Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt (Arabic: مصر السفلى Miṣr as-Suflā) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile River split into seven branches of the delta in Lower Egypt. Lower Egypt was divided into nomes and began to advance as a civilization after 3600 BC. Today, it contains two major channels that flow through the delta of the Nile River – Mahmoudiyah Canal (ancient Agathos Daimon) and Muways Canal (Arabic: بحر موَيس, "waterway of Moses").

In Ancient Egyptian, Lower Egypt was known as mḥw which means "north". Later on, during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Greeks and Romans called it Κάτω Αἴγυπτος or Aegyptus Inferior both meaning "Lower Egypt", but Copts carried on using the old name related to the north – Tsakhet (Coptic: ⲧⲥⲁϧⲏⲧ) or Psanemhit (Coptic: ⲡⲥⲁⲛⲉⲙϩⲓⲧ) meaning the "Northern part". It was further divided into a number of regions or nomes (Coptic: ⲡⲧⲟϣ, romanized: ptosh) – Niphaiat (Coptic: ⲛⲓⲫⲁⲓⲁⲧ, lit. 'Libyan (nome)', Ancient Greek: Μαρεωτης) in the west, Tiarabia (Coptic: ϯⲁⲣⲁⲃⲓⲁ, lit. 'Arabia') in the east, Nimeshshoti (Coptic: ⲛⲓⲙⲉϣϣⲟϯ, lit. 'fields') in the north-east and Bashmur (Bashmuric Coptic: ⲡⲥⲁⲙⲏⲣ, lit. 'sand shore') in the north. Champollion adds another region in the middle of the Delta which he calls Petmour (Coptic: ⲡⲉⲧⲙⲟⲩⲣ, lit. 'the one which bounds, girds') based on Ancient Greek: Πτιμυρις mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium, but it is unclear if this is a separate region or just a Greek rendering of the name Bashmur.

After the Muslim conquest, the middle part of the Delta was called al-Rif (Arabic: الريف) which means "countryside, rural area" and which is derived from Ancient Egyptian

r-pr, "temple", because the rural areas were administered by them. The eastern part roughly comprising the ancient Tiarabia was called al-Hawf (Arabic: الهوف) meaning "edge, fringe".

Today, there are two principal channels that the Nile takes through the river delta: one in the west at Rashid and one in the east at Damietta.

The delta region is well watered, crisscrossed by channels and canals.

Owing primarily to its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, the climate in Lower Egypt is milder than that of Upper Egypt, the southern portion of the country. Temperatures are less extreme and rainfall is more abundant in Lower Egypt.

It was divided into twenty districts called nomes, the first of which was at el-Lisht. Because Lower Egypt was mostly undeveloped scrubland, filled with all types of plant life such as grasses and herbs, the organization of the nomes underwent several changes.