made that observation. The remarkable benefits of the Nile are clear to everyone, but through history he was the first to talk about it and consider its fascination. Through history, the Nile played a major role in the building of civilizations. The first civilizations to appear in history started on a river valley or in a place where resources are numerous and example of these are in India where Indus river is found and Tigris where Euphrates is found and many other places (cradles of civilization).
In Egypt, the Nile River overflowed its banks annually, creating fertile, mineral-rich soil. The yearly rise of the Nile in Egypt was gentle and predictable. The Egyptian’s found security in the Nile’s 365-day cycle of inundation and Egypt’s perimeter of sea and desert
In Ancient Egypt they use the Nile River and the Sahara Desert in some many ways that benefited them. Ancient Egypt was divided into two land different land, the black land and red land. The black land was the fertile land that the Nile River made and the red land was the desert of Egypt. They use the Nile River for the fertile soil that was left after the river was not flooded, so that they could use that fertile soil for growing crops. They would also use the Nile River for fishing, washing their clothes, and sometimes they would trade with others for resources that they needed. The Sahara Desert was used for protection against other invading armies. The climate was always hot and very dry; this is what made it really hard for farming if you lived in the desert area.
The Nile River had great influence on Ancient Egyptian culture. The Nile is the longest river in the world, that is located in Africa, was the source of livelihood for the ancient Egyptians as it was used for trade and hunting, as well as, drinking and fishing. It was also used for bathing and other hygiene purposes. It was the source of Ancient Egypt’s wealth, treasures, and the greatest arteries supplied the land with blessings and drown ancient Egyptians in various graces through the ages as the emitter of life in Egypt and the source of its existence, because it watered ancient Egyptian’s lands. The Nile had the greatest impact on timeless civilization that originated on it in the past ages, the Nile held oldest civilization immortalized in history. Ancient Egyptians could not have survived without the Nile River, which in essence, inspired their way of living, “The country’s verdant green fields and bountiful food resources depended on the fertile soil of the Nile flood plain” (Silverman 12). In turn, many ancient
I looked up www.utdallas.edu/geosciences/remsens/nile/ for information and articles about the Nile River. I thought the site was very informative and accurate, giving importance of the river to both the Egyptians and also played a great part in the African history and ancient world history.
The Nile played an important role in the life of the ancient Egyptians. It makes life in the deserts of Egypt possible. It provided drinking water, a source of irrigation for crops, and most importantly the fertile soil used to grow crops. Without the Nile River it would have been difficult for Egyptian civilizations to survive. The Nile provided the crucial resources needed by a growing civilization. It caused all the ancient Egyptian communities to develop alongside the river. It also created a way of transportation of goods and people. This caused the development of boats and other water traveling methods.