How The Nile Has Changed Course Over The Past 5,000 Years

Map found via reddit user stefankruithof

The map above shows how the course of the Nile river in Egypt has changed over the past 5,000 years. Additionally, it also shows settlements and Pyramid sites.

In case you’re having a hard time reading the map legend it says:

• 500 years BP (before present day)
• 1000 years BP
• 1500 years BP
• 2000 years BP
• 2500 years BP
• 3000 years BP
• 3500 years BP
• 4000 years BP
• 4500 years BP
• 5000 years BP
• Settlement
• Pyramids

And, the light blue line is its present course.

A few facts about the Nile:

• Considered the longest river in the world at 6,853 km (4,258 mi) long.
• 11 countries share the water resources Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and most famously Egypt.
• It has two tributaries the White Nile and the Blue Nile.
• The Nile was such an important part of ancient Egyptian life, that their calendar was based on the 3 cycles of the Nile: Akhet (inundation), Peret (growing season), and Shemu (harvest season)
• Most of the Pyramids were built to the west of the Nile because it was considered the place of death, as the god Ra, the Sun, underwent birth in the east, death in the west.

You can learn more about the Nile from the following books:

• Walking the Nile
• Red Nile: A Biography of the World’s Greatest River
• Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt

Enjoy this map? Please help us by sharing it with a friend: