Geography and geology

Nubia is quintessentially the land of the famous Nile Cataracts (First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth). These granite outcrops formed a sufficient impediment to travel to deter the expansion of the Egyptians, leaving the land in the possession of its indigenous Nubian population. The cataracts are at the same time symptomatic of the rugged terrain in much of the country, with its limited agrarian resources -- another reason why the land did not attract Egyptian settlers.

Nubia, no less than Egypt, is "the gift of the Nile," which is the source of nearly all life and livelihood. Beyond its floodplain, through most of the region, there is nothing but lifeless desert. Nowhere, however, is there the broad and rich floodplain which is the heart and soul of Egypt. The river is bordered by the same rich black soils as in Egypt, but here they occur only in discontinuous patches interrupted by areas where the river is directly bordered by cliffs or dunes. Moreover, through most of Nubia, the Nile does not regularly overflow its high banks during the flood season, and water for irrigation must always be raised by artificial means. The patches of alluvium, wherever they occur, are intensively cultivated, but they cannot support anything like the huge peasant population of Egypt. Except in its most southerly part, therefore, Nubia may be described as a country 1000 km long and 1 km wide.

(Contributed by William Y. Adams.)