Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The role of Nile in Egypt
River civilizations in the ancient world ch 2 sec 4
The role of Nile in Egypt
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The role of Nile in Egypt
“To write history without putting any water in it is to leave out a large part of the story. Human experience has not been so dry as that." Donald Worster said it best when talking about water in relation to history. Making up 71 percent of the earth’s surface, water is a very significant part of life. Not only is every continent surrounded by water but also water runs across it and over it. If the continents were a body than the water that courses within it are much like veins within a body. The first body of water that usually comes to one’s mind is the ocean; being the largest it carries great significance. However, rivers often shadowed by oceans reputation are still an essential part of the world. Not only do rivers make …show more content…
It has been said, “the Nile was held up to the ancient people as the source of all life in Egypt and an integral part of the lives of the gods” (Mark 1). It was because the Nile was viewed as the main source of all life in ancient Egypt that it takes part in many ancient Egyptian myths and tales. The Nile has many tales and myths but the most well-known are; the Milky Way being its celestial mirror, the Gods being the reason it flooded every year and the infamous myth of Osiris, Isis and Set. The Nile River received its name from the Greek word Neilos meaning valley or river valley. The river contains many types of sediments an important one being alluvial soil. Throughout history the Nile flooded the valley of Egypt, when this happened a thick layer of alluvial soil would be left behind, providing many benefits to the land. It is also because of the Niles many sediments that it received the name Ar or Aur which translates to “black” referring to the color allusion the Nile gives off when it floods. Since early Egypt flood control has been performed, riverbanks have been raised and canals made to channel the water over and throughout the land. Over flooding at times would cause damages to the land, property and often took lives, because of this the initiative to control flooding was taken. The construction of the Aswan dam has since put a complete halt to all uncontrolled flooding. The flooding during ancient Egypt times was a blessing from the Gods, since Egypt has almost no rainfall; the flooding provided the land the nutrients it needed to make it fertile. The Nile still continues to bless the land that surrounds it but by means of irrigation and controlled flooding
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
Was it a gift or a curse? The Nile is the world's longest river at 4,160 miles. Of that total, approximately 660 to 700 miles of the Nile are actually in Egypt. It is one of the four most important river civilizations in the world. Land in Egypt was called Black Land (representing life) and Red Land (representing danger). For Egyptians, the Nile meant the difference between life and death. Today, we know that the Nile influenced ancient Egypt in many areas of life such as providing food, shelter and faith to the people. Specific areas dealing with settlement location, agricultural cycle, jobs, trade, transportation and spiritual beliefs will prove the case.
Water greatly affected technological, economic, political, and legal developments. Technology has to advance in order to get more water while the economy, politics, and laws began to change due to the need for more water, and to this day it has had a lasting effect. Water will always play a major role in our past, present, and future.
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
Finally, the last ways that the Nile shaped Ancient Egypt was through Spiritual Life. In document D, the illustration and document E, the song, they had a religious song for the Nile and they painted pictures and hieroglyphics on the tombs. They worshiped gods and Ra was one of them. People based everything on the Nile and if there was no Nile River then there wouldn't be a civilization in Egypt. The Nile was very important. Indeed, spiritual life was an important part in shaping Ancient
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
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
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.
During ancient Egypt civilization was centralized around the Nile river because it provided the ancient Egyptians with fertile land for vegetation. One particular myth that embraces all these aspect is the Osiris and Isis myth. Osiris myth is a very detailed and influential story in ancient Egyptian mythology. It details the murder of the predominant god Osiris during his rule over Egypt. Osiris and Isis myth deals with ancient Egyptian myth encompassing creation, death, and the civilization of ancient Egyptian around the Nile river. This myth has provided future generations an insightful look of Egypt’s past history such as mummification, due to its many factors that helps guide the
Stories of a primeval flood exist in all parts of the world, virtually every branch of the human race has traditions of a Great Flood that destroyed all of mankind, except one family.
The Nile River is arguably one of the most important water sources in the world and has an extremely rich history dating back thousands of years. Without the Nile, the ancient Egyptian civilization would have never existed. Egypt is basically a whole lot of sand and not much else, except they have the Nile River flowing through it, on it’s way to the Mediterranean sea. The ancient Egyptians lived along the Nile River and it provided them with abundant water, food (fish) and the opportunity to develop agriculture along it’s banks. The Nile River was also used for transportation and trade with other regions because land travel was more difficult than floating on the river. The Ancient Egyptians were at the mercy of the seasonal flooding and droughts but learned to work within the natural system of the River and weather cycles (Carnegie Museum of Natural History). Modern people, however were more interested in conquering nature, rather than living in harmony with it.
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?
Freshwater in the world makes up only a small portion of the water on the planet. While the percentage of water in the world is nearly 70%, only 2.5% is consumable. Even further, only 1% is easily accessible to basic human needs. According to National Geographic, “by 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change.” With this current trend, water will become more immersed in environmental, economic, political, and social changes.
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.