The Nile River:
The ancient Egyptians were reasonably interested both in the world around them and in what was beyond their boundaries and their reach. Their own world was neatly organized by the Nile river, which provided irrigation, transportation, communication, drinking water, water for washing, and plentiful fish, fowl and game. The Egyptians’ geographical orientation was toward the south-the source of the Nile. The Nile River rises from the lakes of central Africa and from the mountains of Ethiopia meeting at Khartoum and flow together northward to the Nile Delta, where the 4000 miles course of this river spills into the Mediterranean Sea. A designation for the entire country was two banks, referring to both sides of the river, but probably the most important distinction was between the Black land (kmt) and the Red land, the cultivable and the desert (dSrt). Kamil added that “The sun and the river, which together formed the cause of existence, made a profound impression on the people. They were two natural forces with both creative and destructive power. For the life-giving rays of the sun that caused the crop to grow could also cause it to die. And the river that invigorated the soil with its life-giving silt could destroy whatever lay in its path or, if it failed to rise sufficiently, bring famine. The sun and the river, moreover, shared in the pattern of death and rebirth: the sun ‘died’ when it sank on the western horizon only to be ‘reborn’ in the eastern sky the following morning. And the ‘death’ of the land followed the germination or ‘rebirth’ of the crops each year were directly connected with the river’s annual flood. Rebirth was therefore a central feature of the Egyptian scene. It was seen as a natural sequence to death and undoubtedly lay at the root of the ancient Egyptian conviction of life after death. Like the sun and the crops, man, they felt assured, would rise again to live a second life”.
D- Abundance of water; especially at the time of the annual inundation. As throughout history, this basic requirement for water has led developing communities to centralize along waterways due to the power and life sustaining qualities that water provides. These geographical factors have determined the life cycle of the society where people farmed only along the banks of the Nile. It also helped to create the world view of the ancient Egyptian civilization.
2- Human factor:
The ancient Egyptian man and his intelligence and his efforts in facing difficulties had a great effect in directing the environment to benefit the ancient Egyptian humanity and also achieving such a civilization. If Herodotus mentioned that “Egypt is the gift of the Nile”. Lets here stress on the fact that “Egypt is the gift of the Egyptians themselves”.
