In his lecture, Dr. McClain tells us that the Nile in its natural state goes through periods of inundation and relinquishment. The inundation of the Nile was the time of great agricultural fertility for Egypt. As the banks of the river rose, the water would fill man-made canals and canal basins. This flooding would water the crops for the coming year. However, if the inundation was slightly above or below normal, it would have massive consequences upon the Egyptian agricultural economy. Even with the variability of their reservoir, the Egyptians were able to easily grow tree crops and vegetable gardens in the lower part of the Nile Valley, while at higher elevations, usually near the levees, the Nile Valley was sparsely plan

Ancient Egyptians were very religious people. Two of the earliest religious cults in Egypt were the Sun and the Nature. As an agricultural based society, they relied on the Nile floods to replenish the lands with thriving topsoil. They also depended upon the sun and moderate climate to help produce a bountiful harvest. Witnessing these natural processes of their environment likely influenced their beliefs. The Egyptians perceived both the certainty of death and the assurance of birth through the constant reliability of nature confirmed by the daily rising and setting of the sun, (Fiero 19). According to Egyptian mythology, at the beginning of time the Nile’s “primordial waters” brought a mound of silt, and out of this mound the self generating sun god emerged. And from the Sun God, the rest of Egypt’s gods were born, (Fiero 19). Without this river there, would have been “primordial waters” for the gods to be made of?

Egyptians not only based their religious beliefs on the events of the Nile, they also based their daily beliefs on the Nile. For example, Fiero tells us that in 4200 B.C.E. the 365-day cycle of the river’s inundation became the basis of the solar calendar and was “the primary source of Egypt’s deep sense of order,” (19).

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