Nile

The River Nile
There is no better way to trace the course of Egyptian history than to follow the course of the Nile. The river has been Egypt's lifeline for millenniums, fertilizing the narrow strip of land along its bank with a deposit of silt after each annual inundation - now controlled by the High Dam at Aswan. Along its length Pharaohs, nobles and lesser mortals have all built monuments and tombs to immortalize themselves.

The Nile is Associated with Life

"Egypt is the gift of the River Nile", said Herodotus, the great Greek historian, on his only visit to Egypt. Egyptians would still agree wholeheartedly with his words today. At the end of every year, they are eager to hear good news about the water level in the River Nile. In 1994 the volume of inlet water was considered high. In the High Dam Lake, water reached its highest ever level.

boats on Nile

Since time immemorial, Egyptians have associated the River Nile with life, fertility and development. They care about it, and it, in turn, runs in their blood. It has always been their source of prosperity, and was the main factor in building their great civilization. It is from the River Nile that Egyptians draw their friendly character. They have gained generosity, sincerity and fidelity from its flow, flood and purity. Every day, its banks witness thousands of true love stories, as lovers meet on its banks. It provides them with hope and promises them happiness. It had always been a source of inspiration and creativity for all kinds of arts. Many songs are dedicated to the River Nile. And in ancient times, Egyptians made sacrifices for its sake and transmitted its legends through successive generations.

Nile river:
From its major source, Lake Victoria in east Central Africa, the Nile flows generally north through Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, for 5584 km (3470 mi). From its remotest headstream , the Ruvyironza River in Burundi, the river is 6671 km (4145 mi) long . The river basin has an area of more than 3,349,000 sq km (1,293,049 sq mi). The Ruvyironza, regarded as the ultimate source of the Nile, is one of the upper branches of the Kagera River in Tanzania. The Kagera follows the boundary of Rwanda northward, turns along the boundary of Uganda, and drains into Lake Victoria.

On leaving Lake Victoria at the site of the now-submerged Ripon Falls, the Nile rushes for 483 km (300 mi) between high rocky walls and over rapids and cataracts, at first northwest and then west, until it enters Lake Albert. The section between the two lakes is called the Victoria Nile. The river leaves the northern end of Lake Albert as the Albert Nile, flows through northern Uganda, and at the Sudan border becomes the Bahr al Jabal. At its junction with the Bahr al Ghazal, the river becomes the Bahr al Abyad, or the White Nile. At Khartoum the White Nile is joined by the Blue Nile, or Bahr al Azraq, so named because of the color of the water. The Blue Nile, 1529 km (950 mi) long, gathers its volume mainly from Lake T'ana, in the Ethiopian Highlands; it is known here as the Abbai. From Khartoum the Nile flows northeast; 322 km (200 mi) below that city, it is joined by the 'Atbarah River. During its course from the confluence of the 'Atbarah through the Nubian Desert, the river makes two deep bends. The Nile enters the Mediterranean Sea by a delta that separates into the Rosetta and Damietta distributaries. The Nile river valley is home to a host of wildlife, including Nile crocodile, hippopotamuses, more than 300 species of birds, and numerous fish species.

The first dam on the Nile, the High Dam, was built in 1902 and heightened in 1936. The Makwar Dam, now called the Sennar Dam, was built across the Blue Nile south of Khartoum following World War I (1914-1918) to provide storage water for cotton plantations in the Sudan. A dam at Jabal Awliya was constructed on the White Nile south of Khartoum in 1937. But the Aswân High Dam, which opened in the early 1970s, has most dramatically transformed the ecology and economic role of the Nile. It created one of the world's largest reservoirs, Lake Nasser, allowed the Egyptian government to produce hydroelectric power, control flooding, and minimize droughts. But it has severely reduced sedimentation deposits that the floodwaters once brought to the delta and increased the river's salinity. Consequently , the Nile delta has become less fertile, forcing Egyptian farmers to increase the use of chemical fertilizers.

~Nile Cruise ~
You can expect comfortable accommodation and high standards of service.

~Marquise Yacht~

Marquise, Grand Hyatt Cairo's Yacht,
offers three exceptional dining and
entertainment venues on board.