Pliny the Elder, Gaius (Caius) Pinius Secundus, a natural philosopher and author of note was a native of Como (located in the Nile Delta Region of Egypt). In speaking of the Nile River, he said that once it reached the Nile Delta Region in Egypt that it split into seven; the Pelusiac, the Titanitic, the Mendesian, the Phatnitic, the Sebennytic, the Bolbitine, and the Canopic. He is a beloved son of the Nile region and a statue honoring him is on display in Como.
The Nile River could be certainly termed the cherished Eden of Egypt, possibly the Eden of Africa; even though a lot of it’s rich endowment on the Egyptian soils has been interfered with by the Aswan dams finished in 1970.
It is accepted to be the longest river in the world; although, the Amazon may actually be a little longer. Lake Tanganyika used to flow into the Nile but the Virunga Volcanoes cut it off in Rwanda. The White Nile and the Blue Nile come together and create the Nile River. Later down the flow, the Atbara River joins into the Nile as well.
The White Nile is much longer than the Blue Nile and is by far the stronger source of water to the Nile River. The very beginning is southern Rwanda. It runs through the Great Lakes region in central Africa. It runs northward to the Nile, which also runs northward. It goes through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda, and Southern Sudan.
Although much smaller, the Blue Nile is also an important source flow for the Nile River and has its origins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It flows in the southeast direction and meets the White Nile at Hartoum, the capital of the Sudan. As the two rivers meet at Hartoum, they come together to become the grandiose Nile River.
The Nile has frozen twice in recorded history. As it flows through the Sudan, it looses HALF its water in the vast swamplands of the Sud. As far back as recorded history can track, the Nile or ancient variations of it have been the lifeblood of Egypt and political issues over the Nile’s shared use have continued to be questioned and negotiated by Africa and Egypt.
Egypt is mostly unforgiving desert other than the rich regions created around the Nile River. In fact these regions around the Nile account for almost all of Egypt’s settlement; although there is some settlement along the coast. Ancient Egypt’s historical sites and cultural sites are all, with very few exceptions, found in the regions around the Nile. In trying to find the beginning, or even the end of this vital source of human sustenance, it is an interesting and tangled journey reaching back into the very depths of ancient times.
*note; Facts for this article were obtained from wikipedia on line encyclopedia
