Egypt is almost a desert land except for the valley of the river Nile (Upper Egypt) and the Nile Delta (Lower Egypt).Life would have been impossible in Egypt without the river Nile.

A river flows  in a valley.The valley comprises of the land on both sides of the river.In general,the land rises gradually on either bank.In Mauritius and Rodrigues,the river valleys are very narrow and the in many places,they are steep and rocky.

In Egypt,however,the valley of the river Nile is very broad.In a few places,it is as wide as 23 kilometres,in others only 3 kilometres.The land on either bank is flat and is made up of deep and fine alluvial soil.

In the past,until the construction of the Aswan Dam,the river Nile used to overflow its banks for nearly three months every year.If it rose well,there  would be good crops and green pastures for the cattle;if it failed to rise,there would be famine for man and beast.

This water is collected in big basins.It can be used later on to irrigate the crops.A layer of fine black silt is deposited on both banks.Furthermore,near the mouth of the river Nile in Lower Egypt,the land is flat and low.The silt is deposited there to form a wide delta.It is triangular in shape and its maximum width near Mediterranean Sea is about 250 kilometers.It is called the Nile Delta.

The river Nile is thus considered as a gift to Egypt.It has brought much wealth to the  land.The wealth has enable the Ancient Egyptians to satisfy their basic needs easily.It has also enabled them to pay for all that they needed on order (a) to protect themselves from attacks by enemies (b) to develop a good administration and (c) to open schools,encourage people to study and become civilised.