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Along the banks of the Nile River in either Upper or Lower Egypt, and from time to time into the Northern portions of what is today Sudan. The Egyptian Kingdons spanned almost 3 thousand years and was not static, it expanded and shrank according to rulers, climate and war.
ancient Egypt relied on the flood of the Nile. The Nile flooded during June to September, when the water retreats the Egyptian people started planting the seeds for their crops. They would start harvesting the crops in March through to May. The Egyptians waited for the Nile Flood so that the soil would be rich ready for the seeds which ensure maximum sucess of their crops. they grew things like: figs, melons pomegrantes wheat, barley, vegetables, vines, and flax. If the water had raised by more than 7 metres it would destroy homes it my cause famine depending on what time it reached 7 metres.
The Nile affected life in ancient Egypt by leaving a deposit of mud on both sides of the river when it flooded. It created an area of rich soil which helped the farmers to grow surplus (extra) food in the Nile Valley. The surplus made Egypt prosperous. The Nile also made it easy to travel throughout the land.
The Nile river had a unique annual inundation or flood pattern.Each year with the flood waters, that have their source high in the ancient volcanic ranges of the Ethiopian and Ugandan mountains. when the flood waters receded they left behind a few centimeters of black loam incredibly high in natural nutrients and minerals.There is no doubt that without this renewable source of natural fertilization and flood plain irrigation that Egypt's agrarian culture would have succumbed to salinity and irrigation problems making the land nonviable for continued agricultural production.This would have made Egypt dependent on other civilizations for its sustainability.It was exactly this problem that led to the early demise of Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilizations in the Tigris and Euphrates Valley.So in these terms,the quote by Herodotus that " Egypt is truly a gift of the Nile", could not be more appropriate..It is interesting to note that, since the construction of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser Egyptian farmers are having to use fertilizers on their crops for the first time in Egypt's very long history of permanent agrarian culture and civilization.
Egypt, in Cleopatra's time, was a long skinny country and the Nile River ran it's entire length. Because Cleopatra ruled the country, she also ruled the Nile. Calling her "Queen of the Nile" was just another term for calling her Queen of Egypt.