How Did The Nile Shaped Ancient Egypt

Cyrus Waldrop #27
2-3-16
How the Nile Shaped Egypt

The Nile was the most important part of Egypt because it influenced agriculture, created a boundary for safety, and was a highway for travel and trade. It also meant Life or Death for the people of Egypt. They depended on it for things like food, water, a place to wash their clothes,etc. The Nile influenced agriculture for the egyptians because it created fertile land. In source one it states,” Egyptians used the Nile’s floods to become better farmers.” That meant that the Nile would flood and leave fertile mud for the farmers to grow their crops. Unlike other rivers the Nile’s floods were all similar. Also in the first source it says,” One reason for their success was irrigation. Egyptian farmers first dug basins, or bowl shaped holes, in the earth to trap flood waters. The farmers then dug canals to carry water from basins to fields beyond the rivers reach.” They would dig canals to get the water to go where they wanted it to.The Nile was the biggest part of ancient egyptians agricultural life. The Nile made a boundary of safety for Egypt because it had many obstacles that ships could not pass. In

In source one it states,” Despite their isolation the egyptians were not completely closed to the outside world. The Mediterranean sea bordered Egypt to the north and the Red sea to the east. These bodies of water gave egyptians a way to trade with the people outside Egypt.This means that they were able to trade and travel places outside Egypt. It also said,” Within Egypt people used the Nile for travel and trade. Winds from the north pushed sailboats south. The flow of the Nile carried them north. Egyptian villages thus had frequent friendly contact with one another, unlike the hostile relations of the Mesopotamian city-states.” They meant that the Nile was good for transportation. That’s why it was good for