1. Geography of Ancient Egypt

2. Gift of the Nile The Nile provided water and food to the desert
Egypt has been called “the Gift of the Nile”

4. A mighty river Nile is the world’s longest river
It flows over 4,000 miles
The Nile opens into the warm Mediterranean sea

6. Rainy season
Much of east Africa has a rainy season that lasts from may until September
The Nile swells with rain water
The river carries silt
Silt is a mixture of tiny bits of soil and rock

7. delta
Where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean sea, the river is divided into several branches, forming a fan-shaped delta
A delta is a very fertile, flat land made of silt left behind as a river drains into a larger body of water

9. Upper and lower Egypt
The Nile delta region is in northern Egypt, and appears at the top of a map
This is known as “lower Egypt”, because it is the lower or down stream part of the Nile
in the “upper Egypt”, to the south, the Nile cuts through stone cliffs and desert sands
The landscape is very different from the mile, fertile delta

11. farmers
Farmers depended on the right amount of flooding each year to grow successful crops
Too little flooding meant farmers’ crops failed and people went hungry
Too much flooding meant people and cattle could be swept away and homes destroyed
Life was a delicate balance in the Nile river valley

12. A system of agriculture
In October the flooded lands began to dry. Farmers planted wheat, barley and other garden vegetables.
Farmers also grew flax ( used to make cloth)

13. irrigation Irrigation is a form of technology
Irrigation is the watering of land by means of canals or pipes
First farmers built walls to keep floodwaters in the fields
Later they dug small canals to bring water from the Nile to the farmland
Farmers scooped water from the canals and poured it into the fields, using a bucket-lifter called a “shadouf”

14. Shadouf

15. Harvesting By March crops were ready for harvesting
When farm families had more food then needed (surplus), their extra supply of goods were brought to storehouses
In farm communities there was specialization of jobs. This allowed a person to become great at 1 job instead being okay at many

16. Flood season
Farmers could not work in their fields. Instead many used the time to visit neighboring villages
This was one of the busiest times for travel on the Nile
The Nile was the main way that people and goods moved from place to place