climate and geography: Egypt EGYPT BY KELLY-ANNE DIAMOND REED Egypt is located in the northeast corner of the African continent, its nearest modern neighbors being Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and Israel to the northeast The Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea lie to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea is to the north The country occupies 386,650 square miles and is the 12th-largest country in Africa The modern border between Egypt and Sudan lies just north of the second cataract of the Nile River In the Predynastic Period (5000– 3100 b.c.e.) or Early Dynastic Period (ca 3000–2575 b.c.e.) the border lay at Gebel el-Silsila, where the limestone banks in the north give way to sandstone in the south For most of antiquity the border lay at the first cataract, though on various occasions the Egyptians pushed farther south to expand their territory In the New Kingdom (1550–1070 b.c.e.) the southern border of Egypt reached past the fourth cataract LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE The habitation of the Nile Valley began in Paleolithic times By 15,000 b.c.e there were many Paleolithic sites in the desert near the valley edge In the Neolithic Period (ca 5500–5000 b.c.e.) more people entered Egypt to enjoy the wild game, water, and pleasant climate These people were wanderers and gatherers, not food producers Some fruits, seeds, and roots could be found in the wild The first settlements appeared around 5000 b.c.e.; the settlers could not go far from the water supply and settled near the Nile and in the Faiyûm, a large, fertile depression in Libyan Desert It is generally thought that over time there was a gradual lack of rainfall and an increase in desert, which in the end led to a scarcity of game In Neolithic times there was greater movement of people west of the Nile, especially in the north It is quite likely that it was agriculture that anchored them there Irrigation began only after the population could no longer survive on the food of the naturally inundated land The Egyptian landscape can be broken up into two main parts: the delta in the north and the Nile Valley in the south The Nile River was, and still is, the heart of Egypt Without this river Egyptian civilization might never have developed in the dry desert climate of northeast Africa The Nile Valley and the Nile Delta are known as Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, respectively The term Middle Egypt is also sometimes employed to describe the region between the Faiyûm in the north to the modern city of Asyut in the south Upper and Lower Egypt are two very distinct regions, both geographically and culturally The delta and the valley cover approximately 13,000 square miles The majority of the ancient Egyptian population lived in this region The Egyptian climate is hot and arid In Cairo (ancient Memphis) the summer can reach temperatures as high as 95 degrees Fahrenheit and then as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter The climate is hotter the farther south one goes In Aswān the temperature can rise as high as 107 degrees 239 Fahrenheit in the summer There is rarely rain or even clouds in Egypt and hardly any rainfall in the Nile Valley; in the delta there can be from to inches of rainfall per year The city of Cairo averages five rainy days per year, usually between November and January Because of this lack of rainfall the ancient Egyptians were entirely dependent on the Nile inundation for the survival of their crops Measuring 4,189 miles, the Nile is the longest river in the world It flows from south to north and empties into the Mediterranean Sea In the south the Nile is formed by the confluence of the White Nile (the parent stream), the Blue Nile near Khartoum, and the Atbara some 200 miles north The White Nile originates in Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile originates in the mountainous region of northern Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Highlands The Nile proper then hits the Mediterranean Sea some 1,700 miles away Just north of Khartoum the Nile is interrupted by the sixth cataract, the fi rst of a series of six A cataract is a rocky outcrop that produces rapids when the water runs over it The fi ft h cataract is located in the Bayuda Desert, north of where the Atbara merges with the Nile The fourth cataract is found near Gebel Barkal The third cataract is just north of Kerma The second cataract is found near the ancient site of Buhen The fi rst cataract marked the ancient boundary between Egypt and Nubia, located just south of the island of Elephantine NUBIA The geography of Nubia is important for understanding ancient Egyptian culture Aside from the fact that this territory was often dominated by the Egyptians, the natural resources that the Egyptians took from Nubia enriched their kingdom and gave them various means with which to prosper The name Nubia is derived from the word nwb, meaning gold Between the first and second cataracts was Lower Nubia This was a relatively poor region with very little cultivable land, since the desert cliffs often came right to the river’s edge Lower Nubia was repeatedly being absorbed into the ancient Egyptian territory The ancient Egyptians regarded Nubia as rightfully theirs and exploited it for its natural resources, used it as a corridor to retrieve exotic African goods, and recruited men for the Egyptian army and police force The Egyptians had penetrated into this southern land as early as the Early Dynastic Period, as evidenced by the rock inscriptions and reliefs located in the area of the second cataract During the Old Kingdom (ca 2575–2134 b.c.e.) King Snefru brought back to Egypt 7,000 Nubian captives and 200,000 head of cattle, according to the Palermo stone, which records events from the first five dynasties Additionally, the Egyptians built a fortress at Buhen, which may be interpreted as their having control over the region During the First Intermediate Period (ca 2134–2040 b.c.e.) the Egyptians lost hegemony over the area, despite the fact that there were very few settled people They regained control of the area in the Middle Kingdom (ca 2040–1640 b.c.e.) and erected a series