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Inundation Of The Nile
The Nile and the sun were the two great
lifegiving forces that shaped Egypt’s civilization. Although the
country has a negligible annual rainfall, centers of population were
able to develop and flourish in the Delta and the Nile Valley
because of the phenomenon of the river’s inundation. Hecataeus, a
Classical writer, has provided the often repeated phrase that Egypt
is the “gift of the Nile,” and probably no other civilization was so
absolutely dependent on the regular occurrence of one natural event.
In antiquity the country and its people only
survived because the Nile brought its floods with the result that
the harvests could be reaped. To ensure a successful outcome Hapy,
the Nile god, and Osiris, the god of vegetation and rebirth, were
worshiped throughout Egypt. Within Egypt the Nile cuts a course of
some 600 miles from Aswan in the south to the Delta, where its two
main branches flow into the Mediterranean through Rosetta in the
west and Damietta in the east. Its long journey begins far to the
south of Egypt, however, rising three degrees south of the Equator
in the region of the Great Lakes. In its upper course it is called
the Mountain Nile; then it joins with the Bahr el- Ghazel to become
the White Nile. In the highlands of Ethiopia the Blue Nile rises in
Lake Tana, and ultimately at Khartoum in the Sudan the two Niles
join and become the river that continues down through Egypt to the
Mediterranean. This river, the longest in Africa, today travels
through several countries and a variety of landscapes and climates.
Within Egypt itself there are marked variations in the weather, and
Upper Egypt’s high temperatures contrast with the more moderate
climate found in the Delta. Between Khartoum (the modern capital of
Sudan) and Aswan (Egypt’s southernmost city), a series of six
cataracts interrupt the course of the Nile. These are not dramatic
features and do not include waterfalls; they are merely scattered
groups of rocks that cause an obstruction of the stream across the
width of the river. At the Fourth, Second, and First Cataracts, this
obstruction has always affected the river traffic. The original
boundary of ancient Egypt was located at the First Cataract, which
lies just to the south of ancient Elephantine (modern Aswan). Later
rulers pushed the boundary south and built fortresses to regulate
the local population. From Aswan north to the Mediterranean coast,
the Nile’s course continued uninterrupted in antiquity, although
dams have been built across the river in modern times. There are
dramatic changes in the scenery between Aswan and Cairo, Egypt’s
modern capital, which is positioned at the apex of the Delta. The
Nile has forced its passage here through this valley. In some parts
there are steep, rocky cliffs on either side that descend abruptly
to the river’s edge, while in other areas the flat cultivated plains
stretch away to the desert. This rich, cultivated strip varies in
width but can only be farmed to a maximum distance of some thirteen
miles. When the river reaches Cairo and passes into the Delta its
appearance changes as it continues over a low plain and fans out
toward the coast. Some of the Delta land can be cultivated, but much
of it is waterlogged marshland. The inundation was an annual event
until recently. The rains fall every year on the highlands of
Ethiopia in tropical Africa and increase the waters of the Nile so
that until the dam system was built the river became swollen and
flooded out over its banks, depositing the rich black silt that
fertilized the land. In Egypt the flood occurred first in the region
of the First Cataract in late June. The effect reached Cairo in the
north at the end of September, and then the waters gradually receded
until they reached their lowest level in the following April. This
annual miracle brought renewed life to the parched land and was
eagerly awaited by all inhabitants of the country. There was always
the fear that, one year, the river would not rise, resulting in
death and destruction, and this was always a focus for people’s
prayers. Even though this perceived disaster never became reality, a
low Nile could bring famine while an excessive inundation could
flood the land, ruin the crops, and bring devastation. The
unpredictability of the inundation was a constant concern that
threatened the country’s safety and prosperity. Modern technology
has today enabled a series of dams to be built across the river at
certain points; the most famous is the High Dam at Aswan. These dams
ensure that the volume of water can be held back (it is now stored
in Lake Nasser behind the High Dam) and then released for
irrigation, as required, through a series of canals. In antiquity
the water levels were measured and recorded on nilometers positioned
along the river. At two nilometer sites (one south of Cairo and the
other near Aswan), which were believed to be the “caverns” or
“sources” that controlled the Nile flood, as well as near other
nilometers, a ritual was performed to bring about the force of the
flood: Cakes, fruit, sacred jewelry, and sacrificial animals were
thrown into the river, and to ensure the Nile’s fertility females
figurines or “dolls” were also included.
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Other
Topics About :
Geography of Ancient Egypt |
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