The Nile Valley and the state of Egypt

The Nile flows in north-eastern Africa, is over 6,000 km long (about 6,650 km) and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Greeks called its mouth a delta, because the branches form a triangle like the Greek letter delta. In the lower course the valley is from a few kilometres to over 20 km wide, with black fertile soil — the Egyptians called their land the “Black Land”. Each year’s flood brought fertile silt to the fields. At the beginning of the 4th millennium BCE people settled the valley and turned to farming: they grew wheat, barley, melons and vegetables and kept livestock. Egypt had over 30 crafts: copper-working, pottery, building, shipbuilding and weaving. At first small states called “nomes” appeared, each ruled by a “nomarch”. Then the kingdoms of Lower and Upper Egypt formed. Around 3000 BCE (modern estimates: about 3100 BCE) the ruler of Upper Egypt, Menes (also called Narmer), united the country and became the first pharaoh; the capital was Memphis. Later Thebes was also a capital. Scholars divide Egyptian history into the Early, Old, Middle, New and Late Kingdoms.