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A delta is very fertile, flat land made of silt dropped by a river as it drains into a larger body
of H2O.
Lower Egypt is in the north. Upper Egypt is located in the south.
The Nile River valley is surrounded
by a desert. However, annual (yearly) flooding turned the desert into fertile soil. Because of irrigation, the
following crops were made possible: wheat, barley, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, beans, and flax. <-an irrigation canalA nilometer is a special staircase used to
measure the height of the annual flood by counting the number of steps covered by floodwaters.
Each
step was one cubit high; a cubit is about 20 inches.
During a good flood year, the Nile covered 16 steps
or cubits, and in a bad year, 7 steps.
Shadoofs were used to lift water into fields. <-an ancient Egyptian shadoofIf annual floods were too great, villages
were destroyed and farm animals drowned. Too little H2O meant crops failed.-The
Nile RiverPeople of Egypt depended on the Nile River to grow crops.
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