the left
Alexandria, the right Damietta.

In October, when the Nile inundates Egypt, that long serpent would be
blue, like water. In February, when spring vegetation takes the place
of the decreasing river, the serpent would be green, with a blue line
along its body and a multitude of blue veins on its head; these are
canals which cut through the Delta. In March the blue line would be
narrower, and the body of the serpent, because of ripening grain, would
seem golden. Finally, in the first days of June the line of the Nile
would be very narrow and the serpent's body gray from dust and drought.
The chief climatic feature in Egypt is heat. During January it is 57
above zero, in July sometimes the heat reaches 149 which answers to the
temperature of a Roman bath. Moreover, in the neighborhood of the
Mediterranean, on the Delta, rain falls barely ten times a year; in
Upper Egypt it falls once during ten years.

In these conditions Egypt, instead of being the cradle of civilization,
would have been a desert ravine like one of those which compose the
Sahara, if the waters of the sacred Nile had not brought life to it
annually. From the last days of June till the end of September the Nile
swells and inundates almost all Egypt; from the end of October to the
last days in May the year following it falls and exposes gradually
lower and lower platforms of land. The waters of the river are so
permeated with mineral and organic matter that their color becomes
brownish; hence, as the waters decrease, on inundated lands is
deposited fruitful mud which takes the place of the best fertilizer.
Owing to this, mud and to heat, Egyptian earth tillers, fenced in
between deserts, have three harvests yearly and from one grain of seed
receive back about three hundred.

Egypt, however, is not a flat plain, but a rolling country; some
portions of its laud drink the blessed waters during two or three
months only; others do not see it every year, as the overflow does not
reach certain points annually. Besides, seasons of scant water occur,
and then a part of Egypt fails to receive the enriching deposit.
Finally, because of heat the earth dries up quickly, and then man has
to irrigate out of vessels.

In view of all these conditions people inhabiting the Nile valley had
to perish if they were weak, or regulate the water if they had genius.
The ancient Egyptians had genius, hence they created civilization.

Six thousand years ago they observed