:08:00
Everything.
:08:01
There would be no mummies,
:08:03
no ancient Egypt-in fact,
:08:05
no Egypt at all without her.
:08:10
You see,
:08:11
Egypt without the Nile
is a desert...
:08:13
suitable for
camels and scorpions,
:08:15
but not great civilizations.
:08:18
It's only here along the
flood plain of the Nile
:08:22
that the desert's heat
is softened...
:08:24
and arid sand is turned
to rich farmland.
:08:29
Nourished and irrigated
by the Nile,
:08:31
Egypt became the longest
:08:33
Iived of all the
great early civilizations.
:08:39
In ancient times,
:08:40
so much water raced down
:08:42
from the lush valleys
of Central Africa
:08:44
that the Nile overflowed
its banks in seasonal floods.
:08:53
Mineral-rich silt was carried
:08:55
toward the desert of Egypt
from lands upstream,
:08:58
where wildlife flourished.
:09:28
Rich land made possible
a vast farming culture
:09:31
and a stable civilization able to
:09:33
turn from daily survival
to works of the mind:
:09:41
science, mathematics,
engineering and astronomy.
:09:47
They studied the heavens
and the seasons
:09:50
gave us the 24-hour day
and the 365-day calendar.
:09:59
Egypt, an old saying goes,
was the gift of the Nile.