Without the ebb and flow of the great Nile River, Egyptian civilization might not have ever existed. The Nile, the longest river in the world, led to prosperity like no other waterway before. Flowing northward, the river was the foundation of Egypt’s economy and lifestyle. The Nile shaped Ancient Egypt through providing stability as a civilization, offering agricultural success, and influencing Egyptian culture.
Egypt became a long-lasting civilization as a result of the Nile’s ability to support the needs of the people, including settlement and trade. Documents A, C, and G all express the importance of the Nile towards Egyptian advancement. To begin, Document A is a map of Egypt circa 1500 BCE that was created from various sources, so it is
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Documents B, D, and E all seek to highlight the embodiment of the river in every part of Egyptian culture. To start, Document B is a factual chart with the purpose of describing the Nile River Flood Cycle. Egypt had very little rainfall, so the lives of the Egyptians revolved around the Nile’s patterns. During Akhet, the flood season of the summer and autumn, the fields were fertilized by new silt from the great river, allowing the farmers to perform tasks other than farming. Crops were planted and grown in the winter season of Peret and were harvested during Shemu, the spring period. Next, Document D, a painting from the tomb of an Ancient Egyptian tradesman named Sennedjem, is an accurate representation of the cultural values of the time. The afterlife was a paradise called the Field of Reeds, filled with peace and prosperity. The sun god, Ra, is depicted traveling in a boat, which further illustrates the influence of the Nile on Egyptian culture. The song “Hymn to the Nile” in Document E was written during the time of Ancient Egypt by someone who dearly loved the river, so the greatness of the Nile could possibly be exaggerated by the writer. The Nile is described as the life-force of Egypt, one that determines whether the people will suffer or
The Nile shaped Egypt by, the Nile gave them fertile soil for farming. For example the Nile would flood once every fall once a year. In Document B it states that waters receded but the
If the gods were satisfied, the flood season would produce a “good Nile,” which meant just the right amount of water. If the people angered the gods, they would give the people a “bad Nile,” too much or not enough water. A “bad Nile” would usually result in death, no farming, and no water sources. Even the afterlife depended on the Nile. Egyptian Heaven was known as the Field of Reeds, and it was assumed to be located in the east, near the rising sun. In the depiction from the tomb of a tradesman named Sennedjem shown on “Document D: Field of Reeds,” the Nile River and irrigation canals surrounds and flows through the painting. This allowed the deceased to farm and live in the afterlife. It was also believed that the sun god Ra travelled across the sky in a boat in the day and the moon god Thoth in the night. It is obvious that the center of Egypt’s belief system was contingent on the Nile
Rivers can help develop different civilizations such as the Nile River. This great river measures thirty five hundred miles through many different countries (Orlin, 2010). The Nile helped to bring life, security and dictated how the people planned activities throughout the year. For example, the farmers would seed the land after the Nile would start swell and then recede to its normal banks (Orlin, 2010). This helped the seedlings to grow and then produce bountiful harvest. The Nile provided security for the Egyptian people by allowing the reeds and natural grasses around the bank of the river (Orlin, 2010). This would allow any enemy that wanted to attack to not
Did you know that the name Nile comes from the Greek name “neilios, which means valley, Not only that but also it provided many resources to the Egyptians, As a result of the Nile river it gave them a fertile farmland, food, crops, and water, they are transportation, the calendar, and irrigation and last but not least without the Nile River giving it restocks it wouldn’t be the best it can be. An important part of Egypt was its irrigation, In the document, b says that Egypt is very low on rain, so the Egyptians always relied on the Nile River the reason why is because to have fertile land, and for them to also drink. in document b, it also says that the rain was not enough to even was not enough to water the crops even in the Nile Delta
One way the Nile helped shape ancient Egypt was buy give them a home and a way to transport themselves. In document A all of the important settlements were near the Nile. This is because they needed the Nile for food, water and ext. In document C it shows that the Nile is their one and only way of transportation. So the Nile is a major part of the egyptian life.
The first way the Nile helped shape Ancient Egypt was that it provided them with a food supply. Evidence of this is Doc. B which states that the Nile River flood cycles were “Akhet [flood season]”,” Peret [planting season]”, and “Shemu [harvest season]”and that these seasons provided a new batch of silt each year which created
There is a festival, the Opet festival, in celebration of it. In Document D, it shows the Nile in the afterlife supporting the sun god, Ra, in a boat. Egyptians could not imagine life without it. The river allowed for trade routes and therefore more resources. With more resources, Egyptians could do more.
The Nile river shaped ancient Egypt in many ways. The Nile was important to everyone who lived in ancient Egypt. Without the Nile River the ancient Egyptians would have never survived. The Nile was a big part in everything that the Egyptians did. The Nile took a big part in agriculture, economics, and religion in ancient Egypt.
Thesis: The Nile River undoubtedly shaped the Egyptian’s lives -- for the better. It affected every aspect of their lives, which included economics, government, culture, and agriculture.
Many religious figures in Ancient Egypt explain events in nature. The Nile is no different. Hapi, son of Horus, was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile. Ancient Egyptians would celebrate Hapi for good harvests. The many drawings and sketches the Ancient Egyptians did help people understand today what they believed, and gave an insight as to how people lived back then. Many drawings included people farming and herding animals. These types of pictures seem very natural, and the Nile River is depicted in many of them. Many drawings also depicted the many Gods of Ancient Egypt. This was all thanks to the Nile River, which allowed people to create drawings and teach people today about life and religion during one of the first Ancient
Evidence of this is in documents both D and E. If you look at document E, a hymn or spiritual song about the Nile states that people hailed to the Nile. In the analysis of the document E Greek Historian, Herodotus wrote that, “Egypt…is, so to speak, the gift of the Nile.” In document D the Nile influenced some tomb paintings. For example on page 65, the Nile borders the tomb painting and the plants wouldn’t be there without the Nile. Without the Nile, none of this would have been possible. This is because the sun god, Ra, provided fields and crops which could only be watered by the Nile, they hail to. The Nile was the support and backbone of all parts of Egyptian life. An additional way the Nile shaped ancient Egypt was population and settlement. Evidence of this can be found in document A. If you look at the picture in document A, people wanted to live near the Nile for a water source. When more and more people came and settled, the people near the Nile became civilized with a growing population. The people could have lived sporadically throughout Egypt. The reason that the Nile was so important to Egypt in this area was because it allowed people to be able to trade and have a drinking source. It let civilizations form and settle. If the Nile wasn’t there nobody would have been able to live
The Nile shaped Ancient Egypt by being a source of: Transportation, agriculture, god believes, and a good source of food. The Nile created a life style for Ancient Egyptians. Also the Nile was a great source of transportation and agriculture. The Nile apparently was the super highway of Ancient Egypt.
The book Gifts of the Nile Valley tells the history of, not only one of Africa's greatest and most important natural monuments, The Nile River, but also uses that history to link the earliest traces of mankind to Africa. The begging of the book explains the importance of the Nile River both for mankind and for the environment around it. The beginning chapters also explain how the Nile River actually works, which I personally found very interesting. According to the book the Nile River is the longest River in the world , stretching as long as 4,132 miles. It also functions much differently than normal rivers. Unlike other rivers, The Nile River flows south to north. Also, while normal rivers need to be fed rain and connected to other bodies of water, The Nile River runs through mostly desert and does not get any rain. The Nile is also not connected to any other body of water. As bizarre as that is, its not the most impressive thing that this legendary river can do. Throughout its entire length, The Nile river has somehow managed to fertilize the soil around it for up to ten miles. It's believed that through this river, Civilizations from thousands of years ago managed to sustain themselves.
The Nile River was the life force of ancient Egypt. People from all over the region immigrated to the area for its irrigation waters and rich silt deposits. The geography of the region played a huge role in the way the inhabitants and civilization in general was formed. The main core of Egypt covered 386, 560 square miles, of which only 11, 720 were cultivable (Tignor et al., Worlds Together, 62). The Nile differed itself specifically from the Tigris and Euphrates in that its waters did not irrigate or fertilize nearly as well but it did create green belts along the water. This created a society that flourished along the river. The Nile unlike Mesopotamia did not have a bountiful borderland but did have a desert rich in materials. The Niles predictability as the source of life and abundance shaped the character of the people and their culture. (Tignor et al., Worlds Together, 63). The Nile was peaceful and calm unlike the vicious Tigris And Euphrates Rivers. Egypt with its natural borders, which included the Mediterranean Sea, Deserts, and Large Waterfalls, was very isolated. This helped to achieve
The Nile was the source of everything in Ancient Egypt. Early people built their lives around a river, eventually developing into Ancient Egypt. The Nile did not shape Ancient Egypt literally, but culturally. The Nile grew Egypt’s crops, created its traditions, making jobs, giving life to and protecting all.