Most of the Egyptian people were farmers and this meant that agriculture was the center of the Egyptian life. The growing season lasted eight to nine months. They also had pastoral farming which is the herding of cattle, sheep and goats. The harvesting and growing of wheat, fruit and vegetables was very important as they were the principal crops. When the annual flooding of the Nile came, farming was rendered impossible. when the water receded, this was a very good thing for the farmers as it left a thick layer of fertile soil over the farmlands and this helped to insure thick grass for their grazing animals and rich soil for their crops.
The Nile was the center of their culture, with its cycle of growth, death and rebirth to new growth becoming their cycle of everyday life that made up their religion and understanding of an afterlife.Apart from aiding to supply food, the river Nile also insured a line of communication and transportation among the provinces of the kingdom. To the pharaohs the Nile was an advantage because it was a means to transport their armies and thus maintaining a strong, unified nation.
The River Nile.
Egypt had a centralized government controlled by a line of hereditary rulers by 3100 BC. The Pharaohs kept a royal court of advisers and nobility and controlled the governors of the provinces of the kingdom. They also commanded the Egyptian army and also ordered priests and priestesses who officiated at the complex religious ceremonies and played as servants to the gods and served the pharaoh. The pharaohs represented of the gods on earth and also they were considered and treated as gods themselves.
Hieroglyphs of a pharaoh.
Life in Ancient Egypt. 2013. Life in Ancient Egypt. Available at:http://www.watson.org/~leigh/egypt.html. [Accessed 19 May 2013]
Civilization.ca - Egyptian civilization - Geography - Nile valley . 2013.Civilization.ca - Egyptian civilization - Geography - Nile valley . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/egypt/egcgeo3e.shtml. [Accessed 19 May 2013].
World History to 1500: Ancient Egypt. 2013. World History to 1500: Ancient Egypt. [ONLINE] Available at:http://worldhistoryto1500.blogspot.com/2010/09/ancient-egypt.html. [Accessed 19 May 2013].
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