The today’s Arab Republic of Egypt had a great history. Egyptian civilization thrived for more than 3,000 years, from about 3300 BC to 30 BC. The term Egypt in actuality refers to those areas where the ancient Egyptians lived in the valley and delta of the Nile.

Northeast Corner Country

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It is a country mainly in the Northeast corner of the African continent, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia.

Egypt is thus a transcontinental country and a major power in the Islamic world. Covering a land area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers, Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea in the east, Sudan in the south and Libya in the west.

Due to the peculiarity of its position, it holds a prominent role in transportation and trade among the three huge continents, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Nile River, which formed the focus of ancient Egyptian civilization, originates in the highlands of East Africa and flows northward throughout the length of what is now Sudan and Egypt. Without such a river like the Nile, there would not have such a great culture and civilization.

Egyptian Black Land

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Ancient Egypt was called the ‘black land’ due to the black soil left by the floodwaters of Nile. Egyptian farming was, to a great extent, dependent on this river.

It gave the Egyptians a fertile land ideal for farming. The three seasons the flooding season, the growing season and the harvesting season were the three important seasons on which the Egyptian agriculture was based.

The Nile proved a blessing to the Egyptian community. Therefore, the flourishing of the Egyptian community was necessitated by the location of the Nile, the longest river on earth.

A unified kingdom was founded circa 3150 BC by king Menes. The First Intermediate or the Old Kingdom, Second intermediate period, Third intermediate period or the Late period are important in studying ancient Egyptian history.