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02-Rivers and Life: The Nile

This love affair with the Nile lies at the heart of the Egyptian psyche and has existed since the age of the Pharaohs and their pyramids.

These monumental structures are about an hour's drive away from the Nile, in Giza, far enough through the pounding traffic and hot, messy Cairo suburbs to seem completely divorced from the river and its concerns.

But it wasn't always like this.

In ancient times, the Nile flowed right by here because, ​during the summer months, the river flooded and broke its banks, with the floodwaters reaching as far as Giza and beyond.

This naturally recurring phenomenon was the secret behind Egypt's success.

The life-givingfloods provided the pharaohs with a dynamic surge of water which allowed them to grow their crops and feed their people.

It also allowed them to carry giant rocks so that they could build their pyramids.

The ancient Egyptians had no idea how the floods came to them during the hot summer when other nations withered and died in the dry heat.

But they gave their gods eternal thanks for the miracle on which not just the pyramids, but their whole nation was built.

And to this day, even though the floods have dried up and their gods are long gone, the monuments that were built in their honorremain, as testimony to Egypt's 'historic right' to own and control the Nile.

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