ABSTRACT

The scanty rainfall of Egypt accounts for the fact that the greater part of Egypt consists of barren and desolate desert it is only through the River Nile that a regular and voluminous supply of water, coming from the highlands lying far to the south, is secured. The River Nile has given Egypt a strip of fertile land which has made possible not only the development of its famed ancient agricultural civilization but also the growth of this civilization in peace and stability. The Nile Valley and the Delta occupy the alluvial tract along the terminal 1,350 km of the River Nile. These lie within the borders of Egypt Along this course no tributary joins the Nile. The limestone plateau of the middle latitudes of Egypt extends along both sides of the Nile. It forms a rough-going, nearly level upland desert surface thinly veneered by an erosion pavement made up of alluvium and gravel.