Egypt: Gift Of The Nile

Many civilizations form around certain things that help boost the survival of the people. The Egyptian civilization formed around the Nile River. The civilization began to plant its roots around 3100 B.C. Egypt is often called the gift of the Nile River because the river filled the needs for the civilization. Without the river the Egyptian civilization would never have existed because the Nile filled Egypt's basic needs of transportation, religion and agricultural.

One of the Nile's greatest contributions is transportation. Transportation on land was not often found. This is a result of Egypt being mostly desert. Most people could not trek across the desert and live to tell the story, if the person decided to stay along the river, they would have to go through all the cities and small villages and crops that covered the rivers edge; the easiest and most efficient way to travel would be by the river. The Egyptians had used three main types of boats to travel on the river, each with there own purpose. The first and simplest type was a papyrus raft/boat. The rafts were made from the native Cyprus Papyrus plant, the same plant the Egyptians used for paper. The plant was bounded together and was sturdy enough for a good amount of short distance trips. The papyrus boats were used for hunting and travel from one side of the river to the other. These lightweight boats were versatile and easy to make which made them a great help in Egypt's communication. Another boat was the large cedar constructed boat which was very sturdy and lasted many years. These boats could be used to carry large items such as stone and many crops. A final kind of boat was used for funeral purposes. These boats were very elaborate and contained much detail. Theses boats were used to carry the dead bodies during the funeral processions. With the river, Egypt could easily be reached by others. It did not take much man power to drive these boats because of the Nile's current and the constant wind which makes the Nile a great contributor to transportation across Egypt.

The Nile River also provides a place for religion to form for the Egyptians. The Egyptians relied almost entirely on the Nile River for existence. They thought so much of the Nile River that they formed their religion around it. Egyptians were polytheistic. Egyptians prayed to the river and prayed to the gods that controlled the river. The heavy spring rains and mountain snowcaps melting cause the Nile to flood every year around June. Each year Egypt depends on the river to flood. They believe that gods control the flooding of the Nile. If there were certain things that happened during the year, then they believed that they would be blessed or punished by way of the Nile River. If something was done to displease the gods then the flooding may be too small or too big, which can ruin the farming year and therefore damage the chances of survival of the entire village. Osiris is the god of the Nile River, he controlled most of the flooding and happenings with the river. The Egyptians based their idea of afterlife on the river also. All tombs and burial sites were on the west side of