Wednesday, July 27, 2005

The Nile Valley - where ancient meets modern

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3358004a2180,00.html
An article looking at the value of the Nile to Egypt, ancient and modern, and contrasting the natural flooding of the Valley in days before large-scale damming projects began, with life since the creation of the Aswan High Dam: "It was the ancient Egyptians and their predecessors who first recognised the importance of the Nile floods and captured their potential to grow crops on land that must now feed the burgeoning population of some 70 million Egyptians, the world's largest Arab nation. The ancient Egyptians also captured the story of the Nile River floods in hieroglyphics where the year was divided into three seasons. At the temple of the gods Sobek and Haroeris at Kom Ombo built around 150 BC, between Luxor and Aswan on the Nile, illustrations and hieroglyphics show the seasons based on the 'life blood of mother Nile'; the flood season, the planting and the harvest season. The floods brought the water and all-important fertile silt and spread it over the fields, providing natural nutrients and irrigation for the annual crops. But now with the Aswan High Dam, everything has changed".

No comments: