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Flooding of the Nile
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Flooding of the Nile
The flooding of the Nile (commonly referred to as the Inundation) and its silt deposition was a natural cycle first attested in Ancient Egypt. It was of singular importance in the history and culture of Egypt. Governments and administrators of Egypt began constructing infrastructure to control the flooding in the 19th century, and these projects continued into the 20th. The annual flooding cycle in Egypt came to an end in 1970 with the completion of the Aswan High Dam.[citation needed]
The river's predictability and annual deposits in the Nile Valley and Delta made for extraordinarily rich soil—classified today as alluvium on a bed of entisol— enabling the Egyptians to build an empire on the basis of its enormous agricultural wealth and surpluses of cereals which could be stored or traded. Egyptians were one of the first groups of people to practice agriculture on a large scale. This in turn was only possible with their innovation of surface irrigation, also called "basin irrigation", which finally gave rise to the form of Ancient Egyptian agriculture that persisted into the 20th century. Their farming practices allowed them to grow surpluses of both cereals—especially the staple crops wheat and barley—and industrial crops—such as flax for weaving into linen and Nile grass for manufacture into papyrus. By the time of Roman rule, Egypt was one of the most significant sources of wheat in the entire Roman Empire.
Egyptians have celebrated the flooding since at least early antiquity. Today the annual flooding is commemorated by a two-week holiday called Wafaa El-Nil, beginning on August 15. It is also celebrated in the Coptic Church by ceremonially throwing a martyr's relic into the river, giving it the name "The Martyr's Finger" (Coptic: ⲡⲓⲧⲏⲃ ⲛⲙⲁⲣⲧⲏⲣⲟⲥ, Arabic: Esba` al-shahīd).[citation needed]
The flooding of the Nile held a primary importance to the people of Ancient Egypt, reflected in their founding myths, their calendar, and in their very name for their land. In the Ancient Egyptian religion, the floodwaters were Isis's tears of sorrow for the murdered Osiris, killed by his own brother Set. During inundation festivals, Egyptians planted mud figures of Osiris with barley.
The Egyptian calendar year was divided into three seasons: Akhet (Inundation); Peret (Growth); and Shemu (Harvest). Akhet covered the Egyptian flood cycle. This cycle was so consistent that the Egyptians timed its onset using the heliacal rising of Sirius, the key event used to set their calendar.
The Egyptians' name for the Nile was Ar or Aur, meaning simply “black,” for the color of the sediments it carried and deposited as fertile black soils on the floodplains of the Nile Delta. The mud's black color is also the root of the Ancient Egyptian name for the country: 𓆎 𓅓 𓏏𓊖 (km.t) (commonly vocalised as Kemet; probably pronounced [kuːmat] in ancient Egyptian), literally: "black land." Kemet, with its fertile black soil, stood apart from the deshret (⟨dšṛt⟩), or "red land", of the surrounding Eastern and Western Deserts.
Hapi was the god of the Nile and its annual flooding, which was also called the Arrival of Hapi in addition to its proper seasonal name. Hapi, with the pharaoh, were said to control the flooding. His association with the fertilization of the soil also meant Hapi symbolised fertility itself.
The flooding of the Nile is an effect of the yearly monsoon between May and August, which entails peak rainfall on the Ethiopian Highlands, the summits of which reach heights of up to 4,550 m (14,930 ft). Most of this runoff flows into the Blue Nile and, by the Atbarah River, into the main Nile; a smaller amount flows through the Sobat and the White Nile into the Nile. During this short period, the Atbarah and Sobat contribute up to 90% of Nile's flow and most of its transported sediment. After the monsoon season, they dwindle to minor rivers.
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Flooding of the Nile
The flooding of the Nile (commonly referred to as the Inundation) and its silt deposition was a natural cycle first attested in Ancient Egypt. It was of singular importance in the history and culture of Egypt. Governments and administrators of Egypt began constructing infrastructure to control the flooding in the 19th century, and these projects continued into the 20th. The annual flooding cycle in Egypt came to an end in 1970 with the completion of the Aswan High Dam.[citation needed]
The river's predictability and annual deposits in the Nile Valley and Delta made for extraordinarily rich soil—classified today as alluvium on a bed of entisol— enabling the Egyptians to build an empire on the basis of its enormous agricultural wealth and surpluses of cereals which could be stored or traded. Egyptians were one of the first groups of people to practice agriculture on a large scale. This in turn was only possible with their innovation of surface irrigation, also called "basin irrigation", which finally gave rise to the form of Ancient Egyptian agriculture that persisted into the 20th century. Their farming practices allowed them to grow surpluses of both cereals—especially the staple crops wheat and barley—and industrial crops—such as flax for weaving into linen and Nile grass for manufacture into papyrus. By the time of Roman rule, Egypt was one of the most significant sources of wheat in the entire Roman Empire.
Egyptians have celebrated the flooding since at least early antiquity. Today the annual flooding is commemorated by a two-week holiday called Wafaa El-Nil, beginning on August 15. It is also celebrated in the Coptic Church by ceremonially throwing a martyr's relic into the river, giving it the name "The Martyr's Finger" (Coptic: ⲡⲓⲧⲏⲃ ⲛⲙⲁⲣⲧⲏⲣⲟⲥ, Arabic: Esba` al-shahīd).[citation needed]
The flooding of the Nile held a primary importance to the people of Ancient Egypt, reflected in their founding myths, their calendar, and in their very name for their land. In the Ancient Egyptian religion, the floodwaters were Isis's tears of sorrow for the murdered Osiris, killed by his own brother Set. During inundation festivals, Egyptians planted mud figures of Osiris with barley.
The Egyptian calendar year was divided into three seasons: Akhet (Inundation); Peret (Growth); and Shemu (Harvest). Akhet covered the Egyptian flood cycle. This cycle was so consistent that the Egyptians timed its onset using the heliacal rising of Sirius, the key event used to set their calendar.
The Egyptians' name for the Nile was Ar or Aur, meaning simply “black,” for the color of the sediments it carried and deposited as fertile black soils on the floodplains of the Nile Delta. The mud's black color is also the root of the Ancient Egyptian name for the country: 𓆎 𓅓 𓏏𓊖 (km.t) (commonly vocalised as Kemet; probably pronounced [kuːmat] in ancient Egyptian), literally: "black land." Kemet, with its fertile black soil, stood apart from the deshret (⟨dšṛt⟩), or "red land", of the surrounding Eastern and Western Deserts.
Hapi was the god of the Nile and its annual flooding, which was also called the Arrival of Hapi in addition to its proper seasonal name. Hapi, with the pharaoh, were said to control the flooding. His association with the fertilization of the soil also meant Hapi symbolised fertility itself.
The flooding of the Nile is an effect of the yearly monsoon between May and August, which entails peak rainfall on the Ethiopian Highlands, the summits of which reach heights of up to 4,550 m (14,930 ft). Most of this runoff flows into the Blue Nile and, by the Atbarah River, into the main Nile; a smaller amount flows through the Sobat and the White Nile into the Nile. During this short period, the Atbarah and Sobat contribute up to 90% of Nile's flow and most of its transported sediment. After the monsoon season, they dwindle to minor rivers.
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