The course of the Nile
The river runs for approximately 4000 miles from its two tributaries, the Blue Nile that begins in central Africa and the White Nile which comes from Lake Victoria. After passing through Upper Egypt, the river's broad delta flows into the Mediterranean. When the snow on the mountains in East Africa melts in summer, the Nile rapidly swells with floodwaters and silt.

The great flood
The Nile's annual flooding between June and August made the land fertile, as true today as it was when the civilisation began. As the floodwaters slowed and stopped, they shed their rich silt on the floodplain, bringing nutrients as well as water to the farmers' land. A series of canals were used to trap the flood water for another six weeks by damming them as the floods ebbed. During the floods, the labourers who usually toiled in the fields were free to work as a labour force on other projects such as the pyramids and other great building programmes or fight in the pharaoh's army. It has been suggested by some historians that a series of poor floods brought on the end of the Old Kingdom due to the social unrest caused by the subsequent famines.

Nilometers
When the floods failed or became too destructive, the society as a whole suffered. So concerned were the Ancient Egyptians that they built Nilometers along the river to measure the height of the floods and give them early warning of their arrival. Nilometers were wells with staircases down to them, and officials counted the number of steps left uncovered by water to give a measure of the depth of the flood. The officials would record particularly bad or good years, and were able to predict the quality of the harvest by the extent of the floodwaters, and thus estimate the tax revenue they would be able to collect. Each year the silt left by the floodwaters in the Nilometers would have to be dug out by hand to preserve the accuracy of the measurements.

Après le deluge
When the flood waters retreated, the Ancient Egyptians would quickly return to claim their land, something easier said than done when many of the landmarks had been washed away or altered by the huge mass of water. Officials were appointed to re-establish the former boundaries and adjudicate in disputes.

The river and belief
The Nile was so important to the Ancient Egyptian civilisation that the Egyptians treated it as a god, Hapy ('Running One'), who was a symbol of fertility and regrowth. The Egyptians believed the Nile was the centre of the world and the source of the river was the source of life itself. Some temples had Nilometers within them to emphasise the connection with the primordial sea, and rites were performed by the priests to bring on the flood each year. The soul of everyone who died had to cross the Nile to enter the kingdom of the dead. As the sun god Ra set in the west, all Egyptian tombs were built on the west bank of the Nile.

Transport lifeline
Everything moved by boat, from people and animals to grain and other goods. From simple rush rafts to wooden ceremonial vessels or warships, the Nile was a busy waterway and the easiest means for goods to be shipped to towns and even overseas. The river was also well stocked with fish, and waterfowl were also plentiful, providing a varied diet to those who lived near the river or travelled on it.