Geography on Ancient Egyptian Culture Essay

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At first glance, the presence of the desert might seem like a curse, not a blessing for the Egyptians. Yet it was the desert "that protected Egypt on two sides. These deserts separated ancient Egypt from neighboring countries and invading armies" ("Geography," Ancient Egypt: The British Museum, 2009). The desert "also provided the ancient Egyptians with a source for precious metals and semi-precious stones," that enriched its leaders and further enabled the creation of a massive and thriving cultural landscape ("Geography," Ancient Egypt: The British Museum, 2009).

The cycles of the Inundations clearly enabled the construction of the Pyramids. "During the inundation, though, there was nothing to do for the Egyptian farmer. Rather than doing nothing for a whole season, the Egyptians would do other tasks rather than paying tax. (Tax was usually taken out of the crops that the farmers grew, and during inundation, the farmland was covered by water!) During the Old Kingdom, this work took on the form of working on building pyramids" (Seawright 2009). In addition to slaves, skilled craftsman and artisans would also have been required, along with an intuitive if not formal mathematics (Winston 2009).

The difficulty of living a life dependant upon the Nile must never be overlooked. The Nile and thus the harvest could be capricious in its yield. Egypt's prosperity, in other words, must be measured only in relation to its neighbors in a relative sense. The fear and anticipation regarding the Inundations also resulted in the creation of a measuring system, to allow for an anticipation of the coming hardship or bounty: "The amount of silt left behind due to the height of the Nile determined the amount of crops that the Egyptians could grow -- if the inundation was too low, it would be a year of famine" (Seawright 2009).

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Egyptians created a method of measuring the height of the Nile known as the Nilometre, to mark the highest point of the Inundation in various areas. "They were constructed in one of three different formats -- a slab or pillar, a well or a series of steps. All three were calibrated using the same unit of measurement, the cubit; the Egyptians broke the cubit into smaller units, which allowed them to keep remarkably accurate records, perhaps more accurate than would have been warranted for the purposes of merely agriculture and taxation" (Seawright 2009). This reliable measuring system further contributed to the proficiency of Egyptians as builders.

The Inundation schedule of the Nile produced a ready source of laborers willing to work, a complex measuring system and a complex culture. The military security provided by the desert, the relative bounty of the Nile's fertility, and the constant fear of famine can be traced back to the Nile. Although the Egyptians later achieved greater control over the Nile, its cultural influences persisted until the demise of this great civilization.

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