The River Nile

The Nile is Egypt. This is true to a great extent today and it was even more true in ancient times. Without the Nile, Egypt would have been an insignificant country people by nomadic tribesmen and a few villages along its coasts and in scattered oases. It was the Nile which allowed Egypt to develop agriculture to the point where it could support a large population. It was the Nile, too, which enabled the ancient Egyptians to establish an empire by making it possible for them to engage in overseas trade.

The Nile at Luxor

The Nile at Aswan

Sunset over the Nile

In ancient times, the river was the quickest and easy way to travel between Upper and Lower Egypt, and it is still a significant thoroughfare for the transportation of goods within the country.

The graceful felucca is still a common sight on the river

Three feluccas at Aswan

A felucca boatman near Aswan

When you travel up or down the Nile, you cannot help be struck by the lushness of the vegetation on both sides of the river. And by the way the river has fostered human life along its banks for thousands of years.

However, you are also frequently reminded of the fact that most of Egypt is desert, and that the desert is constantly trying to take over the fields and farms which line the river.