PRESENTATION OUTLINE
THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE NILE- SECTION 1
The Greek historian Herodotus wrote “Egypt is the gift of the Nile.” Herodotus explored Egypt in the 400s B.C. On his journey he saw the life-giving water is great river. He traveled up river until he was stopped by do he will stop by the
The churning waters of the white water. Forced to turn back, he never found the source of the river.
The Nile river is the worlds longest river. It flows north from it forces in East Africa to the Mediterranean sea for more than 400,000 miles I like California says about the distance from New York to Alaska.
Every spring, far away in the highlands of Africa, waters began to rush down stream. As they flowed, they brought a rich, fertile sediment called silt. Silt is fine soil found on the river bottoms. By late summer, the Nile spilled over its banks all the way to the delta. The floodwaters deposit a thick layer of silt, making the land ideal for farming. In gratitude, the Egyptians praised Hapi, the god if the Nile.
The ancient Egyptians called their land Kemet, “the black land,” because of the Dark soil left by the Nile’s floods. The timing of the floods and the height of the floodwaters might vary from year-to-year. But unlike the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians usually did not have to worry about flashfloods. Dry years were rare in Egypt, but they could cause famine.
Egypt’s early farming communities settled in the delta and valley regions of the Nile. The people of the delta built villages around the fertile river beds. The homes are built of straw or of bricks made from a mix of mud and straw. To the south, and upper Egypt, people built scattered farming villages along the banks of the Nile.
