Editing Nile (section)

=== Role in the founding of Egyptian civilization ===
{{See also|Ancient Egyptian agriculture}}
[[File:Vallee fertile du Nil a Louxor.jpg|thumb|An aerial view of [[irrigation]] from the Nile River supporting agriculture in [[Luxor|Luxor, Egypt]]]]
[[File:Dhows on the Nile.jpg|thumb|upright|right|A [[felucca]] traversing the Nile near Aswan]]
The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] wrote that "Egypt was the gift of the Nile". An unending source of sustenance, it played a crucial role in the development of Egyptian civilization. Because the river overflowed its banks annually and deposited new layers of silt, the surrounding land was very fertile. The [[Ancient Egypt]]ians cultivated and traded wheat, [[flax]], [[papyrus]] and other crops around the Nile. Wheat was a crucial crop in the famine-plagued Middle East. This trading system secured Egypt's diplomatic relationships with other countries and contributed to economic stability. Far-reaching trade has been carried on along the Nile since ancient times.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} A tune, [[Hymn to the Nile]], was created and sung by the ancient Egyptian peoples about the flooding of the Nile River and all of the miracles it brought to Ancient Egyptian civilization.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Halsall |first=Paul |date=May 1998 |title=Hymn To The Nile |url=http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/hymn-nile.asp |access-date=20 November 2016 |website= |publisher=Fordham University }}</ref>

[[Water buffalo]] were introduced from Asia, and the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] introduced camels in the 7th century BCE. These animals were raised for meat and were domesticated and used for ploughing—or in the camels' case, carriage. Water was vital to both people and livestock. The Nile was also a convenient and efficient means of transportation for people and goods.

The Nile was also an important part of ancient Egyptian spiritual life. [[Hapi (Nile god)|Hapi]] was the god of the annual floods, and both he and the [[pharaoh]] were thought to control the flooding. The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and the afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god [[Ra]], the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky. Thus, all tombs were west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they had to be buried on the side that symbolized death.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

As the Nile was such an important factor in Egyptian life, the ancient calendar was even based on the three cycles of the Nile. These seasons, each consisting of four months of thirty days each, were called [[Season of the Inundation|Akhet]], [[Season of the Emergence|Peret]], and [[Season of the Harvest|Shemu]]. Akhet, which means inundation, was the time of the year when the Nile flooded, leaving several layers of fertile soil behind, aiding in agricultural growth.<ref name="SpringerMorris2010">{{Cite book |last1=Springer |first1=Lisa |title=Art and Culture of Ancient Egypt |last2=Neil Morris |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4358-3589-4 |page=8 }}</ref> Peret was the growing season, and Shemu, the last season, was the harvest season when there were no rains.<ref name="SpringerMorris2010" />