The Nile River

The Nile RiverThe Nile RiverBy Katarina EwasiukBy Katarina Ewasiuk

IntroductionIntroduction

I did the my Ancient Egypt Project on the I did the my Ancient Egypt Project on the Nile River because I enjoy water. I also Nile River because I enjoy water. I also did it because I wanted to learn about did it because I wanted to learn about how the Nile effected the lives of the how the Nile effected the lives of the ancient Egyptians.ancient Egyptians.

What is the Nile?What is the Nile?

-The Nile river is the -The Nile river is the longest river in the longest river in the worldworld

-The Nile gets its name -The Nile gets its name from the Greek word from the Greek word “Nelios”, meaning “Nelios”, meaning River ValleyRiver Valley

-It is about 4,000 miles -It is about 4,000 miles longlong

Where is it?Where is it?

-The Nile and its tributaries, -The Nile and its tributaries, the White Nile, and the the White Nile, and the Blue Nile, run through Blue Nile, run through nine countriesnine countries

- The White Nile flows The White Nile flows through Uganda, Sudan through Uganda, Sudan and Egyptand Egypt

- The Blue Nile flows The Blue Nile flows through Ethiopia. Zaire, through Ethiopia. Zaire, Kenya, Tanzanian, Kenya, Tanzanian, Rwanda, and BurundiRwanda, and Burundi

Where is the source of the Nile Where is the source of the Nile River?River?

-Lake Victoria, which is Africa’s biggest lake, -Lake Victoria, which is Africa’s biggest lake, is thought to be the main source of the is thought to be the main source of the NileNile

-On the northern end of the, water is -On the northern end of the, water is poured over a small waterfall called poured over a small waterfall called Rippon FallsRippon Falls

-This water falls into a small canal which is -This water falls into a small canal which is the beginning of the Nile Riverthe beginning of the Nile River

The true source of the NileThe true source of the Nile

-Though Rippon Falls is the starting point of -Though Rippon Falls is the starting point of the Nile River, there are many small the Nile River, there are many small streams that empty into Lake Victoriastreams that empty into Lake Victoria

-The largest tributary of Lake Victoria is the -The largest tributary of Lake Victoria is the Kagera riverKagera river

-It is from the Kagera river that the Nile is -It is from the Kagera river that the Nile is measured the world’s longest rivermeasured the world’s longest river

Why did the Egyptians live by the Why did the Egyptians live by the Nile?Nile?

-The Nile provided food -The Nile provided food such as fish, and such as fish, and waterwater

-Because of it’s annual -Because of it’s annual flooding, the Nile also flooding, the Nile also enriched the enriched the surrounding soil with surrounding soil with rich nutrients, making rich nutrients, making the soil very fertilethe soil very fertile

Papyrus ReedsPapyrus Reeds

-Papyrus reeds grew -Papyrus reeds grew along side the Nile along side the Nile and were used to and were used to make boatsmake boats

-Paper was also made -Paper was also made from papyrusfrom papyrus

-The papyrus boats -The papyrus boats were also useful for were also useful for trade, for they were trade, for they were the fastest form of the fastest form of transportationtransportation

Fishing and HuntingFishing and Hunting

-The Egyptians would -The Egyptians would use nets and spears use nets and spears to catch fish along the to catch fish along the NileNile

-They also used nets to -They also used nets to catch birds which flew catch birds which flew close along the close along the water’s surfacewater’s surface

FloodingFlooding

-The River Nile flooded every -The River Nile flooded every year between June and year between June and September September

-Melting snow and heavy -Melting snow and heavy summer rain in the summer rain in the Ethiopian Mountains sent Ethiopian Mountains sent lots of water to the banks lots of water to the banks of the Nile River in Egypt of the Nile River in Egypt to overflow on the flat to overflow on the flat dessert landdessert land

-The Nile does not flood -The Nile does not flood today, due to the Aswan today, due to the Aswan Dam that was built in the Dam that was built in the 1970’s.1970’s.

Fun Facts Fun Facts

-Although often associated with Egypt, only -Although often associated with Egypt, only 22% of the Nile River flows through Egypt22% of the Nile River flows through Egypt

-Its average discharge 3.1 million (680,000) -Its average discharge 3.1 million (680,000) gallons of water per secondgallons of water per second

-The Ancient Egyptians called the river Ar or -The Ancient Egyptians called the river Ar or Aur, meaning black, because of the colour Aur, meaning black, because of the colour of the sediment left after the river’s of the sediment left after the river’s annual flood annual flood

ConclusionConclusion

The Nile River is still a very important part The Nile River is still a very important part of Modern day Egypt. Even though we of Modern day Egypt. Even though we now have many resources natural and now have many resources natural and artificial, we should still use these artificial, we should still use these resources sparingly and carefully because resources sparingly and carefully because without them, we don’t have much else to without them, we don’t have much else to depend on.depend on.