The Eastern Desert of Egypt occupies the part of the country east of the River Nile. It extends from the latitude of Cairo at the north to the Egypt/Sudan border at the south with an area of about 224,000 km2. This desert consists mainly of high and very rugged mountains running parallel to the Red Sea coast. The mountains of this desert consist of Precambrian crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks and constitute the basement complex of Egypt (Said, 1962). However, sedimentary rocks occur mainly at the northern (mainly limestone) and southern (mainly sandstone) fringes of the desert. The mountains in the Eastern Desert are dissected by well developed drainage systems ending either at the Red Sea or at the Nile Valley. The dissection of this desert by dense networks of valleys and ravines indicates that although the present time is a dry period, the region must have witnessed some periods of wet climate in the past (Zahran and Willis, 2009). The FAO soil map of the world shows that soils of the Eastern Desert of Egypt belong mostly to the Lithosols or soils of rocky origin (Beumont et al. 1988).
Water resources are poor and are restricted to torrent storms which occur randomly in place and time. Rainfall percolates through the gravel and sand deposits of stream (wadi) beds forming local underground reservoirs (Abu Al-Izz 1971). Water shortage, topography and poor soil conditions are the main limitations to sustain traditional agriculture, however, drought resistant vegetation or typical desert plants (Xerophytes) are observed scattered along the coastal strip and in valleys. The Eastern Desert of Egypt has harsh living conditions due to prevailing hot and dry climate. Administratively, this desert is named the Red Sea Governor...
... middle of paper ...
...have low fertility due to the predominance of quartz grains. If aridity, topography and hot climatic are compiled with poor soil fertility, vegetation cover becomes rare and traditional agriculture is not suitable. However, specific vegetation, which tolerates water shortage and other environmental stresses, could grow in this region. Among the natural vegetation of the region are Acacia and Tamarix Spp. Local Bedouins depend on natural vegetation as a food and energy resource as well as for medical purposes. Their animals also depend on this natural flora for grazing. In addition, there are some local attempts for cultivation of some species depending on groundwater, such as the FAO farm (120 south of Marsa Alam). At this farm, olive and Henna are cultivated. However, water scarcity near the farm forced grazing animals to damage cultivated vegetation in this farm.
The first way that the Nile shaped Ancient Egypt was through population distribution. According to document A, the map of Ancient Egypt, a lot of people lived among the Nile. But a majority lived by the delta. Living among the Nile and by the delta gave people fresh drinking water, good farmland, and ways of trading and transportation. The Red Land was land desert area that protected
As archaeological work on Predynastic Egypt continues, in future years we can expect considerable new evidence that will further reshape our understandings of the rise of Egyptian civilization. The field is increasingly benefiting from the use of modern techniques such as remote sensing, physical dating, and analytical techniques. As the amount of evidence builds, the rise of complex civilization in the Egyptian Nile Valley during the crucial two millennia from 5000–3000 b.c. will become ever clearer.
Desertification to The Sahel The region known as the Sahel is a wide stretch of land running from the Atlantic ocean to the African "Horn", an area that contains the countries of Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia And it is the strip of land that separates savanna from the desert, the issue I have been researching is Desertification to the Sahel, in other terms, The Sahel is shrinking at an alarming rate. Animals have been allowed to graze on its fragile land, which has destroyed the vegetation. The people who live along the Sahel have caused it to shrink by cutting trees and bushes for fuel.
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 is located in North Africa, it is along the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile river, which runs through the center of Egypt, acts as a great water source. It’s floods create fertile soil for farming. Egypt was divided into two an upper and a Lower Egypt based on the flow of the river. Upper Egypt was in the south. It was called Upper Egypt because the Nile flowed upstream. Lower Egypt was in the north, it held the Nile delta.
Dry lands is a previous stage into what can develop the atrocity of desertification. These plains of ground lack moisture. These areas lose it either to evaporation or by transpiration of plants. Generally the land that is considered dry lands is still used by primitive technologies within herding and farming. This weak land is put on even l...
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
Egypt is an Arab country located in the northeast corner of the continent of Africa. It borders Asia. The Sinai Peninsula is located in Asia. Egypt is an intercontinental country. The Arab Republic of Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea with a coast of 995 km. Furthermore, it is bordered to the east by the Red Sea with a coastline of 1941 km. The area of the Arab Republic of Egypt is about 1.002,000 square kilometers. The history of ancient Egypt is one that
The oasis agro-ecosystem is a combination of human settlement and a cultivated area (often a palm grove) in desert or semi-desert environment (Jaradat, 2011). Oasis expansion in arid regions is usually regarded as the opposite to desertification, referring to the process of transformation from desert to oasis in an arid region due to combined action of anthropic and natural factors (Wang, 2009). In MENA, approximately 4 million people live within the system. About 1.2 million ha of irrigated cropland are used for the production of dates, fodder, fruit trees, and vegetables. In addition, an estimated 2.7 million cattle, pastoralists within this system (FAO, 2008). Under the palm trees in the oases, a microclimate is established. Humidity, heat, and light are favorable for optimized usage of space for other crops (orange, pomegranate, vegetables, fodder and, cereals) to grow in an environment, where fertile soil is scarce (photo. xx).
The Ancient Egyptians called their country Kemet, which means “Black Land.” The dark soil from the Nile River was very fertile. The Nile overflowed at the same time every year, leaving farmers with very fertile soil. The Nile provided much needed water for their crops during the dry season by using their irrigation system. The Nile River also provided the Egyptians with drinking water, and a way for them to travel, allowing them to explore and trade. In addition, the desert around the river was called “Red Land” by the Egyptians. This is where they lived, grew and prospered. The desert provided much gold for the Egyptians to trade with other countries or to keep for themselves. They brought back silver from Syria, cedar wood, oils, and horses from Lebanon, copper from Cyprus, gems from Afghanistan, ebony, wood, and ivory from Africa, and incense from Punt.
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 flooding surges of the land, and leaves behind water for the people, and fertile land, which can be used for agriculture. The impact the Nile has on Egypt during the ancient times and present are consierably apparent. The influence the Nile has is so extensive, that even the speech is transposed. For example, "To go north" in the Egyption language is the same as, "to go down stream"; "to go south" the same as "to go upstream." Also, the term for a "foreign country" in Egypt would be used as "highland" or "desert", because the only mountains or deserts would be far away, and foreign to them. The Nile certainly had an exceptional influence on Egypts, both lifestyle and thinking.The Nile also forced a change on the political system and ruling in Egypt.
Providing extremely fertile soil is one, if not the most important, roles the Nile River played in the life of the ancient Egyptians. By providing fertile soil, the Nile made it easy for cities and civilizations to grow alongside the banks of the river. This fertile soil comes from the annual flooding of the Nile. This replenishes the top soil with silt deposits that hold much needed nutrients for crops to grow. Ancient Egyptians developed highly complex irrigation methods to maximize the effect of the Nile waters. When the Nile overflows in mid summer, Egyptians divert the waters through the use of canals and dams. As the water seeped into the farm land, rich deposits of silt ensured a good harvest for the year. This allows the civilizations of Egyptians to grow enough food to feed the community. Without the annual flooding of the Nile, Egyptians would have a very difficult time growing necessary amount food to sustain life. Most of the land in the Egyptian nation is dry desert. Very little rain falls year round here. The river provides the needed water to grow the crops as well as provide drinking water for the people. Th...
Egyptians began to settle along the banks of the Nile River, Starting as far north as to the city of Alexandria all the way down south to Aswan. They developed into a well-structured society as Far East to the Red Sea and west to Dakhia, Oasis among many (Figure 1.). The Nile River reached far lending a hand in creating a well-known civilization that consisted of building pyramids and producing crops for their pharaoh. Evolving from hunters and gatherers into agriculturalists throughout history, Egypt has claimed to be one of the earliest and most spectacular civilizations of ancient times. One could wonder if, what led to the collapse of this great society resulted from the Egyptians interaction with the environment by overusing natural resources, seasonal flooding of the Nile River can play a role, or even worse feuding wars of rulers that see value in the great Egypt soil that are continuing well into the present day?
The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest desert area. The word Sahara comes from the Arabic word sahra’, meaning desert. It extends from the Africa’s Atlantic Ocean side to the Red Sea and consists of the countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan. It is about 5,200 miles long. Overall, the Sahara Desert covers 3,500,000 square miles. The geography of the desert is varied. In the west, the Sahara is rocky with varied elevation. It does contain underground rivers, which sometime penetrate the surface, resulting in oases. The central region of the Sahara has more elevation than the other areas, with peaks such as Emi Koussi and Tahat. Even though the area lacks rainfall, these peaks are snowcapped during the winter. The Eastern part of the Sahara, the Libyan Desert, is dry with very few oases.