Essay, Research Paper: Egypt: The Gift Of The Nile

Egypt: The Gift of the Nile

The Nile, is the longest river in the world, and is located in
northeastern Africa. Its principal source is Lake Victoria, in east
central Africa. The Nile flows north through Uganda, Sudan, and
Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, with a total distance of 5584 km.
From its remotest headstream in Burundi, the river is 6671 km long.
The river basin covers an area of more than 3,349,000 sq km. Not
only is the Nile considered a wonder by Herodotus, but by people all
over the world, due to its impotance to the growth of a civilization.

The first great African civilization developed in the northern Nile
Valley in about 5000 BC. Dependent on agriculture, this state, called
Egypt, relied on the flooding of the Nile for irrigation and new soils. It
dominated vast areas of northeastern Africa for millennia. Ruled by
Egypt for about 1800 years, the Kush region of northern Sudan
subjugated Egypt in the 8th century BC. Pyramids, temples, and
other monuments of these civilizations blanket the river valley in
Egypt and northern Sudan.

To Egypt, the Nile is seen as the fountain of life. Every year,
between the months of June and October, the great rivers of the Nile
rush north, and flood the highlands of Etiopia. The flooding surges of
the land, and leaves behind water for the people, and fertile land,
which can be used for agriculture. The impact the Nile has on Egypt
during the ancient times and present are consierably apparent. The
influence the Nile has is so extensive, that even the speech is
transposed. For example, "To go north" in the Egyption language is
the same as, "to go down stream"; "to go south" the same as "to go
upstream." Also, the term for a "foreign country" in Egypt would be
used as "highland" or "desert", because the only mountains or deserts
would be far away, and foreign to them. The Nile certainly had an
exceptional influence on Egypts, both lifestyle and thinking.

The Nile also forced a change on the political system and ruling in
Egypt. Because of the vast floods every year, the country needed a
ruler that was capable of enforcing of the farmings and methods
used. Such as the hoarding of the water and the stocking of the food
harvested. Second, only a stongly cetralized administration could
manafe the economy properly. To Egypts benefit, they lived in a fairly
isolated area, which would aid them in their development of a
government.

Not only was the Egyptian life, thinking, political sytem and
government development affected. But the scientific evolution was
greatly affected. For example, due to the yearly occurrence of the
flood, scientists used that information and incoporated it into their
creation of the yearly calender. Not only were sundials used in Egypt
for telling the time, but a water dial was also used. I guess people
used the water dial on a cloudy day!

WOW this essay sucks...