Ancient Egypt: Geography, Military, and the Nile

Kevin Leibold and Dave

The Nile

• The river got its name from the Greek word Neilos, which means valley.

• The Nile is composed of 3 separate rivers which combine and form the Nile, the White Nile, the Blue Nile, and the Atbarah.

• 6695 Kilometers long

The White Nile

• The White Nile that begins at Lake Victoria in Uganda it supplies around 28% of the Niles water.

• The White Nile is the clearest water and that is why it’s called the White Nile

• The White Nile contributes 80% of the Niles water during the low season and a mere 10% during the high season.

The Blue Nile

• The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and supplies an average of 58% of the Niles waters in Egypt.

• It flows faster than the White Nile and they join at Khartoum.

• The Blue Nile carries mud and sediment and is not clear like the White Nile.

• The Blue Nile contributes 17% of the Niles water during low season and 68% during high season

Atbarah River

• The shorter Atbarah river begins in Ethiopia similar to the Blue Nile and joins the Main Nile north of Khartoum where the other Nile’s meet up.

• The Atbarah River meets up with the Main Nile between the 5th and 6th cataracts which is the area of steep rapids

• The River provides an estimated 14% or the Niles waters in Egypt. Atbarah River provides a higher percent of water during the torrential rains, 22% compared to 14% during the rest of the year.

The Nile Delta

• The Nile Delta extends over approximately 22,000 square kilometers.

• Measurements of the annual flood has seen a lot of over flow varying from as low as 1.2 billion cubic meters and as high as 4.25 billion cubic meters have been recorded.

• For centuries Egyptians attempted to predict and take advantage of the flows and moderate the severity of floods.

The Nile

Geography

• Egypt covers an area of 1 million 1 thousand 4 hundred 49 kilometers of land, and is the estimated size of Texas and New Mexico. The country is located at the top of Africa the North East side includes the Sinai Peninsula.

Western Desert

• The Western Desert covers about 700,000 square kilometers accounts for about 60%of Egypt's land area

• The desert contains many oases, Bahriyah, Farafirah, Dakhilah, and Kharijah.

• The sweetwater artesian wells in the Fayyum Oasis have permitted extensive cultivation in an irrigated area that extends over 1,800 square kilometers.

Eastern Desert

• 220,000 square kilometers • The upward-sloping plateau of sand gives

way within 100 kilometers to arid, defoliated, rocky hills. The hills reach elevations of more than 1,900 meters.

• Most important of this area are the Red Sea Hills, which extend from the Nile Valley eastward to the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea

Sinai Peninsula

• This triangular area covers about 61,100 square kilometers.

• Similar to the desert, the peninsula contains mountains in its southern sector

• The country's highest point--2,642 meters

Map of Egypt