'The Gift of the Nile' to the Ancient.

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‘The Gift of the Nile’ to the Ancient

October 26, 2003

Herodotus quotes that “Egypt is the gift of the river”. To one of non-Egyptian descendant, the Nile River is minimally known as the longest river in the world. However, The Nile referred to by the ancient Egyptians, as Iteru or The River was much more than just a large river in Egypt. To the Egyptians it was their life source and offered much more to them than just water and fertile land or Black Land. The River also had a bearing on their lifestyle, administration communication and transportation, building, crafts and decorative arts and religious beliefs and morality. The Nile River was extraordinarily imperative to the people of ancient Egypt.

 Whatever activity the ancient Egyptians partook in, it almost always embraced on the Nile and its annual flood. They consulted a yearly calendar consisting of three seasons: Akhet, Perit and Shemu. Akhet, sometime in July was the season in which the flood began and when the waters began to rise. The king’s coronation was held during this day of only two days. During this time large-scale buildings were carried out as the floodwaters enabled barges, transporting large blocks of stone, to get closer to building sites. Under conscription the farmers were made to work in groups on the production of temples and other major structures. It was also regular for people to hand feed their animals and repair equipment.

The second season, Perit began in November and was also called the Season of Coming Forth. This is due to the fact that this was a time when the king rejuvenated his powers and so was it that the land was rejuvenated by floodwaters. Although, it was primarily a time of sowing seeds. The Perit also consists of the Heb-Sed festival, which celebrated the king’s 30-year jubilee. The festival lasted in the first five days of this season with the first day dedicated to the official crowing of the king. This period involved the most intensive activity along the Nile. Farmers worked hard to try and conserve the floodwaters by repairing dykes cleaning out ditches and canals; to spread the rich silt; to plough the fields and sow the seed all before the land began to dry out too much.

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The final season, Shemu started the harvesting and began sometime in early march. This time was possibly the highlight of the year for an Egyptian peasant farmer as it celebrated the Festival of Min, the god of fertility. Farmers were overwhelmed in this harvesting season as it was a time when they harvested, threshed, winnowed, stored and transported the grain and flax. The scribes would finally record the harvest, carry out the census, assess and collect the taxes.

Due to the greatness in size of the Nile it was essential to have a central authority to control ...

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