[Kate] Egyptian Geography

There is a famous saying that Egypt is the gift of the Nile.  This was a statement made by Herodotus, a Greek who was a tourist in Egypt during the twenty seventh dynasty (525 BC to 404 BC), which was the time when Persians ruled Egypt.  The Nile increased Egypt's power because not only did it supply a plentiful amount of water, its floods refertilized the farmland every year.  In many ways, the Nile helped make Ancient Egypt into the powerhouse it was in the ancient world.

The geography in Egypt was ideal for the culture and civilization of Ancient Egypt.  Why?  On the East side of Egypt there are mountains.  On the West is the desert, and down South, beyond Egypt's borders and towards Nubia (modern day Sudan), the Nile has cataracts which makes boat navigation through there nearly impossible.  In the North there is the Mediterranean.  Why was this important?  All these features kept the Ancient Egyptians isolated and protected.  Egyptians never colonized, and few ever left Egypt.  For them Egypt was the holy land, where all civilization sprang from.

A map of Egypt.

Another odd thing about Egypt: the Nile flows the "wrong" way; on a map it's flowing upward, the only major river to do so.  This adds extra confusion for a lot of people, because Upper Egypt is the the South (upriver) and Lower Egypt is in the North (downriver).

Interestingly, this makes sailing along the Nile very easy.  Why?  Well, if you're going North, you're going downriver, so you just go with the current.  And if you're going South, you just put up your sails, and the let the wind, which is heading South, propel you.  This made trade and travel easier.

The Nile in Egypt.

Despite often being thought of as desert people, Ancient Egyptians really weren't keener on the desert than us.  The overwhelming majority lived on the banks of the Nile.  Living there was a much easier lifestyle because of the water and fertile soil, and so that was where the all of the cities were based.  Hardly anything extended into the desert.

An interesting side note is that Ancient Egyptians (generally) lived on the East of the Nile, and were buried on the West side.  The reason for this is that the sun rises in the East, and sets in the West.  Thus the East is associated with the living the and the West with the dead.  

Ancient Egypt was a long lasting and powerful civilization, and many of the reasons for that (but certainly not all) lie in the Egyptian geography.