3.3.2 Transport and the Nile The Nile was a major trade and transport route, like a highway. Land travel was slow due to desert paths, so boats were used to move people and goods. Winds helped boats sail south, and the current made rowing north easier.
SOURCE3 From The Histories , written by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt in 475 BCE.
. . . it is clear to any intelligent observer . . . that the Egypt to which we sail nowadays is . . . the gift of the Nile . . . When the Nile overþows, the whole country is converted into a sea, and the towns, which alone remain above water, look like islands. At these times water transport is used all over the country instead of merely along the course of the river.
3.3.3 Defence and the Nile Egypt was protected by fortiýcations (large defensive walls) at the Nile cataracts (rapids) to block invasions from Nubia (see SOURCE1 ). These walls were built throughout ancient Egypt’s history. The Mediterranean Sea, where the Nile ends, also served as a natural barrier against invaders. Religion and the Nile The ancient Egyptians worshipped many deities (gods and goddesses), with three linked to the Nile. • Hapi, the god of the Inundation, was believed to bring fresh silt for farming and was the lord of ýsh and birds. Hapi’s priests performed rituals for good þoods. • Khnum, the god of fertility and water, was believed to create humans from clay. • Satet, the warrior goddess and protector of Egypt’s southern borders, was believed to cause the Inundation SOURCE4 demonstrates the gratitude of Egyptians for the Nile. 3.3.4
SOURCE4 This Hymn to the Nile, probably from the nineteenth and twentieth dynasties in the New Kingdom, expresses the gratitude Egyptians felt for the Nile.
Hail to you, O Nile, that issues from the earth and comes to keep Egypt alive! He that waters the meadows which Re created, in order to keep every kid alive. He that makes to drink the desert and the place distant from water: that is his dew coming down from heaven. The lord of ýshes, he who makes the marsh-birds to go upstream. He who makes barley and brings emmer [wheat] into being, that he may make the temples festive. If he is sluggish, then nostrils are stopped up, and everybody is poor. When he rises, then the land is in jubilation, then every belly is in joy, every backbone takes on laughter, and every tooth is exposed. The bringer of good, rich in provisions, creator of all good, lord of majesty, sweet of fragrance. He who makes every beloved tree to grow, without lack of them.
82 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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