The Gifts of the Nile

Civilization begins with order. The Nile River organized Egypt. Annual floods fertilized the land and promised plentiful and regular harvests. The Nile’s waters flowed north; her winds pushed south to connect her peoples by boat. Eastern and Western deserts fought back invaders. These gifts nurtured powerful kings and queens, writing, mathematics, science, the arts and remarkable building.

Construct an Egyptian family and villa, its servants, its livestock. Choose a trade to master and represent. Construct a Nile barge, or fishing boat, or a pleasure boat. Join the class in flooding a section of the Nile and beginning a Pyramid.  All guided by David Macaulay Pyramid ©1975,and the Meketre Tomb Models, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In memory of A Denis Baly (1913-1987). biblical geographer and teacher, Kenyon College