River Nile Essay

Ancient Egypt is very well-known as a barren desert in the geography of Africa, yet it is also acclaimed as the “breadbasket of the world.” This grandiose name is often associated with the river Nile, which is strongly believed as one of the most prominent factors for the vivacity of ancient Egypt. Moreover, many historians confidently conclude that the river Nile perhaps is responsible for not only breathing life into this once uninhabitable piece of land, but also for manipulating the behaviour and culture of its people. Therefore, it can be surmised that the river Nile remains one of the most significant and influential factors in the agriculture, trade, and culture of ancient Egypt. The Nile river was one of the most essential geographical

In their beliefs, the Egyptians formulated the specific concept of the mound of creation from the imagery of islands of high ground emerging from the annual Nile flood (Trigger, 4). The creation story of Seth, Osiris, and Isis centres the Nile as the birth of Egypt (White, 30). However, although the Nile has vastly affected the religion of the Egyptians, many of their gods were not inspired by the Nile. For instance, Horus, Shu, and Re were worshipped as the god of the sky, light, and sun respectively (Wilson, 222). These gods including many others reveal that the Egyptians created many deities based off of the forces of nature, in which there was a plentitude. Therefore, it can be positively insinuated that although the Nile was highly regarded in Egyptian religion since it was the birthplace of Egypt and its most important gods, however the Nile only shared a small portion in their religion as many other gods representing different powers were also worshipped. In their culture, the Nile has also influenced greatly. For example, the majority of pyramid construction took place at the period of high Nile, when the great blocks of stone could be floated from the quarries to a point near the pyramid plateau (Wilson, 84). Moreover, separation of land by the Nile lead to the ideology of dualism and balance, both of which can be found in art, literature, or mythology

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