Egypt itself is the land of the great River Nile. There is very
seldom any rain there, and everyone has to get water from the great
river. So all the people live near the Nile or the canals which lead
out of it. A "canal" is a waterway, the channel of which has been dug
by men. The big towns are where the river flows out into the sea, or
where a canal meets the main stream, because the people bring their
merchandise to market in boats. All over the land are little
villages, where many people live and work in the fields to grow food.
Year by year when there is heavy rain in the mountains far away south,
the River Nile rises and floods the fields. Then the people plant
their seed quickly and get a good harvest. It is not difficult to
understand why the Egyptians love their great river, which gives them
water for their fields and carries them in their boats from place to
place.

2. Its Past History

Egypt is the only part of Africa that could be reached easily by
people in Europe and Asia, because in Egypt is the only place where
men could walk from Asia and Europe into Africa. Even if they did not
want to walk, the sea was not too wide to cross in small boats. In
the Bible we read how Abraham, who lived in Asia, walked to Egypt, and
later how Moses led the Children of Israel back to Asia. Since that
time Europeans have cut a waterway for ships through this narrow neck
of land, which is called the Suez Canal. So now people can no longer
walk from Asia to Africa, but in the old days the Egyptians grew wiser
than others in Africa, because they were more able to meet men from
other lands in Asia and Europe, and to learn something from them all.
So hundreds and hundreds of years ago there were people living in this
country of the Nile who were wise and great. They built large cities