• The Nile is the longest river in Africa and the World, at 4,160 miles long (6,670 km).
• It consists of two rivers, the Blue Nile whose source is in Ethiopia and the White Nile, whose source is Lake Victoria in Uganda.

Origin of the Name

• The word Nile is derived from the Greek word ‘Neilos’ meaning ‘valley’.
• However, the Ancient Egyptians called the river ‘Ar’ or ‘Aur’ meaning ‘Black’, because the sediment left after the Flood was black.
• It also had an alternative name, the Greek letter ‘Delta’, so named after the shape of the Nile Delta.

The Nile’s length compared

• The Nile is the longest river in Africa, and in the World. It is 4,160 miles long (6,670 km). The second longest river is the Amazon at 4,000 miles long (6,437 km). The third longest is the river Yangtze at 3,917 miles (6,300 km). The Fourth longest river is the Mississippi at 3,902 miles (5,275 km).
• All these rivers have been measured as a river system which includes their tributaries bearing different names.

Number of Countries on the Nile

• 10 countries:
  • Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, and Tanzania.

Nile Delta

• The Nile flows into the Nile Delta where it split into seven branches. Only two exist today.
• The Nile Delta is the world’s largest river Delta. It is a flooded savanna located down river from Cairo, where the Nile spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea.
• The Delta stretches 150 miles (240 km) from Alexandria to Port Said. In Ancient Egypt, this was the most fertile area for agriculture and the most heavily fortified, with every river mouth protected by forts.

Qena Bend

• The Qena Bend is a distinctive reverse C-shape in the river Nile in Egypt.
• It is located between Luxor and Nag Hammadi.

Sources of the Nile

• The Nile has three constituent rivers and sources:
  1. The Atbara River whose source is in Ethiopia.
  2. The Blue Nile whose source is Lake Tana in Ethiopia.
  3. The White Nile whose source is Lake Victoria in Uganda.

The Constituent Rivers

• The Nile consists of three rivers, which then unite and flow into the Mediterranean through the Nile Delta:
  • The Atbara river:
    • flows from Lake Tana in Ethiopia, joining the Nile at the town of Atbarah in the Sudan.
  • The Blue Nile:
    • flows from Ethiopia, into the Sudan, to join the White Nile at Khartoum.
  • The White Nile:
    • flows from Lake Victoria, Uganda, through the South Sudan, joining the Blue Nile at Khartoum in the Sudan.
  • Lake Victoria
    • Two Rivers flow into Lake Victoria, the Kagera and the Rubuvu, one of which must be considered the true source of the Nile.
    • The Kagera River:
      • It flows from Lake Rweru in Burundi, then between Rwanda and Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania, to join with the river Rubuvu. It then flows between Tanzania and Uganda, and into Lake Victoria.
    • The Yellow Nile Wadi Howar:
      • This was a fourth Tributary of the Nile that ran from the Ennedi Region in Chad to the Nile above the Qena Bend.
      • It dried up 4,500 years ago and became a chain of Oases and lakes, known as Wadi Howar.
      • Camel Caravans used this riverbed, known as the ‘Way of the Forty’ from Kobbei in Darfur to the Nile, bypassing the swamps of the Sudd.

Annual Rise of the Nile

• The Nile rose from June until October.
• Lowest level: June
• Highest level: October, when two thirds of the Nile waters are provided by the Blue Nile.
• A Nilometer, consisting of a well with markings, indicated the height of the Nile and measured the annual rise and ebb of the Nile.
• Pliny the Elder said that the annual rise of the Nile should average 24 feet. More would cause widespread flooding, less would cause a drought.

• Records were kept from the time of the Pharaohs. Measuring the Nile enabled the Egyptian priests to announce the date of the first Nile Flood and the date of its maximum height. Taxation on agriculture was based on predicting how high the Nile would flood. On average, every fifth year, it would either be too excessive and destroy crops, or too low, and lead to drought. As it never rained in Egypt, everything depended on the Annual Flood of the Nile.

• The waters of the Nile first rose as early as the beginning of June and continued rising until September when the level stabilised for two to three weeks. The level rose once more during October, reaching its highest level, before declining to its lowest level, in June.
• The height of the Nile was measured by a Nilometer.
• The annual Rise of the Nile was preceded by the Heliacal Rising of Sirius.

Nile Current

• At Low water (December to June) the Nile flows at approximately one knot.
• At High water (the peak is September) the Nile flows at approximately three knots.

The cause of the Annual Rise of the Nile

• The Annual Rise of the Nile is caused by rainfall in Ethiopia. 80% of the Ethiopian rivers drain into the Blue Nile.
• Light Rainfall starts between February and April.
• The Southwest Monsoon brings heavy rainfall between mid June and mid September.
• If there is little rainfall in Ethiopia, there is the risk of drought in the Sudan and Egypt.

Cataracts of the Nile

• The Cataracts of the Nile are a series of shallow rapids, (not waterfalls) between Aswan and Khartoum. They became unnavigable when the Nile rose:
  1. First Cataract, Aswan
  2. Second Cataract, Nubia
  3. Third Cataract, Tombos in Nubia
  4. Fourth Cataract, the most difficult Cataract to pass, Napata previous capital of Kush
  5. Fifth Cataract, confluence of the Nile and Atbarah River.
  6. Sixth Cataract, city of Meroe, capital of Kush.

The Sudd

• The Sudd is an area of swampland forming an inland delta on the White Nile in south Sudan, before the White Nile joins the Blue Nile at Khartoum. The Sudd covers an area 500 miles north to south, and 200 miles east to west. The amount of water in the Sudd depends on the outflow from Lake Victoria.
• The swamp presents a barrier to travellers, along with the malaria bearing mosquitoes that breed in it. It was found to be impenetrable by early explorers attempting to find the source of the Nile.

Navigation of the Nile

• The Nile is navigable in Egypt up to the Cataracts of the Nile on its border with the Sudan. After the Cataracts, the Nile is navigable to Khartoum in the Sudan, where it divides into the Blue Nile and the White Nile.
• The Blue Nile is navigable from Khartoum to the Border with Ethiopia. Within Ethiopia, the Blue Nile passes from its Source at Lake Tana, through a series of Rapids and deep canyons making it unnavigable.
• Navigation on the White Nile was blocked in the Sudan by a huge swamp called the Sudd. Today, the White Nile has been made navigable by a canal through the Sudd, and vessels can reach as far as Juba in South Sudan, which is close to the Border with Uganda.

Pliny’s description of Roman Navigation on the Nile

• Pliny the Elder states that every year Goods were transported from Alexandria, 600 miles (965 km) up the Nile to Coptos, then across the Eastern Desert by caravan using the Coptos to Myos Hormos Roman Road to Myos Hormos and Berenice.
• Pliny states that it took 12 days to sail the 400 miles (650 km) up the Nile from Alexandria to Coptos.
• Southbound: brisk winds blow from the north during the summer and autumn, the ‘Etesian gales’, allowing vessels to sail south against the current.
• Northbound: The current flows from south to north, taking vessels with it down to the Mediterranean, at all times of the year.
• Elephantine Island was the limit of navigation on the Nile. After this, vessels could not pass the Cataracts of the Nile. According to Pliny the Elder, the Kushites, however, reached Elephantine Island, using collapsible boats, which they carried on their backs to pass the Cataracts.

Roman Expedition to find the source of the Nile

• Both Seneca and Pliny the Elder were probably referring to the same expedition:
  • 62 CE Seneca records that Nero sent an expedition in this year, of Legionaries to Meroe, Nubia, who then went on to try to discover the source of the Nile.
  • 68 CE Pliny the Elder writes of a similar expedition, but 6 years later.
  • It would appear these expeditions failed to pass through the Sudd.

Ptolemy’s map (c.150 CE) and the Mountains of the Moon

• Marinus of Tyre recorded that during the first century CE, a Greek Merchant called Diogenes, returning from India, landed near Rhapta on the east coast of Africa. After travelling inland for 25 days, he arrived at two great lakes and the snow covered Mountains of the Moon and described it as the Source of the Nile.
• Ptolemy the Roman Cartographer c. 150 CE, then placed the Source of the Nile next to the two great lakes in Africa, on his map of the world, referring to the nearby mountain range as the Mountains of the Moon – ‘Lunae Montes’. This mountain range includes Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.

Rediscovery of the Source of the Nile (1630-1858 CE)

• The Source of the Blue Nile was not discovered until the 1630’s by two Portuguese missionaries, Paez and Lobo.
• The Source of the White Nile was not rediscovered until 1858 by two British Officers, Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, who arrived in Zanzibar and travelled inland, in almost exactly the same way Diogenes had done nearly 2,000 years earlier.

The reason the Tombs and Pyramids are on the West Bank of the Nile

• The Ancient Egyptians believed the Annual Rise of the Nile was controlled by the God Hapy.
• The Nile was seen as the Road from Life to Death and the Afterlife.
• The Sun was the God Ra who was reborn each day in the East, crossed the Nile, and then died in the West.
• So, to the East of the Nile represented the source of Birth and Development, and to the West of the Nile represented Death and the Afterlife.
• This is why all the Tombs and Pyramids are located on the West Bank.

Ancient Egyptian Calendar

• The Calendar followed the three cycles of the Nile, consisting of 4 months with each month having 30 days.
• Each month had 3 weeks each consisting of 10 days, the Decan.
• This gave 360 days, with a 5 day New Year festival added to make up the 365 days in the year.
  1. Akhet: The Inundation season
     • the Annual Rise of the Nile. From mid July to mid November.
  2. Peret: The Season of Emergence (Winter)
     • the Retreat of the Nile, which left the rich black silt deposit, and planting the crops could begin. Early January to early May.
  3. Shemu: The Season of the Harvest.
     • Early May to early September
  4. The 5 Epagnomal days:
     • to bring the number of days in the year to 365.

Nile Agriculture

• Main Crops:
  • Wheat for making bread.
  • Flax for making Linen.
  • Papyrus for making paper.
• Also:
  • Barley for making Beer.
  • Cotton for making clothing.
  • Melons, Pomegranates, Figs.

Animals of the Egyptian Desert

• Jackals.
• Antelopes.
• Vultures.

Animals of the Nile

• The Nile Crocodile.
• White Ibis.
• Blue Heron.
• Gazelles.
• Snakes: 30 species of snakes, half of which are venomous.
• Fish, mostly eaten as dried fish.
• Eels.

Animals of the Nile hunted to extinction by the Romans

• The Desert Lion and the Wild Bull were hunted to extinction under the Romans for the Venatio.
• The Nile Hippopotamus was hunted to extinction under the Romans.
• The North African Elephant, which roamed from Carthage to Egypt and down the Red Sea, was also hunted to extinction at the same time. (3,500 Animals died in the Roman Circus, just during the Reign of Augustus, many of which were Elephants)
• The Black Rhinoceros, which also became extinct under the Romans.

Films set on the Nile

• The Valley of the Kings (1954)
  • with Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker, featuring the Abu Simbel Temples before their relocation due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam, the Pyramids of Giza, Cairo, Luxor and Suez.
• Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
  • with Jack Hawkins and Joan Collins. Filmed in Aswan and Cairo.
• The Ten Commandments (1956)
  • with Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, filmed in Luxor, The Pyramids of Giza, St. Catherine’s Monastery and The Temple of Hatshepsut.
• Cleopatra (1963)
  • with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison.
• Khartoum (1966)
  • with Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier and Richard Johnson.
• The Glass Sphinx (1967)
  • with Robert Taylor and Anita Ekberg
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
  • A James Bond Film with Roger Moore and Barbara Bach, featuring the Temple of Amun at Karnak.
• Death on the Nile (1978)
  • An Agatha Christie detective story featuring Peter Ustinov as Hercules Poirot and Mia Farrow. Filmed along the River Nile.

Nile, Egypt