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Examining historical sources about Egyptian geography
Outcomes: 4.5 Identifies the meaning, purpose and context of historical sources
Working towards Consolidating
Achieved
Read the sources below and answer the following questions.
Source 1 – an excerpt from the Greek historian Herodotus’ Histories:
I was particularly anxious to learn from them why the Nile, at the commencement of the summer
solstice, begins to rise, and continues to increase for a hundred days- and why, as soon as that
number is past, it forthwith retires and contracts its stream, continuing low during the whole of
the winter until the summer solstice comes round again. On none of these points could I obtain
any explanation from the inhabitants, though I made every inquiry, wishing to know what was
commonly reported- they could neither tell me what special virtue the Nile has which makes it
so opposite in its nature to all other streams, nor why, unlike every other river, it gives forth no
breezes from its surface.
…It is, that the inundation of the Nile is caused by the melting of snows. Now, as the Nile flows
out of Libya, through Ethiopia, into Egypt, how is it possible that it can be formed of melted
snow, running, as it does, from the hottest regions of the world into cooler countries? Many
are the proofs whereby any one capable of reasoning on the subject may be convinced that it
is most unlikely this should be the case. The first and strongest argument is furnished by the
winds, which always blow hot from these regions. The second is that rain and frost are unknown
there. Now whenever snow falls, it must of necessity rain within five days;. so that, if there were
snow, there must be rain also in those parts. Thirdly, it is certain that the natives of the country
are black with the heat, that the kites and the swallows remain there the whole year, and that
the cranes, when they fly from the rigours of a Scythian winter, flock thither to pass the cold
season. If then, in the country whence the Nile has its source, or in that through which it flows,
there fell ever so little snow, it is absolutely impossible that any of these circumstances could
take place.
http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.2.ii.html
Source 2 – Hymn to the Nile, written by an Egyptian during the Middle or New Kingdom:
Hail to thee, O Nile! Who manifests thyself over this land, and comes to give life to Egypt!
Mysterious is thy issuing forth from the darkness, on this day whereon it is celebrated! Watering
the orchards created by Re, to cause all the cattle to live, you give the earth to drink,
inexhaustible one! Path that descends from the sky, loving the bread of Seb and the first-fruits of
Nepera, You cause the workshops of Ptah to prosper!
Lord of the fish, during the inundation, no bird alights on the crops. You create the grain, you
bring forth the barley, assuring perpetuity to the temples. If you cease your toil and your work,
then all that exists is in anguish. If the gods suffer in heaven, then the faces of men waste away.
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Then He torments the flocks of Egypt, and great and small are in agony. But all is changed for
mankind when He comes; He is endowed with the qualities of Nun. If He shines, the earth is
joyous, every stomach is full of rejoicing, every spine is happy, every jaw-bone crushes (its
food).
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hymn-nile.html
What do you think Herodotus is writing about in Source 1?
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How do you think the writer of Source 2 feels about the Nile? Why do you think this?
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Who was Herodotus and why was he writing about Egypt? (You may need to do some of
your own research to help answer this question.)
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Who do you think wrote the Hymn to the Nile? Why?
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With reference to the sources, explain how you think the Nile shaped Egyptian life and
history:
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