Changes in the Nile were crucial for Ancient Egypt

June 4 () –

A major change in the course of the Nile River about 4,000 years ago It favored an agricultural expansion that could contribute to the greatest splendor achieved by the civilization of Ancient Egypt.

Research published in Nature Geoscience reveals that the change in the course of the river caused The alluvial plain of the Nile Valley around Luxor would expand enormously.

The findings raise the possibility that this change may have contributed to the success of the ancient Egyptian agricultural economy at points between the Old and New Kingdom periods. The New Kingdom was a period of prosperity, military conquest, and cultural achievements unprecedented in the history of Ancient Egypt.

Dr. Benjamin Pennington, co-author of the paper from the University of Southampton, said it’s a statement: “Floodplain expansion would have greatly expanded the area of ​​arable land in the Nile Valley near Luxor (ancient Thebes) and improved soil fertility by regularly depositing fertile silt“.

“Although no specific causal links can be inferred between this change and any contemporary social development, changes in the landscape are nonetheless an important factor that must be taken into account when analyzing the trajectory of Ancient Egyptian culture.”

The study also suggests that changes in the behavior and landscape of the Nile could have influenced settlement patterns and the location of iconic historical structures, like the temple of Karnak.

The research was carried out by an international team led by Dr Angus Graham from Uppsala University in Sweden and included several archaeologists and geographers from the University of Southampton.

Dominic Barker, another co-author also from the University of Southampton, explained how the work was achieved: “We drilled 81 wells, many of them by hand, throughout the Nile Valley near Luxor, a real first for Egypt. Using the geological information contained in the cores and dating the sediments using a technique called optically stimulated luminescence, we were able to reconstruct the evolution of the river landscape”.

The team discovered that between about 11,500 and 4,000 years ago, the Nile underwent a significant valley incision—i.e. the river moved deeper into its bed, creating deep channels and a narrower floodplain. This may have led to more pronounced and stronger flooding.

This flood dynamic would have existed between the Epipaleolithic period (a time of hunter-gatherer societies) and the Old Kingdom (the “age of the pyramids”) and perhaps the Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt.

“The Egyptian Nile we see today looks very different from what it would have looked like for much of the last 11,500 years,” says Dr. Pennington. “For most of this time, the Nile was made up of a network of interlocking canals that changed course frequently.”

ABRUPT CHANGE

About 4,000 years ago, the Nile changed abruptly and rapid aggradation of the floodplain occurred, where the river began to deposit large amounts of sediment, building the valley floor. This created a more expansive and stable floodplain.

The river also progressively changed character during this time, moving from a dynamic, braided system to fewer, but more stable channels. The single-channel Nile we know today was not really established until about two thousand years ago.

Researchers say the main change in the Nile’s behavior was probably caused by a reduction in the volume of water flowing through the river and an increase in the supply of fine sediment. This was driven by the aridification of the Nile basin, with the “green Sahara” of the African Humid Period transforming into the current hyper-arid Sahara Desert. This change in regional climate may have further combined with changing human impacts on the land to make the soil more prone to erosion.