Ancient Egypt
The Nile River was important in the settlement of Egypt. This was because Ancient Egyptians couldn’t develop a civilization without a source of water. Herodotus summarized this when he said, “Egypt is the gift of the Nile”.
The Nile River is over 4000 meters long. There are deserts to the east and the west and mountains to the south. This isolated the ancient Egyptians and allowed them to develop a distinctive culture and a high standard of living compared to many other ancient civilizations.
Firstly the river Nile provided the Ancient Egyptians with water for drinking, washing and bathing.
Then each spring, water would run off the mountains and the Nile would flood. This time of inundation provided a rich black fertile soil. This soil made it possible to grow crops every year. Egyptians called the land that was flooded the Black Land. This seasonal flood allowed the Egyptians to grow lots of crops including wheat and barley used for food and flax to make linen and clothes. Other crops were considered important industrial crops. Papyrus was a very important crop and was used to make baskets, ropes, nets and paper to write on.
The black soil was also good for making bricks for building that provided the Egyptians with houses. Pottery was made from the red-brown Nile clay giving the Egyptians containers and tableware.
As well as agriculture the Nile River brought wildlife, which the Egyptians hunted down on the banks. Ducks were a common source of food in ancient Egypt and were easy to hunt. The ancient Egyptians used throwing sticks and boomerangs to catch them. However there were also larger more dangerous animals lurking like hippos and crocodiles. To kill these animals they used spears. Another food source the Nile provided was fish. Fishermen used baskets and nets and even hooks and lines to catch the fish.
The River Nile also opened up transport routes and trade. It provided a natural highway for transporting large...