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White Nile River. River Nile

Africa. River Nile

The great Nile River, which flows in the eastern part of Africa, has attracted the attention of farmers, scientists, poets, politicians, and engineers since ancient times. The valley of this river is one of the most ancient cradles of humanity. A distinctive culture of people arose here, influencing the development of human society. The Nile Valley has long been densely populated by people. The Nile River is called the river of great hopes. The Nile is sung in the ancient Egyptian hymn: “Glory to you the Nile, who appeared on earth. You water the gardens and fields created by nature to give us life.” The Nile is the longest river in the world, its length from its source is 6671 km. This river stubbornly makes its way to the north of the mainland through mountains, swamps and deserts. It irrigates the fields of the Sudanese and Egyptians, gives water to cities, and throws the remaining water into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile basin is located within Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt. There is a lot of mystery in the nature of the Nile. The name of the river comes from the Greek word Neilos and from the Latin Nilus, which means "river valley", "river".

River exploration

People have been trying to explore the Nile River since ancient times. In modern times, the Portuguese Jesuits Pero Paes and Jeronimo Lobo visited Ethiopia in the second half of the 16th century and saw the source of the Blue Nile. However, their discovery was published only in the 20th century. In 1790, Scottish traveler James Bruce described in detail the source of the Blue Nile in his work “Wanderings in Search of the Source of the Nile.” About the source of the White Nile were different opinions. For example, Pliny the Elder considered the source of the White Nile to be the beginning of the Niger River. Later it was suggested that in the center of Africa there is a large lake from where the Congo, Niger and Nile rivers begin. Lake Victoria was discovered in 1858. John Henning Speke proved that the White Nile flows from this lake. In 1937, the German traveler Burchard Waldecker proved that the true source of the Nile is the Kagera River, starting at the foot of Mount Kikizi, which was located southeast of Lake Victoria.

Source of the Nile

Once upon a time it was believed. That the Nile flows from the largest African lake Victoria, however, this is not entirely true. More precisely, the Nile begins with the Kagera River. Which starts southeast of Lake Victoria. It is the largest and most abundant lake in Africa. The Kagera flows along the bottom of this lake and flows out in the northern part of the lake, in the area of Napoleon Bay. The source of the Nile was discovered by the English expedition of D. Snick in 2862, which he witnessed with the shortest telegram in the entire history of geographical discoveries: “The Nile has been established.”

Upper Nile

The Nile flowing out of Lake Victoria is called Victoria Nile. There are many rapids in the river, near the lake itself it falls as a waterfall. After the construction of a dam at this waterfall, it was flooded. Further, the Nile flows into the shallow (3-5 meters deep) Lake Kyoga with a winding coastline. The area around this lake is marshy, overgrown with papyrus and reeds. Below Lake Kyoga the river turns west and carries its waters into Lake Mobutu - Sese - Seko (formerly Lake Albert). The lake is located in the Great East African Rift region, and extends from southwest to northeast. Its depth is 40 - 58 meters. The river bed in this part is also rapids, and near this lake the waters of the river fall like the huge Murchison Falls. Near this waterfall, the river bed narrows and reaches a width of only 6 meters. To the north of the lake the river is called Albert Nile. Then the river overcomes the rapids, breaks through a gorge 20–25 meters wide, and the lake region of the Nile ends here. This part of the river is located in the equatorial zone, where it rains all year round, but more heavily in autumn and spring.

Middle Nile

Here the Nile flows from the East African Plateau onto the plains of southern Sudan. The river here is called Bahr-el-Jebel. It splits into many branches. This part of the Nile is called the “country of rivers”. The river flows slowly, in its almost stagnant water aquatic vegetation has grown wildly, islands have formed from it, they are called seddas (obstacles). Sedds in some parts of the river do not allow boats and other vessels to navigate. In Sudan, precipitation falls in the summer, so the river receives a huge influx of water. In winter it is very dry, the river level drops significantly. Further to the north, the Nile receives a right-hand, high-water tributary in the summer, the Sobat, which flows through the Ethiopian Highlands. From the confluence of the Nile with the Sobat River to the confluence with another right tributary, the Blue Nile, the Nile is called the White Nile. Sobat, flowing from the mountain, contains a lot of silt, which gives the water a whitish color. Near the city of Khartoum, the White Nile merges with the Blue Nile, which originates in the mountain lake Tana. The river is then called the Nile. Further downstream from Khartoum to Aswan, the Nile is blocked by six rapids, the first two rapids were flooded due to the construction of the Aswan Dam and reservoir.

Downstream. Nile Delta

The lower reaches of the Nile are located within Egypt. Here the river flows between the Arabian and Libyan deserts without receiving tributaries. There is no rain here; a lot of Nile water is spent on evaporation and irrigation of fields. In the lower reaches, starting from Cairo, a triangle of the Nile delta is formed. Delta covers an area of 22 thousand square meters. km. A lot of solid material is carried out at the mouth of the river every year, so the delta gradually moves further and further into the Mediterranean Sea. Many lakes - lagoons - formed in the delta. The largest lake is Manzala. The Nile Delta is formed by two huge branches with a length of more than 200 km - the western and eastern branches.

The Nile Delta is an important wintering and migration area for migratory birds: ducks and wild geese, sea swallows and eagles, eagles and pelicans, hawks and flamingos, lapwings and swans, herons and bitterns, others.

Change in water level

On the Nile River there are amazing phenomena. The Nile, flowing through very dry deserts, seemed expected to dry up during the hottest time of the year, but surprisingly, this does not happen. At the height of summer, when the heat reaches its maximum, the Nile begins to swell, the water level begins to rise, and the river overflows. By September, the water level rises by 8–10 meters. Usually, the fellahs (peasants) wait with great impatience and hope for the rising waters in the river. The harvest will depend on its height. Since ancient times, ancient hydrologists studied the patterns of water rise in the Nile and kept this information secret. Ancient hydrologists invented nilomers, which were deep wells lined with stone. In the middle of the well there was a column marked into cubits and qirat (cubit length 54 cm, qirat ½ cubit). The well communicated with the river through two tunnels, so the water level in the river and well varied equally. Egyptian priests descended into the well along a spiral staircase and measured the water level on the column scale. As soon as the water level began to rise, the eagle screeched, the priest loudly exclaimed: “O great god of good, just Osiris, you have given us a sign. Thank you great Osiris!

“The trace of the spill is marked there every year,

To judge the height of the line,

What awaits them, hunger or satiety.

The higher the Nile, the greater the harvest.

As soon as it subsides, the plowman sows

Fallen silt and mud. And look, the cleaning has come.....

Shakespeare "Antony and Cleopatra"

The ancient Roman scientist Pliny the Elder has preserved notes where he estimates the height of the Nile floods. Rising to the mark “16 cubits - there will be a bountiful harvest, at 15 cubits - good, at 14 - average, at 13 - bad, at 12 or less - people are in danger of starvation.”

The period of the Nile floods was a national holiday in honor of the divine Hapi - as the Nile was called. Elegant girls wearing wreaths of red roses staged round dances. People danced and sang. Thousands of boats, decorated with garlands of flowers and bright flags, floated along the river.

The cause of the Nile flood was explained after the source of this river was found. In 1856, John Speke found a huge lake, which he named after the English Queen Victoria. The Nile began from this lake, as Speke believed. In 1875, American journalist Henry Stanley discovered the Kageru River, located southeast of Lake Victoria. This river was recognized as the source of the White Nile River. The region of Kagera and Lake Victoria is in a sub-equatorial climate, where most of the rainfall occurs in the summer, and this rainfall fills the Nile with water. That is why the Nile floods during the hottest period of summer and brings much-needed water to people.

Nile water flow

The Nile is a very long river, but its water content is inferior to many rivers, so the Volga River is two times shorter than the Nile, but it has three times more water than the Nile. The area of the Nile basin is, according to various sources, 2.8 – 3.4 million square meters. km. The average water flow is 2600 m/sec, but due to fluctuations in water level in different years minimum water flow 500 m/s, maximum 15,000 m/s.

Neil is the breadwinner

In the Nile Valley, along its entire length through the desert, is the largest oasis in Africa. There are several countries in the Nile basin: Egypt, Sudan, Tanganyika, Rwanda, Burundi. The Nile Valley is home to approximately 80 million people and is one of the most densely populated areas on Earth. The population density in the Nile Valley reaches up to 800 people/kW. km. The bulk of Egypt's population lives in the valley of this river (Out of 27 million people, 26 million people live in the Nile Valley). The valley's population is growing rapidly. Since ancient times there has been a saying: “Egypt is the Nile, the Nile is Egypt.”

The Nile River is capricious and fickle. There were years when the water level in the river was very low, for example, 1913. A huge number of people died from hunger. At the same time, there are years when the water level in the river is too high, like 1878. The waters of the Nile flooded many villages, demolished bridges, and damaged hydraulic structures.

To combat floods and droughts, the Egyptians have long built dams, dams, and other structures. For many centuries, estuary irrigation was used, that is, when the water rose, it was released into special fenced off areas and the holes were closed. The water remained in the estuaries for 40–60 days. The soil became saturated with moisture, and silt settled on the ground. In this case, only one harvest could be harvested per year. It wasn't profitable. Then people came up with special structures with the help of which they began to supply water to the fields.

Currently, the Nile Valley is completely cut by numerous canals through which water is supplied to the fields. But another problem arose. With estuary irrigation, the incoming water annually brought silt, which fertilized the soil. Up to 2 tons of silt settled on each hectare. Over a hundred years, the soil grew by 10 cm. The soil did not need to be fertilized; nature itself did it. When they began to build dams and irrigation canals, people were able to harvest two crops a year, but the natural fertilization of the soil with silt ceased. Silt settled in front of dams and in canal beds. The problem arose of increasing soil fertility artificially.

Coordinates 0°25′03″ n. w. 33°11′42″ E. d. HGIOL Coordinates 31°27′55″ n. w. 30°22′00″ E. d. HGIOL

The Nile water system is considered the longest on Earth. However, according to Brazilian researchers, the Amazon has the longest river system - according to these data, its length is 6992 kilometers, while the length of the Nile system is 6852 kilometers. The area of the Nile River basin is 3349 thousand km². The source is in Rwanda, this is the Rukarara River, which flows into the Kagera River. Water flow varies greatly and dramatically throughout the year. The total length of navigable sections is 3.2 thousand km. The river waters are used for irrigation and electricity generation. The Nile Delta and Valley is home to almost the entire population and almost the entire economy of Egypt. Largest cities are Cairo, Khartoum, Aswan, Alexandria.

General characteristics

The length of the Nile is often measured from Lake Victoria, although quite a lot of water flows into it large rivers. The height of the source is 1134 m above sea level. [ ] The most remote point can be considered the source of the Rukarara River - one of the components of the Kagera River, which originates from an altitude of more than 2000 m on one of the mountain ranges of East Africa south of the equator and flows into Lake Victoria. The length of the Nile from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea is approximately 5600 km.

The area of the basin, according to various sources, is 2.8-3.4 million km² (fully or partially covering the territories of Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt).

Question about the source of the Nile

Antique performances

European minds have been wrestling with the question of the sources of the Nile since the time of Herodotus, who in his “History” refuted the opinion that the flood of the Nile occurs from the melting of snow in its upper reaches. According to Herodotus's map, the Nile merges with the Niger. In addition, the “father of history” cites the news of the Sais priest that the waters of the Nile gush from the ground between Siena (now Aswan) and Elephantine, with half of them flowing to the south and the other half to the north.

None of the famous travelers of antiquity ascended the Nile higher than Sadd. According to Agatharchides, the sailors of Ptolemy II penetrated the furthest south, establishing that the cause of the spill was the rainy season in the Ethiopian Highlands. In classical art, the Nile was usually depicted as a deity with a draped head, which hinted at the unknown of its origins.

New time

The southernmost source of the Nile was discovered in 1937 by a German traveler. Burchard Waldecker- Rising at the foot of Mount Kikizi (Burundi), it is part of the Kagera River water system, which flows into Lake Victoria. In 1950-1951, the expedition of Jean Laporte was able for the first time to swim the entire river from the source, where Waldecker built a symbolic pyramid in 1938, to the mouth.

Current of the Nile

The Nile flows from south to north. The nature of the Nile flow is turbulent, but in the lower reaches it is calm.

Kagera

The largest river flowing into Lake Victoria is the Kagera, formed by the confluence of the Nyawarongo and Ruvuvu rivers. It flows through the territories of the countries of Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, and in some places along the borders between them. The length of Kagera proper from the confluence of its sources to its confluence with Lake Victoria is about 420 km, and if we count from the most distant point of its hydrographic system - the source of the Rukarara River, then about 800 km. The river bed passes through a wide swampy valley, receiving the waters of numerous small lakes

Victoria Nile

The area from the northern tip of Lake Victoria to its confluence with Lake Albert (Uganda, East Africa) is called Victoria Nile (Victoria Nile). Its length is about 420 km. Crossing rocky ridges across Uganda, the river forms numerous rapids and waterfalls with a total drop of 670 m. The largest Murchison waterfall reaches 40 m in height. The river passes through the Lake Kyoga depression and flows into Lake Albert on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which lies in a tectonic depression at an altitude of 617 m.

Albert Nile

When crossing the Sedd region, up to 2/3 of the water is lost to evaporation, feeding aquatic vegetation and filling depressions.

The largest tributaries in this part of the current have their sources in the west of Ethiopia - El Ghazal (“river of gazelles”) and Sobat, the waters of which, flowing from the mountains, contain a large number of suspensions and have a characteristic dull yellow (whitish) color.

White Nile

Below Sobat the river is called the White Nile ( Bahr el Abyad), leaves behind an area of swamps, and then flows calmly in a wide valley through semi-desert terrain to Khartoum, where it merges with the Blue Nile. From here to Mediterranean Sea the river is called the Nile ( El Bahr). The Blue Nile is much shorter than the White Nile, but it plays a much larger role in the formation of the Nile regime below Khartoum. The Blue Nile originates from the Ethiopian Highlands, flowing from Lake Tana. From the same highlands, the Nile receives its last high-water tributary - Atbara.

Disappeared tributary

Nile rapids

Below the mouth of the latter major influx(Atbara), about 300 km from Khartoum, begins the Nubian Desert.

Here the Nile makes a large bend, cutting through a plateau composed of hard sandstones (see Gebel es-Silsila), and crosses a series of rapids (cataracts). There are a total of 6 rapids between Khartoum and Aswan. The first of these, closest to the mouth, is in the Aswan area, north of the Aswan High Dam.

Until the 60s of the 20th century (that is, before the construction of the Aswan High Dam on Egyptian territory, 270 km from the Sudanese-Egyptian border), the rapids presented a serious obstacle to continuous navigation. In the area of the rapids, year-round navigation was possible only by boat. For permanent navigation, areas between Khartoum and Juba, Aswan and Cairo, Cairo and the mouth of the Nile were used.

Now an artificial reservoir has spilled here (Lake Nasser - بحيرة ناصر ), from where the Nile again heads north through a fertile valley 20-50 km wide, which at the beginning of the Anthropocene was a bay of the Mediterranean Sea.

The 900-kilometer section between the rapids and Cairo has a slight slope and is surrounded by a valley up to 20-25 km wide.

Delta

20 km north of the Egyptian capital Cairo, the growing Nile Delta begins with numerous branches, channels and lakes, which stretches 260 km along the Mediterranean coast from Alexandria to Port Said. Here the Nile splits into 9 large ones and noticeably large quantity small branches, the main navigable ones are Dumyat (Damietta; eastern) and Rashid (Rosetta; western), the length of each of them is about 200 km. In the north of the delta there are lagoon lakes Menzala, Burullus, and Maryut. It was formed on the site of a sea bay, which was gradually filled with river sediments. In area (24 thousand km²), the Nile Delta is almost equal to the Crimean Peninsula.

The mouth of the Nile was called “Delta” by Greek geographers, who compared it triangular shape with a letter of the Greek alphabet, thus giving the name to all river deltas globe. The sediments that the Nile carries into the Mediterranean Sea create an excellent food base for the fish wealth of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Channels

The Ibrahimiya and Yusuf canals serve to supply Nile waters to Lake Karun and to irrigate the Faiyum oasis. The Ismailia Canal carries fresh water from the Nile to the vicinity of the Suez Canal. Mahmudiya channel supplies fresh water Alexandria and surrounding area.

Channel Yusuf

Significance for Egypt

The river is especially important for Egypt, where coastal strip about 97% of the country's population lives 10-15 km wide. The Nile in its lower reaches periodically overflows, flooding the entire

Where is the source of the Nile River? At what altitude? In what direction and where does the Nile flow its waters? Where is the mouth of the Nile? Ka

Help please :)
1). Where is the source of the Nile River? At what altitude?
2). In what direction and where does the Nile flow its waters? Where is the mouth of the Nile? What elevation difference does the river overcome as it travels from source to mouth?
3). Does the river have tributaries? Which tributaries are there more? Name the right and left tributaries.
4). Where is the river basin located? What is its watershed with another river?

steep mountains

It originates from Lake Tana (Ethiopian Highlands) at an altitude of 1830 m.
2.
The Nile flows through a gorge, the depth of which ranges from 900 to 1200 m, and the width is
majestic Tissisat waterfall.

1.
Near the city of Khartoum, the Blue Nile (right tributary) merges with the White Nile,
a large tributary of the Nile. The area of its basin is 330 thousand km2, and
length – 1600 km. The source of the Blue Nile is located in the Ethiopian Highlands at an altitude
The river is considered the Blue Nile
starting from the area immediately after the waterfall. Over 500 km

The basin area is about 3,400,000 km²
The section from its source at the northern tip of Lake Victoria to its confluence with Lake Albert (Uganda, East Africa) is called the Victoria Nile. Its length is about 420 km. Crossing rocky ridges across Uganda, the river forms numerous rapids and waterfalls with a total drop of 670 m. The largest Murchison waterfall reaches 40 m in height.
The area between Lake Albert and the mouth of the right tributary of the Achva is called the Albert Nile. The river has a flat flow until it enters Sudan through the narrow Nimule gorge, where the flow again becomes stormy and rapids.
Below the city of Juba, leaving the highlands, the river crosses a vast flat basin for 900 km, the swampy area of Sadd (here it is called Bahr el-Jebel, “river of the mountains”).

Swamping occurs due to the fact that huge masses of algae and papyrus clutter the channel, the channel breaks up into a series of branches, the flow speed drops, and most of the water brought from the mountains spills over the surface, evaporates, and is consumed by aquatic vegetation.
Below Sobat the river is called the White Nile (Bahr el-Abyad). leaves behind an area of swamps, and then flows calmly in a wide valley through semi-desert terrain to Khartoum, where it merges with the Blue Nile. From here to the Mediterranean Sea the river is called the Nile (El-Bahr). Nile - The river originates on the East African plateau and flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a delta.
Mediterranean Sea.
I wrote it randomly, find it on the Internet

Blue Nile and Atbara (right). Below the mouth of the right tributary of the Atbara
Blue Nile is the most
the southern part of the lake, the Abbay River flows out. She makes her way into
The length of the Nile system is 6852 kilometers.
The Nile flows through a semi-desert, having no tributaries for the last 3000 km.
The river originates on the East African Plateau and
forming the Nile River.
flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a delta. In the upper reaches it receives large tributaries - Bahr el-Ghazal (left) and Achva, Sobat,
southeast direction and approximately 20 km from Lake Tana turns into

SOURCES OF THE NILE

The Nile, which crosses more than half of Africa from south to north, is the longest river in the world. True, this was discovered only in the second half of the 19th century. But even without this, the great river has long attracted the attention of people, for it was the cradle of the ancient civilization of Egypt.

What did the ancient Egyptians know about the sources of their sacred river? Relatively little: the fact that there are dense forests and swamps, and black people live there. From there, from the far south, ivory was supplied, ebony, skins of wild animals

The great Greek geographer and historian Herodotus, traveling in the 6th century BC. in Egypt, I was interested in where the Nile originates, but never received a definite answer. In his words: “I could not learn anything about the nature of the Nile either from the priests or from anyone else... although I asked why the Nile, in its natural properties, differs so sharply from other rivers... As for the sources of the Nile, none of them those with whom I had to talk... did not say that he knew them.”

When the Roman Empire reached its peak of power at the beginning of our era, Nero sent a military detachment to explore the upper Nile. It is unlikely that the reason for such a campaign was the curiosity of this emperor. Most likely, plans arose to invade Ethiopia and neighboring countries in the upper Nile. Although ancient naturalists, and the Egyptians themselves, were interested in the peculiarities of the regime great river with its summer floods, bringing fertile silt to the fields, in the absence of catastrophic floods, as in the rivers of Europe and Asia.

Nero's teacher, the philosopher Seneca, wrote:

“Do you know, among other hypotheses that explain the summer flood of the Nile, also the one according to which it breaks out of the ground and is filled not with waters from the mountains, but with those that flow from the bowels of the Earth? I heard a report about this from two centurions, whom Emperor Nero sent to explore the sources of the Nile... I heard them say that they had made a long journey when, thanks to the help of the king of the Ethiopians, who took care of them and sent them to the kings of neighboring countries, they reached the farthest land.

We reached, they say, huge swamps... The plants are so intertwined in the water that neither on foot nor on a ship can we overcome these waters... There, they said, we saw two cliffs, from which the mighty waters of the Nile burst out with terrible force. But whether it is the source or the tributary of the Nile, whether it originates there or only appears again after previously going underground, do you not think that, in any case, it flows out of a large underground lake? For one should still think that such a lake contains water that collects in many places and flows into deep place mass of water..."

In this statement, attention should be paid to a very reasonable opinion about the importance of the underground feeding of the river (however, the philosopher talks about underground lake, but we have the opportunity to clarify that such accumulations of underground water are not in giant cavities, but in cracks and pores rocks). This circumstance is still usually not paid attention to. Namely thanks to nutrition groundwater the regime of any river acquires relative stability; when underground nutrition decreases, say, due to the drainage of swamps, the river regime becomes more contrasting.

In the Middle Ages, Arab merchants and travelers had the most reliable information about East Africa. They did not make expeditions to the sources of the Nile, but collected information about them. A map of the world compiled by the 12th-century Arab geographer Idrisi (a native of North-West Africa) shows mountain rivers, flowing into two lakes; Of these, three rivers (which is impossible: only one river can flow from any lake) flow into a large lake, which actually gives rise to the Nile, as well as two large rivers heading west to the Atlantic Ocean, and east to the Indian Ocean .

Before early XIX centuries, scientists did not exclude the possibility that the Nile and the Congo, as well as the Niger, may have common sources, which are located somewhere in the region of the great African lakes, or in any case, the convergence of the valleys of these rivers was assumed.

It turned out to be easier to solve the problem of the large right tributary of the White Nile - the Blue Nile. Beginning in the 16th century, the Portuguese extended their influence to Ethiopia.

Nile (river)

The Jesuit Order began sending missionary priests there. One of them, Pedro Pais, who lived in Ethiopia for many years, reached a large area in 1613. mountain lake Tana, located northwest of the central part of the Abyssinian Highlands at an altitude of 1830 m. A deep river flows out of the lake to the south, which the locals called Abbay. Having walked along its valley, Paish found out that it described a semicircle, from which he correctly concluded: this is the source of the Blue Nile. He also expressed the correct idea that the rise of water in the Abbay (Blue Nile) during the rainy season causes the summer flood of the Nile in its middle and lower reaches.

It turned out to be much more difficult to explore the White Nile. In 1857, an expedition of the Royal Geographical Society of London led by Richard Burton (a colonial officer and intelligence officer) and his deputy John Speck was sent to search for its origins. With more than a hundred porters, they headed from Zanzibar on the east coast of Africa to Lake Tanganyika, to the west. The hike was difficult, both leaders suffered from malaria. After 8 months of travel, in February 1858 they reached their goal and were the first Europeans to explore the shores of this huge lake, stretching 700 km from north to south. With great chagrin, they found out that one river flows out of it, directed to the south. She couldn't be Neil.

On the way back, Burton remained due to illness in the slave trading city of Tabor, and Speck headed north. According to local residents, there is the great Lake Nyanza, or Nyanza. Three weeks later, Speck, indeed, found himself in front of a huge reservoir reaching to the horizon and named it in honor of his victory (Victoria) and after the name of the British Queen - Victoria. In the southern half of the lake there was no river flowing from here. Speck rightly suggested that this is where the Nile originates.

At the meeting, Burton began to reproach his deputy for adventurism (after all, the glory of the discoverer could have gone to Speck). However, the latter, having arrived in England, reported on his discovery, after which he was appointed leader of the new expedition. Together with his assistant James Grant, he went to Zanzibar in the spring of 1860 and a year and a half later reached the southwestern shore of Lake Victoria. Grant fell ill, but Speck continued the route, going around the lake from the west. In July 1862, near the village of Urondogani, he saw a large river flowing from the lake to the north. There is no doubt left: this is the White Nile!

His discovery was greeted with delight in England. But scientists demanded additional evidence. Speck was ready to defend his opinion. Burton intended to oppose him. The dispute was scheduled for the autumn of 1864. Suddenly, a few days before, the news flashed through him: Speck had been killed while hunting. According to the official version, there was an accident. According to rumors, Speck committed suicide, not hoping to prove that he was right. Most likely the rumor was false: it was later convincingly proven that John Speck actually made a big geographical discovery. This is what he wrote in his diary:

“So, the expedition completed its task. I was personally convinced that the ancient Nile flows from Lake Victoria Nyanza, which, as I proved, is its source ... The most distant waters, in other words, the upper source of the Nile, are located at the southern end of the lake, very close to 3 ° S. latitude. , from which it follows that the Nile is a river of astonishing length and flows in a straight line over a distance of 34° latitude.”

Then, in 1863, he went around a large waterfall by land, as well as Lake Albert (without noticing them), moving north, again came to the shore of the White Nile and went down the river on a ship. From Egypt to London he sent a brief telegram: “The Nile is all right.” He was 36 years old then.

Every schoolchild knows that the Nile River is the longest in the world. It flows through arid Egypt and in the fertile river valley the local population is actively engaged in farming. What other Interesting Facts about the Nile are not so widely known, but no less curious?

The Amazon competes with the Nile for first place among long rivers: it’s all about accurately determining the location of the appearance of that tributary, which is considered the beginning of the river.
The length of the Nile has not been “recalculated” for a long time and it is 6853 km, and the Amazon, according to the latest data, was measured at 6992 km.
The source of the White Nile, which merges with the Blue Nile and forms the main watercourse, was searched for by ancient scientists and travelers thousands of years ago. The interest was purely practical - they tried to find out why this important river floods. The problem was solved only in the 19th century.
For ancient and modern farmers, the Nile is a source not so much of water as of fertile silt that covers the earth after a flood. It is on this that the agriculture of the arid region rests.
The name Nile comes from the consonant Greek and Latin words, but an exact explanation for them has not yet been found. There are only assumptions that they could come from Semitic or Libyan languages and denote a river valley or simply a large river.
Considering that each section of the Nile had its own tribes, and foreign travelers also described it, the river not only had different names, but even its parts in the same period were called differently: Itera, Eter, Yaro, Eor, Bar, Tossi, etc.
In Egyptian mythology, the Nile had its own god, the patron of the harvest, Hapi. Rituals were dedicated to him, including sacrifices, in the hope of wide and timely floods of the river so that the soil fertilized with silt would produce a good harvest.
The Nile is mentioned several times in the biblical Old Testament, and modern researchers They were even able to model and theoretically substantiate the possibility of the miracle described there. During the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, Moses struck with his staff, the waters parted and let the fugitives through, but for the Egyptians they closed again and became an insurmountable barrier. On the Red Sea, according to scientists, this could not happen, but on the Nile, with hurricane winds, it could happen.
The Nile and its tributaries have four different colored names: White and Blue, as well as the “yellow river” Bahr El Asfar (Sobat) and the “black river” Bahr El Aswad (Atbara).
Nile perch is the most big fish Nila, a predator weighing tens of kilograms and with dimensions exceeding the average person.
The Nile crocodile is the most famous and largest species of crocodile in Africa. This is a real predator that is also dangerous for humans. On average, the size of individuals is 2-3 meters, but there are known cases of encountering 5-meter males.
The Aswan Dam is a grandiose hydraulic structure with the help of which it was possible to effectively regulate the flow of the Nile. It was built with the active participation of the USSR in 1960-1971, for which it was necessary to move some historical monuments, and part was irretrievably lost.
One of the longest bridges in the world is located in Cairo - the 6th of October Bridge over the Nile, more than 20.5 m long, which was built from 1969 to 1996.
Nilomers are the oldest structures that were created back in the days of the pharaohs to measure the water level in the Nile. With the construction of the dam, they were no longer needed, but they are valuable historical monuments.
According to some written sources and hypotheses, scientists suggest that during its history the Nile was covered with ice at least twice - in the 9th and 11th centuries, along with the nearby seas, due to severe cold.

The history of the Nile is closely connected with the development of human civilization. Without this river, Ancient Egypt would not have existed, whose achievements and knowledge became the basis for modern technology and science.

Oceans, lakes and rivers

River Nile

One of the greatest rivers on the planet is undoubtedly the Nile River. On its shores, thousands of years ago, the ancient human civilization. This is evidenced by the unique architectural monuments located on the left bank of the mighty river. Since ancient times, the Nile has been revered by people as the source of life and general prosperity. He was worshiped like a deity, and they always wondered: where do the great waters originate, where does the majestic deep stream begin to flow, ending its path in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Source of the Nile

Where does the greatest of the planet's rivers originate? The question is not at all simple, as it might seem at first glance. In its flow across the African continent, the river crosses lakes, has many tributaries, and it’s quite difficult to immediately determine where the beginning is. People began to deal with this issue two and a half thousand years ago.

The original inhabitants of the Nile Valley, the Egyptians, could not provide any intelligible information. They had the skill to build the great pyramids, but to determine the source wide river For some reason they couldn't. That's why the ancient Greeks got down to business. Herodotus (484-425 BC) was the first to say his weighty word. The greatest thinker of antiquity argued that somewhere far in the south a mighty river emerges from the bowels of the earth. Some of the waters rush to the north, and some of the waters to the south.

Where such conclusions came from is unknown. But today we know that Herodotus was wrong. The Greek historian Agatharchides of Knitsky was also mistaken. This venerable man, who lived 2,200 years ago, sincerely believed that the great river originated in the Ethiopian Highlands. The historian was misled by sailors sent by the king of Egypt Ptolemy II to examine East Coast Africa. They came to the Ethiopian Highlands during the rainy season and saw how the rivers overflowed there. They immediately connected the Nile flood with this. It is difficult to deny logic to these people, but their conclusions were fundamentally incorrect.

Ptolemy Claudius (87-165) turned out to be closer to the truth. This Greek astronomer and mathematician stated that the Nile River originates in the Mountains of the Moon. This is how the well-known Rwenzori mountain range was called in ancient times. It is located much south of the Ethiopian Highlands, and from it it is already very close to Lake Victoria.

Hundreds of years have passed. People naively believed that it was from the mountain peaks of Rwenzori that the great waters began their journey. But in 1768, the Scottish traveler James Bruce (1730-1794) set foot on African soil. He was deeply convinced that the Nile originated in Ethiopia, and not in the southern wilds of Africa. He found the source of the mighty river in 1770 on the Abyssinian Highlands. The river flowed out of Lake Tana. The Greek Strates, born in Ethiopia, pointed to the source. But this was the beginning not of the White Nile, but of the Blue Nile. The Blue Nile, which is 1,600 km long, is considered only a tributary. Having merged with the White, it forms the pure-blooded Nile, ending its journey in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

Lake Victoria
This is where the White Nile originates

Lake Victoria was discovered in 1858. Humanity owes this to the British army officer John Hennig Speke (1827-1864). It was then that the firm confidence appeared that the great river originates from this lake. It is the largest in Africa by area, and in the world, according to this indicator, it ranks second after Lake Superior in North America.

This hypothesis was indirectly confirmed by the English journalist Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904). In 1871 he went to Central Africa search for the missing Livingston and at the same time explored this little-studied region. He established that Lake Tanganyika is in no way connected with the Nile. From here the final decision was made that the great river originated in Lake Victoria.

Neil from space

Nile length

Speaking about Lake Victoria, many researchers stated that the source of the Nile should be sought to the east of the vast lake waters. In the east, the Kagera River flows into the lake, and it, in turn, has a tributary, the Rukarara. It is precisely the source of the last river that should be considered the source of the White Nile, located at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level.

From Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea, the length of the river is 5600 km. To the source of Rukarara, the length corresponds to 6758 km. The difference is quite noticeable. Today, it is officially believed that the Nile River is 5,600 km long and originates in Lake Victoria. But the river system of the great river begins from the source of Rukarara and has a length of 6758 km. Thus, all the i's are dotted in this rather sensitive issue.

From source to delta

Lake Victoria is located on the East African Plateau at an altitude of 1134 meters above sea level. The waters of the great river flow out of it and rush north. The mighty stream always strives downward. Accordingly, the river abounds in waterfalls, whirlpools and rapids. The largest waterfall is called Murchison. Its height reaches almost 40 meters. The total water drop over 500 km is at least 700 meters. The turbulent stream ends its path in Lake Albert.

This section of the river is called the Victoria Nile.

One of the waterfalls on Victoria Nile

From Lake Albert, as you might guess, the Albert Nile flows. This section of the river has a relatively calm flow due to the more or less flat terrain. It belongs to the country of Uganda. Its inhabitants cross the great river on ferries. There is even one bridge connecting the eastern and western banks.

In South Sudan, the river changes its name to Bahr al-Jabel. It is considered as such for 716 km. The area around is flat and marshy. This causes the river to split into many narrow branches. Between them there are islands with vegetation. Gradually, the area of the marshy area decreases, and the river flows into Lake Net. The Bahr el-Ghazal River, flowing from the west, also flows into it. Having merged together, the rivers form a single stream, called Bahr el-Abyad or White Nile, since the water contains a lot of suspensions of white clay, and it has a pale yellow color.

Then the river flows through the valley to the capital of Sudan, Khartoum. At this point, the White Nile merges with the Blue Nile and a single full-flowing stream is formed, which is called the Nile River. 300 km north of Khartoum, the last tributary flows into the deep stream. This is the Atbara River. It begins its journey from the Abyssinian Highlands, like the Blue Nile, but flows further north. Its length is 800 km, and during the dry period from January to June the river usually dries up.

On the banks of the Nile

Having absorbed this river, the waters of the Nile flow into the Sahara Desert. Its eastern part is called the Nubian Desert. From the great river it spreads east and passes into the Arabian Desert. In the Nubian Desert, the Nile makes a sharp turn to the southwest and then turns north again. The river leaves the territory of the state of Sudan and begins its movement through Egypt.

In northern Sudan, the Nile River is called Lake Nasser. Most of the reservoir is located in Egypt. This is a man-made creation. It is one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. Its width reaches 35 km, maximum depth 180 meters, maximum length 550 km, area 5250 sq. km.

A reservoir was created thanks to the Aswan Dam. It is located to the north at a distance of 270 km from the Sudanese border. Built between 1960 and 1970. Thanks to the dam, the rapids of the Nile disappeared under water. There were six of them in total. Flooding during the rainy season has also stopped. The river overflowed, flooding large areas, and this was a real disaster for the local population. The height of the dam is 111 meters, length 3830 meters, width 980 meters.

Next, the Nile River flows north through a wide, fertile valley. Numerous cities stretch along the shores, home to the vast majority of Egypt's population. Finally, Cairo appears on the path of the great river. This is the capital of Egypt - the oldest city. It was founded in 969. Its population is 6 million 800 thousand people. The Nile cuts the city into two parts. It forms islands on which city blocks also rise.

Nile in Cairo

Nile Delta

After leaving Cairo, the river begins to split into branches. They multiply and form a huge delta. Its length from north to south is 160 km. Along the Mediterranean coast from west to east, the length reaches 240 km. At the western end of the delta is the city of Alexandria, on the eastern end of Port Said. The area of this gigantic natural formation reaches 24 thousand square meters. km. There are 10 cities in the river delta. That is, it is a large residential area of the country. It is home to about 38 million people. The population of all of Egypt is 81 million people.

The largest city in the west of the delta is Alexandria. 3.9 million people live in it. In other cities it is less. Outside the cities, the population density is 1000 people/1 sq. km. The climate in the delta is Mediterranean and characterized by low rainfall. Due to global warming, there is a forecast that by 2025 the sea level will rise by 30 cm. This will entail the disappearance of the entire northern part of the delta under water and a massive shortage of food for people. At least 10 million refugees are expected as a result of this cataclysm.

View of the Nile Delta from space

In the delta, in winter period time, several hundred thousand waterfowl live. It has the highest concentration of gulls and terns in the world. White and gray herons, cormorants, and ibises also live here. The waters are home to large numbers of frogs and turtles. Lots of different fish. Crocodiles and hippos have long disappeared from the delta. They were once the indigenous inhabitants of these places, but people gradually drove the animals outside the delta, leaving them no hope of return.

The Nile River is the second longest in the world, second only to the queen of rivers, the Amazon. It was on the banks of the Nile that the most ancient human civilization arose. It still amazes people with the Great Pyramids and other fundamental architectural masterpieces. Alexander the Great was not yet in the project, and the cladding on the Cheops pyramid was already peeling off.

All this once again emphasizes the greatness of the mighty waters that begin their thorny path in Lake Victoria. That is, the river originates almost at the equator, passes through the territory of 10 countries and flows into the Mediterranean Sea near Suez Canal, touching it with the eastern edge of the delta. Thus, the river has a connection with the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, connecting the central part of Africa with the endless waters of the World Ocean.

Yuri Syromyatnikov

Education

Rivers of Egypt. What bodies of water are there in Egypt?

Egypt is an Arab state African continent. A land of deserts and sand dunes. It is hard to believe that life, much less populous cities, could appear in such a barren and arid area. However, it happened and decisive role the river flowing through Egypt played a role here. What kind of river is this? What other bodies of water are there in the country? Let's find out about them right now.

Where is Egypt located on the map?

The state is located on two continents of the planet. It occupies northeast Africa and the Sinai Peninsula of Eurasia. It is surrounded by Libya, the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Sudan. By sea, Egypt shares its border with Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

It covers an area of 1,001,450 square kilometers. The country lies in the tropical and subtropical desert zones. Its climate is very arid. In the summer in the shade the temperature can reach 50 degrees, in winter it drops to 20 degrees. At night the temperature drops sharply to zero.

The relief of Egypt is predominantly flat; only in the south of the Sinai Peninsula and on the western shore of the Red Sea are there low and medium-high mountains. Highest point the country is the peak of Catherine (2642 meters). The rest of the territory is represented by small hills (from 100 to 600 meters) and depressions, in which oases are usually located.

There are no forests at all in Egypt; most of it is practically devoid of any vegetation; cereals, acacias and shrubs are occasionally present. After precipitation, ephemeral and ephemeral plants, such as buttercups, poppies, etc., appear briefly in the desert expanses. The vegetation near the Egyptian River, as well as on the Mediterranean coast, appears much more diverse.

Waters of Egypt

Knowing where Egypt is located on the map and the characteristics of its climate, we can assume that there is not much water there. This is true, because 95% of the country’s territory is covered by the Sahara Desert. It spread throughout North Africa and continues to increase in size. About 25 mm of precipitation falls here annually, and only in a small area in the north of the country does it reach 200 mm.

Life in Egypt could become completely unbearable if not for its reservoirs. In the east, the country is washed by the Red Sea - the saltiest of those connected to the World Ocean. In the north it is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Both of them are connected by the Suez Canal, which is the shortest shipping route from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean.

The main feature of Egypt is the Nile River. It crosses the entire country from north to south and is the only internal flowing body of water. The rest of the rivers are just its branches and channels. There are many lakes near the Nile. Most of them are salty (Manzala, Maryut, Idku), others are rich in soda (Wadi Natrun).

In the south of the country, on the border with Sudan, there is the Nasser Reservoir, formed on the river from the construction of the Aswan Dam. Its area is about 5 thousand kilometers, and its greatest depth is 130 meters.

Video on the topic

Main river of Egypt

Stretching approximately 6,850 kilometers, the Nile forms one of the largest river systems in the world. He competes with Amazon for the championship in length. It is assumed that the South American artery is 140 kilometers longer.

Egypt's main river crosses seven other states: Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. It starts at Equatorial Africa on the East African plateau. More precise definition its origin is a controversial topic. Some count the beginning from the Rukarara River, which flows into Kagera and then into Lake Victoria, others - directly from the lake.

The river flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The elevation difference between the source and mouth of the Nile is approximately 1300 meters. At the place where the river ends its path, the height above sea level is 0 meters.

Neil's character

The entire Nile basin covers up to 3,400,000 km2. Egypt accounts for only a quarter of the river, and its basin occupies about 5% of the country's territory. Until Khartoum, the river goes by different names, but in Sudan its two large tributaries - the Blue and White Nile - merge, after which it continues its path as, in fact, the Nile.

In Egypt, the river begins from the Nasser reservoir all the way to the city of Aswan. Then it flows along the depression of the limestone plateau all the way to Cairo. The river valley varies in width from 1 km to 25 km. It is widest near the Mediterranean Sea. The mouth of the Nile forms a huge delta with numerous branches, covering an area of 24 thousand km2.

Throughout the country, the river has no permanent tributaries. Because of extreme heat they all dry out quickly. Every year, starting in June, the Nile floods, leaving behind a large amount of fertile silt. Having reached its peak in September, the water level gradually decreases until May.

Life source

Africa's largest river has become a real salvation for local nature. There are a lot of fish in its waters, such as catfish, tiger fish, eels, perches, and multifin. They used to be full of hippos and crocodiles, but human activity has greatly reduced their numbers.

Along the banks of the river there are giraffes, monkeys, turtles, antelopes, cobras and other snakes. More than 300 species of birds fly here: ibises, pelicans, flamingos, storks and herons, and eagles of prey. Many of them stop here for the winter.

The natural plants of the Nile Valley have long been replaced by plantations of cotton, cereals and date palms. However, along the banks of the river you can find different kinds palm trees, tamarisk, oleander, fig tree, and papyrus grow in the delta.

Meaning to people

Several millennia BC, Egypt’s only river was Africa’s most important resource. She not only did possible life V harsh conditions desert, but also became the reason for the appearance of one of ancient civilizations on the planet. The fertile lands of the Nile Valley developed the agricultural land on which the economy of Ancient Egypt was built.

Nothing has changed yet. The river is still the center of local life. Egypt has a population of 96 million, most of whom live in the Nile Delta and Valley. Cairo, Helwan, Beni Sueif, Minia, Alexandria, Aswan are located here.

The river is used for navigation, water supply, fishing and management Agriculture, as well as obtaining hydropower.

Location Egypt Height 0 m Coordinates 31°27′55″ n. w. 30°22′00″ E. d. HGIOL River slope 0.2 m/km Location Water system Mediterranean Sea Countries

source

mouth

Audio, photo and video on Wikimedia Commons

The Nile water system is considered the longest on Earth. However, according to Brazilian researchers, the Amazon has the longest river system - according to these data, its length is 6992 kilometers, while the length of the Nile system is 6852 kilometers. The area of the Nile River basin is 3349 thousand km². The source is in Rwanda, this is the Rukarara River, which flows into the Kagera River. Water flow varies greatly and dramatically throughout the year. The total length of navigable sections is 3.2 thousand km. The river waters are used for irrigation and electricity generation. The Nile Delta and Valley is home to almost the entire population and almost the entire economy of Egypt. The largest cities are Cairo, Khartoum, Aswan, Alexandria.

General characteristics

Nile in Egypt

The length of the Nile is often measured from Lake Victoria, although quite large rivers flow into it. The height of the source is 1134 m above sea level. [ ] The most remote point can be considered the source of the Rukarara River - one of the components of the Kagera River, which originates from an altitude of more than 2000 m on one of the mountain ranges of East Africa south of the equator and flows into Lake Victoria. The length of the Nile from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea is approximately 5600 km.

The area of the basin, according to various sources, is 2.8-3.4 million km² (fully or partially covering the territories of Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt).

Question about the source of the Nile

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Current of the Nile

The Nile flows from south to north. The nature of the Nile flow is turbulent, but in the lower reaches it is calm.

Kagera

Victoria Nile

Nile Basin from space

Albert Nile

The largest tributaries in this part of the current have their sources in the west of Ethiopia - El Ghazal (“river of gazelles”) and Sobat, the waters of which, flowing from the mountains, contain a large amount of suspended matter and have a characteristic dull yellow (whitish) color.

White Nile

Below Sobat the river is called the White Nile ( Bahr el Abyad), leaves behind an area of swamps, and then flows calmly in a wide valley through semi-desert terrain to Khartoum, where it merges with the Blue Nile. From here to the Mediterranean Sea the river is called the Nile ( El Bahr). The Blue Nile is much shorter than the White Nile, but it plays a much larger role in the formation of the Nile regime below Khartoum. The Blue Nile originates from the Ethiopian Highlands, flowing from Lake Tana. From the same highlands, the Nile receives its last high-water tributary - Atbara.

Disappeared tributary

Nile rapids

Below the mouth of the last major tributary (the Atbara), about 300 km from Khartoum, the Nubian Desert begins.

The 900-kilometer section between the rapids and Cairo has a slight slope and is surrounded by a valley up to 20-25 km wide.

Delta

Nile Delta

20 km north of the Egyptian capital Cairo, the growing Nile Delta begins with numerous branches, channels and lakes, which stretches 260 km along the Mediterranean coast from Alexandria to Port Said. Here the Nile splits into 9 large and a noticeably larger number of small branches, the main navigable ones are Dumyat (Damietta; eastern) and Rashid (Rosetta; western), the length of each of them is about 200 km. In the north of the delta there are lagoon lakes Menzala, Burullus, and Maryut. It was formed on the site of a sea bay, which was gradually filled with river sediments. In area (24 thousand km²), the Nile Delta is almost equal to the Crimean Peninsula.

The mouth of the Nile was called “Delta” by Greek geographers, who compared its triangular shape with a letter of the Greek alphabet, thus giving the name to all river deltas on the globe. The sediments that the Nile carries into the Mediterranean Sea create an excellent food base for the fish wealth of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Channels

Channel Yusuf

Fauna

The fauna of the Nile is quite diverse. Here you can find crocodiles, turtles, a wide variety of snakes, including two species of cobras, and Nile perch, whose weight can reach 140 kg. In addition to it, polyfins, tiger fish, catfish, toothed carp, and African carp are of commercial importance.

Meaning

Nile
in hieroglyphs

Significance for Egypt

The river is especially important for Egypt, where about 97% of the country's population lives in a 10-15 km wide coastal strip. The Nile in its lower reaches periodically overflows, flooding the entire valley. The tributaries of the Nile, flowing from the Abyssinian Highlands, bring large amounts of silt, which settles during the flood. This regular fertilizer plays a huge role in Egyptian agriculture.

There are three huge rivers in Africa, but the largest is the Nile - the second longest river in the world.

The Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

But where the Nile comes from, where it began, people did not know for a long time.

They only saw that from somewhere, from the depths of Africa, a mighty stream of water was pouring, pouring for many thousands of years and not drying up, although in the countries through which it flows - in Nubia and Egypt - it almost never rains.

The birth of the Nile and especially its annual floods seemed miraculous to people. People considered the Nile to be a deity and prayed to it.

Many thousands of years passed, and no one knew where the Nile came from.

Only in 1860 did two English officers decide to see the sources of the Nile at any cost.

They went by ship to the east coast of Africa, about 5° south. sh., and from there, with great difficulties and dangers, they made their way on foot to the middle of Africa, where no European had ever been before.

There they saw a huge freshwater lake, which is four times larger than our Ladoga. The British called this lake Lake Victoria. The Nile flows from it.

Having traveled about two-thirds of its way to the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile receives on its right side a large tributary, the Blue Nile, which begins in the Abyssinian mountainous country. Connecting with this river, the Nile immediately becomes twice as wide.

Starting from here, it receives no more tributaries. Other rivers become fuller the further they flow; and the Nile, on the contrary, the closer to the mouth, the narrower and poorer it becomes in water. This is because the Nile flows here through a terrible, waterless and dead desert - the Sahara. There is only sand and stones, hot from the sun. Sand absorbs water, the sun evaporates.

This is where Egypt is located.

This is a low-lying strip of fertile land lying on both banks of the Nile, in the middle of the desert.

In September, the Nile in Egypt becomes muddy, dirty, overflows its low banks and floods them.

Egypt becomes like a shallow lake.

The villages of the Egyptians are built on hills and now seem like islands; their houses and palm trees are reflected in the muddy water. Communication is made possible only by boats. But everyone rejoices and rejoices, because the wider the Nile floods, the more bread there will be this year.

Why does the Nile flood?

Our rivers flood from the melting snow in the spring. In Africa there is no winter, and there is no snow. The reason for the Nile flood is different.

This reason is heavy rains, which pour during the hottest time in Africa, where Lake Victoria is and where Mountain country Abyssinia. The rains are so strong that they do not fall in drops, like ours, but in whole streams. Then the whole middle of Africa is flooded with water, and the blacks sit in their huts under thatched roofs, not going anywhere and shivering from the dampness.

Several weeks pass like this.

From these rains, the water in the Nile rises, and by September the flood reaches Egypt. After all, the length of the Nile is 6.5 thousand kilometers.

After standing for twenty days, the water begins to recede, first slowly, then faster, and the Nile again enters its low clay banks.

Now all the land in Egypt has become wet, saturated with water, and, in addition, the river has left behind a dark soft silt, which consists of clay, fine sand and rotten plants. This silt is characterized by extraordinary fertility.

As soon as the river subsides, the Egyptian peasants (fellahs) quickly sow wheat, corn, millet, and cotton on this damp, dark soil, and the harvests are amazing.

During our winter, Egypt turns green and blooms. There it is the best, most fertile time of the year.

When the harvest is harvested, and the dark earth dries up and cracks from the hot rays of the sun, Egypt becomes like a desert.

At this time, a dry, hot wind - “khamsin” - begins to blow from the Sahara.

The sky becomes pale, the sun becomes dull and reddish. Animals and birds try to hide somewhere. The wind is dry and hot; one might think that he is flying out of a hot furnace. It’s almost impossible to breathe in this air, your lips are dry, your whole body feels as if thousands of needles are pricking your skin.

The khamsin rages for two hours. Finally, the wind dies down, the air becomes clear, the sky turns blue. But everything around bears traces of the terrible breath of the Sahara. The greenery has withered, the people are pale and silent, everything is covered with dust. This is what summer is like in Egypt.

That's why everyone is waiting and can't wait for the autumn flood.

And so the Egyptian women, having gone early in the morning with jugs on their heads to fetch water to the Nile, bring joyful, long-desired news: the ibises have arrived.

Ibises are birds, like storks or herons: they are white, but their head, neck and legs are black. They arrive shortly before the Nile floods; therefore, in ancient times it was forbidden to touch these birds, and if anyone killed an ibis, he was executed by death.

People thought that these were messengers of the god Nile, who brings harvest and happiness to many millions of people. Now we know that ibises come to feed in the Nile-flooded valley of Egypt and fly away from drought to damp tropical Africa.

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