Egyptian farmers divided their year into three seasons, based on the cycles of the Nile River:
- Akhet - the inundation (June-September): The Flooding Season. No farming was done at this time, as all the fields were flooded.
- Peret (October-February): The Growing Season.
- Shemu (March-May): The Harvesting Season.
What are the two seasons of the Nile River?
The other two seasons were Peret, the growing season, and Shemu, the harvest season. Click to see full answer. Also to know is, what time of year does the Nile flood?
What was the first season of the Nile flood?
Akhet, or inundation, was considered the first season and was the time of the flooding of the Nile. The other two seasons were Peret, the growing season, and Shemu, the harvest season. Click to see full answer. Also to know is, what time of year does the Nile flood?
Where does the White Nile start and end?
Upstream from Khartoum (to the south), the river is known as the White Nile, a term also used in a limited sense to describe the section between Lake No and Khartoum. At Khartoum, the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia.
What is the total length of the Nile River?
With a total length of about 6,650 km (4,130 mi) between the region of Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile is the longest river on Earth. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers (1,256,591 sq mi), about 10% of the area of Africa.
What are the 3 seasons of Egypt?
The civil year was divided into three seasons, commonly translated: Inundation, when the Nile overflowed the agricultural land; Going Forth, the time of planting when the Nile returned to its bed; and Deficiency, the time of low water and harvest.
How many seasons does the Nile River have?
The civilizations of the Nile were affected by seasonal changes. The rise and fall of the Nile established the three agricultural seasons for ancient farmers in Egypt. The seasons were called Akhet (in the fall), Peret (in winter), and Shemu (in summer). During Akhet, the river flooded the land.
Is Nile a seasonal river?
The Atbara River draws its floodwater from the rains on the northern part of the Ethiopian Plateau, as does the Blue Nile. While the floods of the two streams occur at the same time, the Blue Nile is a perennial stream, while the Atbara, as mentioned, shrinks to a series of pools in the dry season.
What season does the Nile flood?
Flooding cycle The flooding of the Nile is the result of the yearly monsoon between May and August causing enormous precipitations on the Ethiopian Highlands whose summits reach heights of up to 4550 m (14,928 ft).
How did the Egyptians explain the seasons?
The ancient Egyptian calendar – a civil calendar – was a solar calendar with a 365-day year. The year consisted of three seasons of 120 days each, plus an intercalary month of five epagomenal days treated as outside of the year proper. Each season was divided into four months of 30 days.
What is the climate of the Nile river?
Climate - Nile River Basin Biome. The Nile Basin has a high diversity in climate with greatly varied precipitation. The average summer temperatures are around 86°F (30°C) with winter temperatures ranging between 41 and 50°F ( 5 - 10°C).
Are there seasons in Egypt?
As part of the northern hemisphere, seasons in Egypt follow much the same pattern as in Europe and North America, with winter falling between November and January, and the peak summer months falling between June and August.
When did the Nile dry up?
The River Atbara overflowed its closed basin during the wet periods that occurred about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago. The Blue Nile connected to the main Nile during the 70,000–80,000 years B.P.
Has the Nile river ever frozen?
1. NILE FREEZES AS COLD SNAP SLAMS CAIRO. The natural world provided the most startling newsflash of 1010: for though this was the Medieval Warm Period in much of the world, in Egypt the Nile froze for only the second time in recorded history – the first being in 829.
What season did the Nile flood in and what was its causes?
The River Nile flooded every year between June and September, in a season the Egyptians called akhet - the inundation. Why did the Nile Flood? Melting snow and heavy summer rain in the Ethiopian Mountains sent a torrent of water causing the banks of the River Nile in Egypt to overflow on the flat desert land.
How many times a year did the river Nile flood?
In ancient times, it flooded the shores of Egypt once every year, in August. Modern Egyptians still celebrate this event with Wafaa an-Nil, a holiday that starts on August 15 and lasts for two weeks. The Nile is the longest river in the world. In ancient times, it flooded the shores of Egypt once every year, in August.
What are 5 facts about the Nile river?
9 Interesting Facts About the Nile RiverIt's the longest river on Earth. ... There's more than one Nile. ... People spent centuries searching for its source. ... It takes a strange detour in the desert. ... Its mud helped shape human history. ... It's a haven for wildlife, too. ... It was home to a crocodile god and a Crocodile City.More items...•
How many phases are there in the Nile?
The existing Nile has five earlier phases; the Upper Miocenian Eonile, of about 6 million years BP, the Upper Pliocenian Paleonile, commencing about 3.32 million years BP, and during the Pleistocene, the Nile phases Proto-, commencing about 600'000 years BP, Pre-, transitioning at about 400'000 years BP to the Neo-.
What is the source of the Nile River?
The source of the White Nile is the Luvironza River, the source of the Blue Nile is Lake Tana in the Gilgel Abbay watershed in the Ethiopian Highlands.
What happens when the Nile floods?
When the Nile floods it leaves a rich silty deposit which fertilizes the soil. The Nile no longer floods in Egypt since the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970. An anabranch river, the Bahr el Zeraf, flows out of the Nile's Bahr al Jabal section and rejoins the White Nile.
What is the primary source of water in Egypt?
In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan. The Nile has two major tributaries – the White Nile and the Blue Nile . The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself.
Where is the Red Nile located?
Below the confluence with the Blue Nile the only major tributary is the Atbara River, also known as the Red Nile, roughly halfway to the sea, which originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana, and is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) long.
Where does the white nile flow?
It flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan.
Where did the name "White Nile" come from?
The standard English names "White Nile" and "Blue Nile", to refer to the river's source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches that meet at Khartoum. In the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥ'pī (Hapy) or Iteru, meaning "river".
What were the three seasons in ancient Egypt?
The three seasons observed in ancient Egypt were Akhet, Peret and Shemu. The seasons were associated with the three phases of farming as well as the rise and fall of the Nile River. The first season of ancient Egypt, Akhet, marked the period between June and September when the banks of the Nile River flooded, with flood waters bringing fertile mud ...
What was the last season of the Egyptian calendar?
It was followed by Peret, lasting from October to February, during which crops were planted and grown. The last season of the ancient Egyptian calendar was Shemu, which marked the harvest period that took place between March and May. ADVERTISEMENT.
Overview
Tributaries of Nile
Below the confluence with the Blue Nile the only major tributary is the Atbara River, also known as the Red Nile, roughly halfway to the sea, which originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana, and is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) long. The Atbara flows only while there is rain in Ethiopia and dries very rapidly. During the dry period of January to June, it typically dries up north of Khartoum.
Etymology and names
The standard English names "White Nile" and "Blue Nile" refer to the river's source, derived from Arabic names formerly applied to only the Sudanese stretches that meet at Khartoum.
In the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥ'pī (Hapy) or Iteru, meaning "river". In Coptic, the word ⲫⲓⲁⲣⲟ, pronounced piaro (Sahidic) or phiaro (Bohairic), means "the river" (lit. p(h).iar-o "the.canal-great"), and comes from the same ancient name.
Courses
With a total length of about 6,650 km (4,130 mi) between the region of Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile is among the longest rivers on Earth. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers (1,256,591 sq mi), about 10% of the area of Africa. Compared to other major rivers, though, the Nile carries little water (5% of the Congo River, for example). The Nile basin is c…
History
The Nile (iteru in Ancient Egyptian) has been the lifeline of civilization in Egypt since the Stone Age, with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt resting along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan. However, the Nile used to run much more westerly through what is now Wadi Hamim and Wadi al Maqar in Libya and flow into the Gulf of Sidra. As sea level rose at the e…
Water sharing dispute
The Nile's water has affected the politics of East Africa and the Horn of Africa for many decades. The dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the $4.5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has become a national preoccupation in both countries, stoking patriotism, deep-seated fears and even murmurs of war. Countries including Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya have complained abou…
Modern achievements and exploration
In 1951, the American John Goddard together with two French explorers became the first to successfully navigate the entire Nile river from its source in Burundi at the potential headsprings of the Kagera River in Burundi to its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, a journey of approximately 6,800 km (4,200 mi). Their 9-month journey is described in the book Kayaks down the Nile.
The White Nile Expedition, led by South African national Hendrik Coetzee, navigated the White Nile'…
Crossings
The following bridges cross the Blue Nile and connect Khartoum to Khartoum North:
• Mac Nimir Bridge
• Blue Nile Road & Railway Bridge
• Burri Bridge