How The Nile Helped Ancient Egypt

Gift of the Nile The Nile River helped Egypt economically, socially, and religiously, and as a result Egypt was named “The Gift of the Nile” because of its given history of these waters. Socially, the Nile has helped numerous ways, such as the cataracts providing protection to the Egyptians, transportation between cities, trading, etc. 90% of Egyptians lived near the Nile, making it a major advantage for most people who lived in Egypt. Cataracts helped with protection from Robbers because small boulders and rocks flew out of the river bed, making it difficult to get by. As well, the Delta stopped invaders from the Mediterranean Sea get into Egypt, making it hard for people who weren’t Egyptians to get inside. The delta provided protection for Giza and the pyramids around it. Transportation was key for trading in ancient Egypt. It helped several workers transport foods and goods up and down Egypt, and it sped up the trading process. By transporting goods by the river made it easier for people so they
didn’t instead have to walk, they could take a boat and be there sooner than normal. Because 90% of the population lives around the river, it made it easy for people to meet with others, do business with others, etcetera. as well giving an economical boost for all of Egypt.

The Nile helped a lot economically. A few things that the Nile helped with was the transportation of goods, it helped with agriculture, created several jobs, created an irrigation system, and they didn’t have to worry about water. The Nile made it very easy to get food, goods, etcetera to the places they need to be that were farther way and harder to get to. Agriculture wise, it helped grow and crops such as barely, vegetables, figs, melons, pomegranates, vines, flax, etcetera. The Nile provided water and nutrients for these crops to grow, which means they could sell a lot and make a lot of money off what they sold. Crops brought the most money in for the Egyptians, so the Nile was a big influence on their economic system. Along with the crops being grown, it opened a lot of job opportunities, meaning there were more workers that could do more and it would bring in more money. There were other jobs as well, other than farming, that revolved around the Nile. The Nile created an irrigation system used to help farmers grow crops and other things, and because it was somewhat automatic, it didn’t take a lot of work for the water to get to the crops and the nutrients to be collected. Because the Nile was a good source of water, they didn’t have to worry about going out and getting water and bringing it home like other places in Egypt that don’t have a large water source.

Finally, religion played a big part for the people in Egypt who lived near the Nile.
The Nile was believed to be a gift from the gods. This god’s name was “Hapi”, and they worshiped him for all the success and help he brought to the people. They also believed that there was an underworld under the river, also referred to as “paradise”. They thought that under the Nile was a tunnel like gateway to the gods, yet no one tried to get under the Nile themselves. They also believed that the high and low tide of the Nile symbolized ‘Life and Death’. They talked about animals that were associated with the Nile as “sacred” because they believe the gods put them there for a good reason, and they thought of the animals as gifts from above. They made sure that their religion was isolated and connected throughout ancient Egypt, and that kept their religion alive. They prayed to the gods every day and thanked them for the Nile because it was such a treasured possession to
them.