1. Bell Ringer # 23
Write a paragraph about what you already know about ancient Egypt. If you don’t know anything, write your paragraph about what you would like to learn!

2. Agenda Bell Ringer Ancient Egypt – Gift of the Nile Notes
Egypt Map Assignment
Finish work from last class
Vocabulary
Textbook reading and questions

3. Ancient Egypt
The Gift of the Nile

6. Geography and Ancient Egypt – Nile River
The water, soil, and surrounding area of the Nile River Valley allowed a great civilization to arise in Egypt around 3200 B.C.

7. Ancient Egypt was located on the continent of Africa.
It is still a country there today.

8. The Nile River Egypt is called the “Gift of the Nile”
Most of northern Africa is hot and dry desert, but the Nile River brought life to Egypt and allowed it to become a great civilization.
The Nile provided water, food, transportation, and trade.

10. The Nile is the longest river in the world, with a distance of over 4,000 miles.
Even though it didn’t rain very often, farming was possible in Egypt because the Nile flooded every year.
Flooding leaves behind silt, which makes the land very fertile and good for farming.

11. River Delta
The river delta is a triangle-shaped landform at the mouth of the river, where the river flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

12. Black and Red Land
The ancient Egyptians thought of Egypt as being divided into two types of land, the 'black land' and the 'red land'.

13. Black and Red Land
The 'red land' was the barren desert that protected Egypt on two sides.
These deserts separated ancient Egypt from neighboring countries and invading armies.
The 'black land' was the fertile land on the banks of the Nile.
This was the only land in ancient Egypt that could be farmed because a layer of rich, black silt was deposited there every year after the Nile flooded.

14. Natural Barriers
Egypt’s location offered another advantage because it had natural barriers that protected it from invaders.
Natural barriers are geographical features that are difficult to cross.
Egypt’s Natural Barriers:
Surrounded by desert
Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea
Cataracts (rapids) in the Nile River