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Season 1 Episode 3
Ancient Egyptian Geography and the Nile In Episode 3 we take a mind's eye Nile tour through ancient Egypt, travelling part important ancient sites and learning about the geography of this wonderful country, the Nile, and how these impacted people's lives.
This episode is divided into three parts for ease of listening. Please listen to the parts in order- 1, 2, then 3, as they all lead on from one another and might not make sense on their own if you don't already have an understanding of ancient Egyptian geography. The transcript is below the Acast stream player. Part 1 introduces geographical subjects regarding the land of ancient Egypt and how the Egyptians perceived it- the importance of the Nile and Egypt as an oasis in its own right, defining the land of Egypt and its borders, cataracts, the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Nile Valley's geology, Kemet (the black land) and deshret (the red land, the desert) and nomes. We also talk about the important area of the first cataract and Elephantine, sandstone and Nile transport. In part 2 we discuss the magnificent city of Thebes with its wonderful temples and tombs and the village of Deir el-Medina, the Eastern Desert and Wadi Hammamat, Abydos and its focus on death, limestone, agriculture and ancient Egyptian seasons, the Western Desert and the oases and the Faiyum. Part 3 is about the city of Tell el-Amarna or Akhetaten, a typical ancient Egyptian village and how the country's geography impacted it including food and housing, markets, deadly Nile animals, Memphis, Saqqara and the pyramids in this region including Giza, the Delta, the lost city of Per-Ramesses, swamps, papyrus and other flora and finally the city of Alexandria. Many thanks for listening. Bibliography/Further Reading: The Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt, John Baines and Jaromir Malek An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Kathryn A Bard The Complete Cities of Ancient Egypt, Steven Snape Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt, Rosalie David The Penguin Book of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt, Joyce Tyldesley https://www.amarnaproject.com/pages/amarna_the_place/index.shtml |