Nile It was the “Gift of the Gods” to Egypt, the world’s
longest river and the source of all life and abundance in
the ancient Nile Valley. The Nile flows approximately
4,665 miles out of Africa’s heart on a unique northward
journey to the Mediterranean Sea and taps two separate
climatic resources in order to come bounding into Egypt:
the summer monsoons of Ethiopia and the Sudan, which
feed the river with storm waters, and Central Africa’s two
annual rainy seasons, which nurture the Nile with gentle
downpours and overflowing lakes.
The Nile flows from two sources. The White Nile
rises from the deep pools of equatorial Africa, and the
Blue Nile sweeps down from the Abyssinian highlands.
These combine with many tributaries, including the
Atbara, which joins the Nile at the fifth cataract, bringing
vast quantities of effluvium and red mud.
The cataracts of the Nile, the progression of rocky,
white-rapid regions, formed the southern border of
ancient Egypt since the earliest historical periods. The
first cataract at ASWANdemarcated the border of Egypt for
centuries. The other cataracts provided rocky peaks upon
which the Egyptians built a series of fortresses and gar-
risoned trading posts and towns to command traffic on
the NILEin the area that is now Sudan.
Just above Aswan, at EDFU, the great Nile Valley
begins. Limestone cliffs parallel the river for more than
400 miles, marching beside the shoreline, sometimes
close to the water and sometimes swinging back toward
the deserts. The cliffs reach heights of 800 feet in some
areas, with mesas and plateaus glistening against the sky.
The cliffs on the west stand like sentinels before the
LIBYAN DESERT, and the eastern slopes withdraw into the
Arabian or Red Sea Desert. This valley provided a true
cultural and geographical shelter for the emerging people
of the region.
The Delta of Lower Egypt is a watery fan of seven
major tributaries emptying into the Mediterranean Sea:
the Pelusiac, Tanite, Phatnitic (Damietta), Sebennytic,
Bolbitinic (Rosetta), Mendesian, and Canopic branches.
The waters of the BAHR YUSEF, a stream dedicated to
Joseph (an Islamic hero and not the biblical patriarch),
flow out of the Nile and into the FAIYUM, a natural
depression alongside the river, about 65 miles south of
modern Cairo, at ASSIUT. They are trapped in the depres-
sion and form a rich marshland region of wetlands and
moist fields made available to the ancient Egyptian farm-
ers. The site was also inhabited by CROCODILES, which
were honored with a shrine.
The river’s annual floods deposited a ribbon of fertile
soil along its banks that enriched the farmlands and made
agriculture the economic basis of the nation. In time, the
Egyptians would use canals, irrigation ditches, and sophis-
ticated hydraulic systems to reclaim lands and expand
their agricultural base. When the Nile inundated the land
the benefits were twofold. The river not only left rich
deposits of mud and fertile silt but leached the soil of
harmful salts as well. When the Nile began to recede at the
end of the inundation, the Egyptians used dams and reser-
voirs to store water for the dry seasons of the year. The
inundation of the river was gradual, heralded by the arrival
of SOPDU, the Greek Sirius or the Dogstar, in the sky.
By July the first waters came rushing into the land,
increasing every day until the fields and orchards were
flooded. The inundation lasted through October, when
the Nile receded again. It is estimated that Egypt received
as much as 30 feet of mud as part of the inundation. For
this reason the Egyptians called their land Khem, the
Black Land. The deserts on either side of the river were
called the DESHRET, the Red Lands. The stark contrast
between the two regions is still very much evident.
Along its banks the Nile sustained a variety of fish
and fowl. Ducks, geese, waterbirds, and nesting birds
could be caught in the marshes with clap nets or with
throwing sticks. The Nile nurtured the sacred LOTUS,
reeds, and the PAPYRUSplant, which scribes used to make
papyri. The river was endless in its bounty, and the peo-
ple sang its praises continually. Surviving hymns to the
Nile reflect a true spirit of joy and celebration. The peo-
ple of Egypt understood from the charts of the
astronomer-priests when to anticipate the rising floods,
taking appropriate steps to prepare for the inundation
and conducting rituals to celebrate the religious signifi-
cance of the event. Nile festivals remained popular in
every historical period.
The river was always “the Father of Life” to the
ancient Egyptians, or the “Mother of all Men” to some
generations. The Nile was also the manifestation of the
god HAPI(1), the divine spirit that unceasingly blessed
the land with rich silt deposits from the continent’s core.
The religious texts of ancient times link the Nile to a
celestial stream that emptied out of the heavens on the
Elephantine, or in the caves thought to be in that region.
The annual flooding in Hapi’s lands was thus called the
“Libation,” made in the honor of HORUSin the south and
in honor of SETin the Delta.
The name for the river is Greek in origin, a version of
the Semitic Nakhl, or “river.” The Egyptians called the
river HEP-UR, Great Hapi, or “sweet water.” Each genera-
tion addressed the Nile with its own special name and
hymn of praise. The river was Egypt’s life’s blood, not
only sustaining the people but imposing on them a sense
of stewardship and a seasonal regimen, prompting the
spirit of cooperation, called MA’AT,that was to become the
hallmark of the nation for centuries.Suggested Readings:Midant-Reynes, Beatrix, and Ian
Shaw, transl. The Prehistory of Egypt.London: Blackwell
Publishers, 1999; Roberts, Timothy Roland. Gift of the
Nile: Chronicles of Ancient Egypt. New York: Barnes &
Noble Books, 1998.Nile 277