On our first day, we looked around at the geography of ancient Egypt, which impacted the Egyptians in many ways, some examples are trade, protection, food and water, transportation, and agriculture.
Agriculture
First, ancient Egypt was separated into two types of land, there was the 'Red Land and 'Black Land'. The Black Land was all fertile soil on the banks of the Nile, that the Egyptians used for farming. And the reason why this soil could be used for farming was because every year the Nile River flooded, which led to silt deposits on the Black Land. Additionally, the Nile provided many fish and eels to be eaten.
The Nile River
The 4,258 mile Nile was very important to ancient Egypt, because not only did it provide the Egyptians water and food, but it also provided them with transportation, because the land had no roads or aids for transport, so if the Egyptians went by land, the services would get delayed, thus the Egyptians used the Nile River to transport heavy stones and items to trade.
Flooding
Lastly, we'd like to talk about how the Nile River floods affected ancient Egypt. so first, the Nile would flood the fields around mid-June to mid-October, (known as flood season) and fertilize the soil with silt, which we mentioned above. Then during mid-October to mid-February, as the water receded it filled irrigation canals which tended to the newly planted crops. And finally, during mid-February to mid-June, the crops from the Lower Nile got harvested and sent away to the market. So overall, the Nile floods affected the agriculture a great deal.
Protection
Next, you should know that the geography of ancient Egypt helped protect the Egyptians as well with its natural barriers, one of which is the Mediterranean sea, which protected them from any invaders up north, they also have the Sahara Desert, as any invaders that tried to get through that would die of dehydration before they even get to Egypt! In fact, even the Nile River was a form of protection! Anyone that would attempt to get to Egypt with the Nile Delta would end up rowing upstream!
Primary Source
During our visit, we found a document containing a song from around 2100 BCE. called "Hymn to the Nile," which says:
Hail to you, oh Nile,
spring from the ground, come to keep the land alive...
who floods the fields that Ra (the sun god) has created to make all the animals live...
who produces barley and makes wheat grow,
that the temples might be in festival.
If he is sluggish, noses suffocate,
everyone is impoverished....
If he rises, the land is in exultation,
and everyone is in joy.
Which supports the idea that the Nile River was very important to the ancient Egyptians, especially in lines 3 and 4, because it's stating that without the Nile and its floods, then the Egyptians wouldn't have barley and wheat to trade and eat. Other important lines are lines 8 and 9, as they say that if the Nile floods, the Egyptians are in joy because of what it gives to them.
Hail to you, oh Nile,
spring from the ground, come to keep the land alive...
who floods the fields that Ra (the sun god) has created to make all the animals live...
who produces barley and makes wheat grow,
that the temples might be in festival.
If he is sluggish, noses suffocate,
everyone is impoverished....
If he rises, the land is in exultation,
and everyone is in joy.
Which supports the idea that the Nile River was very important to the ancient Egyptians, especially in lines 3 and 4, because it's stating that without the Nile and its floods, then the Egyptians wouldn't have barley and wheat to trade and eat. Other important lines are lines 8 and 9, as they say that if the Nile floods, the Egyptians are in joy because of what it gives to them.