History of the river Nile

Image: more-history - blogger

Rivers, throughout history, have been the source of life for animals and have also seen flourishing civilizations grow on their banks. In this lesson from a TEACHER we bring you a summary of the history of the river Nile which, being the largest in Africa, saw the growth of one of the most enigmatic civilizations of the ancient world: the egyptian empire. Therefore, we will focus on knowing its parts, in addition to talking about the most important times in its history.

Index

1. What does the name "Nile" mean?
2. The parts of the river Nile
3. The wealth of the floods
4. The creation of the dams

Within this summary of the history of the Nile River we stop at a curiosity regarding its name. Many people have wanted to see, in the name of the Nile, the definition of The source of lifeHowever, this word in the ancient Egyptian language meant the river.

Now, if we stop to see what the Nile River meant to an Egyptian, things totally change. It is known that around the year 8000 a. C. all the African lands suffered a strong desertification, leaving the areas adjacent to the river totally arid. That way,

Image: Slideshare

We continue to talk about its dimensions and parts in which it is divided. In the first place, say that its basin is 3,254,555 km2 or what is the same, 10% of Africa. In turn, it travels a total of 6,853 km with a flow of about 2,830 m3 / s.

But is the river Nile in question only one?

The river Nile that we know as such, born in the Khartoum region, thanks to the contribution of two important flows such as:

• Nile bank: comes from Lake Victoria through the Ripon Falls (Uganda). It is called white, due to a clear clay that drags in its waters. It is also known as the Upper Nile, because it comes from the mountains.
• Blue Nile: It is born in Ethiopia and more specifically in Lake Tana (Sudan), traveling about 1,400km until it joins the waters of the White Nile.

Even so, one of the most important activities or adventures throughout history has been to find the source of the Nile, that is, its place of birth, a very difficult activity since we will find a series of waterfalls that prevented the passage through navigation.

In fact, we know that the Romans and Greeks failed in their attempt to discover it, and that throughout the Modern Age, there were people who endlessly searched for such a source. At the moment, the river is considered to be born in Lake Tanganyika, in the western part of Rwanda.

Middle nile

Having seen in the summary of the history of the River Nile where its being originates, we have to talk about the two parts of great importance that are in turn related to the Egyptian civilization. First of all, we stop at the middle course from Khartoum to the current Aswan Dam.

We will find ourselves in a rather arid and desert terrain where there will be some seasonal tributaries such as the Atbarah River. The route between these points is 1,800 km and it is where we will find 6 waterfalls, which greatly impeded the navigation of the ancients.

Lower nile

The end of the river runs from Aswan to the Mediterranean Sea, where it dies in the form of a delta, which is also one of the largest in the world with 230 km wide. That is the richest part of Egypt, since the river's depositions were immense (before the creation of the Aswan dam), this meant that the most important crops were grown in what is known as Bajo Egypt.

Image: History of mathematics in Ancient Egypt - blogger

The annual floods made it possible for populations could exercise agriculture. The reason is that, the sediment remains that the water brought, were deposited on the slopes of the river after the flooding of this causing that, when the water level returned to its normal level, a large area would be covered of slime.

Under normal conditions, the floods were known and did not affect the crops, but the simple fact of delaying the flood or coming stronger from the account destabilized the fragile balance of society, being able to create severe famines among the population.

In ancient times, if there were droughts or, on the contrary, the water seriously affected the infrastructures, it was the pharaoh directly responsible, since, as he was considered as a god, he had to protect the people from him. For this reason it was very normal for the priests to perform great sacrifices (of animals) and rituals so that the waters would come well.

In modernity, it was decided end the flood problem or, at least, to be able to control them better. For this reason, a series of dam constructions were undertaken, such as that of Aswan, elements that made it possible to contain the waters.

The drawback that has occurred from the constructions was that the depositions in the lower part are minimal, causing the delta, little by little, to decrease its size. Another problem was that many temples were under water, only the most important ones being saved.

Many European countries helped in the movements of some temples and, as thanks, the Government of Egypt gave others of less importance to those countries. Therefore, in Madrid we can contemplate one of these, such as the Temple of Debod.

If you want to read more articles similar to Nile River History - Short Summary, we recommend that you enter our category of Geography.