What was nile river used for

Boats were so important to the Egyptians that they buried deceased kings and dignitaries with boats that sometimes were so well-constructed that they could have been used for actual travel on the Nile. The Nile influenced how Egyptians thought of the land in which they lived, according to Haney.

They divided their world into Kemet , the "black land" of the Nile Valley, where there was enough water and food for cities to thrive. In contrast, the hot, dry desert areas were Deshret, the "red land. The Nile also played an important role in the creation of the monumental tombs such as the Great Pyramid of Giza. An ancient papyrus diary of an official involved in the construction of the Great Pyramid describes how workers transported massive blocks of limestone on wooden boats along the Nile, and then routed the blocks through a canal system to the site where the pyramid was being constructed.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History. The cataract system created a natural boundary at Aswan, separating Egypt from its southern neighbor, Nubia. Each of these zones had its own natural environment and its own role within the Egyptian State. Cities could only flourish in the Nile Delta, the Nile Valley, or desert oases, where people had access to water, land, and key resources.

The ancient Egyptians, who were always keen observers of nature, often associated the Nile Valley with life and abundance and the neighboring deserts with death and chaos. The dry climate of the desert, for example, made it an ideal location for cemeteries. Good preservation and the fact that most people do not live in the desert, are the main reasons that so much of what archaeologists and anthropologists study comes from a funerary context.

View with the Nile River Valley in the foreground and the desert cliffs in the background. These two designations may seem counterintuitive to their physical locations, but they reflect the flow of the Nile River, from South to North.

The expansive floodplain of the Nile Delta and the very narrow band of fertile land present in the Nile Valley led to different ways of life. In the Nile Delta for example, the Egyptians constructed their towns and cemeteries on turtlebacks; natural highpoints in the landscape that became islands during the inundation.

In addition, the location of the Delta along the Mediterranean and at the entry point into the Levant made it an important area for trade and international contacts. The Delta was a very multi-cultural region throughout Egyptian history. Here you can see two Nile gods symbolically uniting the lands of Upper and Lower Egypt — each depicted in the form of their characteristic plant, the papyrus for Lower Egypt and the lotus for Upper.

The Egyptians constructed their calendar around the yearly cycle of the Nile. Up until the nineteenth century, travel by land was virtually unknown. Ships and boats were the main means of transporting people and goods around the country.

Egyptian watercraft had a high stern and bow, and by the New Kingdom , they were equipped with cabins at both ends. The prevailing winds blew south, propelling boats travelling in that direction, while boats heading north relied on the current and oars. T he simplest type of boat used in ancient Egypt was the skiff, made from papyrus reeds that were tied together. Since the reeds are filled with air pockets, they are particularly buoyant.

Skiffs were used for fishing and hunting game in the marshes, or for travelling short distances. L arge wooden ships were equipped with square sails and oars.

Their planks, held together with rope, expanded in the water, making the vessel watertight.