The Geography of Ancient Egyptian Civilisation

I have started an online Egyptology course through the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford. I’m going to be doing a series of blogs over the weeks on the various subjects covered on the course – the first was geography. Herodotus, ‘the Father of History’ in the fifth century BC described Egypt as the gift of the Nile and it is hard to disagree with him. Egypt, when compared to its neighbours is unique and thanks to its geographical location at the crosswords between Africa and Asia combined with the environment which the Nile provided helped Egypt become one of the first civilisations.

With the Sahara defending Egypt’s western flank, the Red Sea protecting the east and the Mediterranean blocking off access to the Nile Delta for centuries Egypt was protected from the rest of the world and this allowed for the creation of the unique civilisation of Ancient Egypt to flourish. It’s important not to underestimate the impact this isolation had on the development of Ancient Egyptian culture, it resulted in a truly unique worldview, one which its geography helped to shape. From politics to religion the geography of Ancient Egypt impacted all aspects of their culture and the most important was Egypt’s relationship with the Nile.

The Nile was the lifeblood of Egypt, but it was often a mixed blessing causing the Egyptians equal course for celebration and misery. The Nile made it possible for the Egyptians to live in their north-eastern corner of Africa, but it also meant that there was limited space for occupation. The river was a source of drinking water, and brought nutrient rich silt for agriculture, but the problem of high floods causing damage, and of low floods leading to food shortage must have been on the minds of the ancient Egyptians (and thus also the need to keep a surplus for such times); there was danger from insect-borne diseases and animals living in the Nile.

Political unity was also the product of Egypt’s geography – the necessity of taming the Nile for agricultural benefit forced the Egyptians to work together. In time the Nile allowed the Egyptian civilisation to expand from just providing the basic necessities of life, to creating an advanced economy which enabled political and military expansion as well as the ability to build the monuments Egypt is famous for. Historically Egypt was spilt in two, Upper and Lower Egypt – contrary to the Western World which tends to see political power in the geographical north, the Ancient Egyptians saw power as flowing from the south, the source of the Nile; this is why Southern Egypt was Upper Egypt.

As well as politics the Nile formed how Egyptians viewed their world, the cycle of the Nile structured the Egyptian year. The yearly changes in the Nile became the rhythm of life for the Egyptian people, marked by seasons of inundation, the growing of crops, and drought. The balance which this pattern embedded in the Egyptian people formed their religious outlook. The importance of the annual inundation influenced creation myths, and also gave the Egyptians a strong sense of the cycles of nature, of balance and order, notions that they unified in the concept of ‘maat’. The demarcation between fertile, agricultural land and dangerous desert also influenced the Egyptians’ views on life and death. Egypt’s narrow band of agriculture was a place of life, whereas the desert was a place of death, where tombs were built. These were often located in the west, and thus symbolically connected with the setting sun; indeed, the land of the dead could simply be referred to as ‘the west’.

To understand Egypt, you must first understand its geography; the Nile gave life to Egypt and the desert protected it. Ancient Egyptian civilisation was born out of this geographical context and in the next blog we will explore how this impacted the development of Egyptian history.