Ancient Egypt was one of the great “river civilizations”. China and the Yangste, India and the Indus, Mesopotamia and the Tigris-Euphrates River, and Egypt and the Nile were labeled the four “river civilizations” because of the immense impact the Nile had on the Egyptian people. Egypt, at that time, was a powerful civilization. Their empire lasted thousands of years, beginning in 2920 BCE with the first pharaoh. But to become the prosperous civilization they became, the ancient Egyptians greatly relied on the Nile river. (Document BGE) So, how did the Nile forge the ancient civilization of Egypt into our modern-day history textbooks? Well, the importance of the Nile was reflected through the Egyptians’ everyday lives with settlement, economy, and spiritual life. One of the ways the Nile shaped Egypt …show more content…
To the Egyptians, the Nile was affiliated with the afterlife known as the Field of Reeds. In a painting from around 1307 to 1196 BCE, the Nile river is shown as the border that surrounds the agricultural fields. The people shown in those panels are working on and harvesting crops and plants, such as emmer wheat and flax. The Nile is an important part of the painting as it provides the irrigation needed for the crops, which seems to be an essential piece of the afterlife puzzle. The Nile also appears to be connected to the sun god, Ra, who the ancient Egyptians worshipped, as he is present in the painted masterpiece. (Document D) In the song, “Hymn to the Nile”, you can easily tell that the Egyptians honored and praised the Nile. The Nile river had the power to make plants and animals thrive, but, on the other hand, it could make everyone suffer. The people believed that Ra, the sun god, produced the crops, but the Nile replenished the fields. (Document E) In total, the Nile was a significant element to the spiritual and religious life of the ancient