The Nile

The Nile is the cause of Egypt's existence. Its waters supply drinking water, the annual floods, until the construction of the dams at Aswan, fertilized its fields, and today it supplies electrical energy from the dams.

Throughout the age of the pharaohs, the main mode of transport was by boat up and down the Nile and around the Nile delta.

Today, the railroad has taken over much of the local transport, and Egypt Air has a fleet of modern airplanes. Still, from Cairo and South, in what was then known as Upper Egypt, the country was basically a narrow strip of land along the banks of the Nile, with the desert or the high plateau virtually meters (yards) away on each side of the river valley.

Today, much of the farming is done in the same, traditional way it has been done in generations and generations. The one thing that has changed is the absence of the yearly flooding, since the gates of the Aswan Dam were closed, and the need to use artificial fertilizer instead of the previous, rich mud of the Nile.

One of the most familiar sights along the Nile is the water pump of each local community, bringing the requisite of life to the inhabitants. The water tower is a more rare luxury, signifying either a rich community, or co-operation with eg. Japan, as this one.

As the importance of boats deminishes, and wheeled transport increases, bridges are being built to improve the infrastructure.

The traditional way of fishing is still practiced on the Nile.

In crossing Cairo, the Nile offers a very different sight, worlds away from the traditional ways of making a living.