Egypt before the empire

Egypt before the empire

IN EARLY TIMES, THE NILE RIVER VALLEY WAS NOT A GREAT place to live. Each summer, floodwaters filled the narrow gorge from cliff to cliff. When the water receded, the valley remained wet and marshy. But it was a hunter’s paradise. The Nile was alive with fish. Dense stands of papyrus were filled with birds. Antelopes, gazelles, oryx, and wild bulls grazed in lush greenery near the cliffs. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses patrolled the river shallows and muddy pools. From 8000 to 5000 b.c.e., the Nile valley and surrounding deserts were much cooler and wetter than they are today. But the climate was changing rapidly, turning hotter and drier. The valley started drying out more quickly after the annual floods. Soon, some spots on the sandy plateaus on top of the cliffs were dry year-round. Around 5000 b.c.e., people started living year-round in the Nile River valley. Great droughts (times when very little water is available) in Asia had causes masses of people to leave their homes. These wanderers wished to return to the lifestyles they had left: agriculture (growing grains and other foodstuffs) and animal husbandry (tending herds of animals for meat, milk, hides, wool, and transportation). To them, the Nile valley looked very inviting.