Ancient Egypt’s Geography

Location Egypt is located in North Eastern Africa. Its modern boundaries are the Mediterranean Sea to the North, Sudan in the South, Libya to the West and the Red Sea and Israel to the East. In Ancient Egypt the boundaries were the Mediterranean, the Elephantine (modern Aswan) to the South, and the deserts located to the sides of the Nile served as the Eastern and Western boundaries.

Temperature Egypt gets lots of sun through out the year, although there are seasonal fluctuations. There are two seasons. Winter: November – April, temperatures drop at night, 50 – 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer: May – October, temperature is relatively constant, dry, 90 – 100 degrees Fahrenheit Rainfall is negligible and is usually no more than 100 – 200 ml per year.

Ancient Egypt was divided into two main regions: Upper and Lower Egypt.

Lower Egypt: Was the Northern portion of the Nile and the Nile Delta. The delta is formed by soil and silt (alluvium) that is washed out into the Mediterranean. Today, the delta is approximately 15,000 square kilometres. However, in ancient time the delta was not heavily populated. Its use was limited to grazing cattle.

Upper Egypt: This area includes the long strip land south of the delta. It is divided into four zones. Nile River Flood Plains Low Desert High Desert

Nile River: the longest river in the world dominates modern Egypt as it did the ancients. (6,598 km long) It is formed from the union of the White Nile from Lake Victoria and the Blue Nile from the mountains in Ethiopia. These two rivers merge in Khartoum, Sudan. Between Khartoum and Aswan there are six cataracts which make navigation difficult. It served as the primary means for the ancient Egyptians to travel. The river also served as the location for food. Fish and fowl were harvested by the ancient Egyptians. More importantly, the river served as to renew the soil and to maintain it. Flooding provided new layers of silt and mud while irrigation kept the crops growing.

a. The flood plains: - This is the thin strip of land (7 – 22 km wide) next to the Nile River. It is flooded by the Nile for up to four months a year. (May/June – Sept./Oct.). - The agricultural year began in September or October, when the inundation subsided leaving the earth soaked and overlaid with a fresh layer of black silt. - The principal crops of ancient Egypt were emmer (a type of wheat), barley, and flax. - The majority of the population of ancient Egypt live in this region on the high ground above the annual inundation.

a. Low desert: this region does not get flooded by the Nile but still hold some vegetation. The low desert holds wild animals such as antelope, hares, and lions. It was also in this region that the Egyptians buried their dead.

a. high desert: This is the barren desert in which there is no vegetation. The region was still valuable to the Egyptians due to its abundance in resources like copper, gold, and stone.