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Nile Delta

July 06, 2023

The Nile Delta (Arabic: دلتا النيل, Delta an-Nīl or simply الدلتا, ad-Delta) is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea.[1] It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers 240 km (150 mi) of Mediterranean coastline and is a rich agricultural region.[2] From north to south the delta is approximately 160 km (100 mi) in length. The Delta begins slightly down-river from Cairo.[3]

NASA satellite photograph of the Nile Delta (shown in false color)
The Nile Delta at night as seen from the ISS in October 2010.

Geography

 

From north to south, the delta is approximately 160 km (100 mi) in length. From west to east, it covers some 240 km (150 mi) of coastline. The delta is sometimes divided into sections, with the Nile dividing into two main distributaries, the Damietta and the Rosetta,[4] flowing into the Mediterranean at port cities with the same name. In the past, the delta had several distributaries, but these have been lost due to flood control, silting and changing relief. One such defunct distributary is Wadi Tumilat.

 
Nile River and Delta

The Suez Canal is east of the delta and enters the coastal Lake Manzala in the north-east of the delta. To the north-west are three other coastal lakes or lagoons: Lake Burullus, Lake Idku and Lake Mariout.

The Nile is considered to be an "arcuate" delta (arc-shaped), as it resembles a triangle or flower when seen from above. Some scholars such as Aristotle have written that the delta was constructed for agricultural purposes due to the drying of the region of Egypt.[5]

In modern day, the outer edges of the delta are eroding, and some coastal lagoons have seen increasing salinity levels as their connection to the Mediterranean Sea increases. Since the delta no longer receives an annual supply of nutrients and sediments from upstream due to the construction of the Aswan Dam, the soils of the floodplains have become poorer, and large amounts of fertilizers are now used. Topsoil in the delta can be as much as 21 m (70 ft) in depth.

History

 
Ancient branches of the Nile, showing Wadi Tumilat, and the lakes east of the Delta

People have lived in the Nile Delta region for thousands of years, and it has been intensively farmed for at least the last five thousand years. The delta was a major constituent of Lower Egypt, and there are many archaeological sites in and around the delta.[6] Artifacts belonging to ancient sites have been found on the delta's coast. The Rosetta Stone was found in the delta in 1799 in the port city of Rosetta (an anglicized version of the name Rashid). In July 2019 a small Greek temple, ancient granite columns, treasure-carrying ships, and bronze coins from the reign of Ptolemy II, dating back to the third and fourth centuries BC, were found at the sunken city of Heracleion, colloquially known as Egypt's Atlantis. The investigations were conducted by Egyptian and European divers led by the underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio. They also uncovered a devastated historic temple (the city's main temple) underwater off Egypt's north coast.[7][8][9][10]

In January 2019 archaeologists led by Mostafa Waziri working in the Kom Al-Khelgan area of the Nile Delta discovered tombs from the Second Intermediate Period and burials from the Naqada II era. The burial site contained the remains of animals, amulets and scarabs carved from faience, round and oval pots with handles, flint knives, broken and burned pottery. All burials included skulls and skeletons in the bending position and were not very well-preserved.[11][12]

Ancient branches of the Nile

 
The Nile delta at the time of Herodotus, according to James Rennell (1800)

Records from ancient times (such as by Ptolemy) reported that the delta had seven distributaries or branches, (from east to west):[4]

Modern Egyptologists suggest that in the Pharaonic era there were at a time five main branches:[16][17]

  • the Pelusiac
  • the Sebennytic
  • the Canopic
  • the Damietta
  • the Rosetta

The first three have dried up over the centuries due to flood control, silting and changing relief, while the last two still exist today. The Delta used to flood annually, but this ended with the construction of the Aswan Dam.

Population

 
Population density

About 39 million people live in the Delta region. Outside of major cities, population density in the delta averages 1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi) or more. Alexandria is the largest city in the delta with an estimated population of more than 4.5 million. Other large cities in the delta include Shubra El Kheima, Port Said, El Mahalla El Kubra, Mansura, Tanta, and Zagazig.[18]

Wildlife

During autumn, parts of the Nile River are red with lotus flowers. The Lower Nile (North) and the Upper Nile (South) have plants that grow in abundance. The Upper Nile plant is the Egyptian lotus, and the Lower Nile plant is the Papyrus Sedge (Cyperus papyrus), although it is not nearly as plentiful as it once was, and is becoming quite rare.[19]

Several hundred thousand water birds winter in the delta, including the world's largest concentrations of little gulls and whiskered terns. Other birds making their homes in the delta include grey herons, Kentish plovers, shovelers, cormorants, egrets and ibises.

Other animals found in the delta include frogs, turtles, tortoises, mongooses, and the Nile monitor. Nile crocodiles and hippopotamus, two animals which were widespread in the delta during antiquity, are no longer found there. Fish found in the delta include the flathead grey mullet and soles.

Climate

See also: Climate of Egypt and northern coast of Egypt

The Delta has a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh) as the rest of Egypt, but its northernmost part, as is the case with the rest of the northern coast of Egypt which is the wettest region in the country, has relatively moderate temperatures, with highs usually not surpassing 31 °C (88 °F) in the summer. Only 100–200 mm (4–8 in) of rain falls on the delta area during an average year, and most of this falls in the winter months. The delta experiences its hottest temperatures in July and August, with a maximum average of 34 °C (93 °F). Winter temperatures are normally in the range of 9 °C (48 °F) at nights to 19 °C (66 °F) in the daytime. With cooler temperatures and some rain, the Nile Delta region becomes quite humid during the winter months.[20]

Sea level rise

Further information: Climate change in Egypt
 
Population density and low elevation coastal zones. The Nile delta is especially vulnerable to sea level rise.

Egypt's Mediterranean coastline experiences significant loss of land to the sea, in some places amounting to 90 m (100 yd) a year. The low-lying Nile Delta area in particular is vulnerable to sea level rise associated with global warming.[21] This effect is exacerbated by the lack of sediments being deposited since the construction of the Aswan Dam. If the polar ice caps were to melt, much of the northern delta, including the ancient port city of Alexandria, could disappear under the Mediterranean. A 30 cm (12 in) rise in sea level could affect about 6.6% of the total land cover area in the Nile Delta region. At 1 m (3 ft 3 in) sea level rise, an estimated 887 thousand people could be at risk of flooding and displacement and about 100 km2 (40 sq mi) of vegetation, 16 km2 (10 sq mi) wetland, 402 km2 (160 sq mi) cropland, and 47 km2 (20 sq mi) of urban area land could be destroyed,[22] flooding approximately 450 km2 (170 sq mi).[23] Some areas of the Nile Delta's agricultural land have been rendered saline as a result of sea level rise; farming has been abandoned in some places, while in others sand has been brought in from elsewhere to reduce the effect. In addition to agriculture, the delta's ecosystems and tourist industry could be negatively affected by global warming. Food shortages resulting from climate change could lead to seven million "climate refugees" by the end of the 21st century. Nevertheless, environmental damage to the delta is not currently one of Egypt's priorities.[24]

The delta's coastline has also undergone significant changes in geomorphology as a result of the reclamation of coastal dunes and lagoons to form new agricultural land and fish farms as well as the expansion of coastal urban areas.[25]

Governorates and large cities

The Nile Delta forms part of these 10 governorates:

Large cities located in the Nile Delta:

References

  1. ^ Dumont, Henri J. (6 May 2009). The Nile: Origin, Environments, Limnology and Human Use. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-4020-9726-3.
  2. ^ Negm, Abdelazim M. (25 May 2017). The Nile Delta. Springer. p. 36. ISBN 978-3-319-56124-0.
  3. ^ , archived from the original on 10 July 2020, retrieved 10 July 2020
  4. ^ a b John Cooper (30 September 2014). The Medieval Nile: Route, Navigation, and Landscape in Islamic Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-977-416-614-3.
  5. ^ Holz, Robert K (1969). Man-made landforms in the Nile delta. American Geographical Society. OCLC 38826202.
  6. ^ Location of the site, Kafr Hassan Dawood On-Line, with a map of early sites of the delta.
  7. ^ "Mysterious temple discovered in the ruins of sunken ancient city". www.9news.com.au. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  8. ^ History, Laura Geggel 2019-07-29T10:37:58Z (29 July 2019). "Divers Find Remains of Ancient Temple in Sunken Egyptian City". livescience.com. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  9. ^ Santos, Edwin (28 July 2019). . Nosy Media. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  10. ^ EDT, Katherine Hignett On 7/23/19 at 11:06 AM (23 July 2019). "Ancient Egypt: Underwater archaeologists uncover destroyed temple in the sunken city of Heracleion". Newsweek. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  11. ^ "3,500-Year-Old Tombs Unearthed in Egypt's Nile Delta - Archaeology Magazine". www.archaeology.org. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Ancient tombs and prehistoric burials found in Nile Delta - Ancient Egypt - Heritage". Ahram Online. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  13. ^ Hayes, W. 'Most Ancient Egypt', p. 87, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 23 (1964), 73–114.
  14. ^ e.g. at Callisthenes Alexander 1.31.
  15. ^ e.g. in Ptolemy, Geography.
  16. ^ Shaw, Ian; Nicholson, Paul (1995). The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press. p. 83.
  17. ^ Margaret Bunson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Infobase Publishing, 2009, ISBN 1438109970, p. 98.
  18. ^ City Population website, citing Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics Egypt (web), accessed 11 April 1908.
  19. ^ Beentje, H.J.; Lansdown, R.V. (2018). "Cyperus papyrus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T164158A120152171. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T164158A120152171.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  20. ^ Nile Delta Facts
  21. ^ . EcoWorld. 25 September 2009. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  22. ^ Hasan, Emad; Khan, Sadiq Ibrahim; Hong, Yang (2015). "Investigation of potential sea level rise impact on the Nile Delta, Egypt using digital elevation models". Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 187 (10): 649. doi:10.1007/s10661-015-4868-9. PMID 26410824. S2CID 207139887.
  23. ^ "Egypt's Nile Delta falls prey to climate change". 28 January 2010.
  24. ^ . Egypt News. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  25. ^ El Banna, Mahmoud M.; Frihy, Omran E. (2009). "Human-induced changes in the geomorphology of the northeastern coast of the Nile delta, Egypt". Geomorphology. 107 (1): 72–78. Bibcode:2009Geomo.107...72E. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.06.025.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Nile Delta.
  • "Nile Delta flooded savanna". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  • . Keyway Bible Study. Archived from the original on 2 August 2010.

30°54′N 31°7′E / 30.900°N 31.117°E / 30.900; 31.117

July 06, 2023
nile, delta, arabic, دلتا, النيل, delta, nīl, simply, الدلتا, delta, delta, formed, lower, egypt, where, nile, river, spreads, drains, into, mediterranean, world, largest, river, deltas, from, alexandria, west, port, said, east, covers, mediterranean, coastlin. The Nile Delta Arabic دلتا النيل Delta an Nil or simply الدلتا ad Delta is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea 1 It is one of the world s largest river deltas from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east it covers 240 km 150 mi of Mediterranean coastline and is a rich agricultural region 2 From north to south the delta is approximately 160 km 100 mi in length The Delta begins slightly down river from Cairo 3 NASA satellite photograph of the Nile Delta shown in false color The Nile Delta at night as seen from the ISS in October 2010 Contents 1 Geography 2 History 2 1 Ancient branches of the Nile 3 Population 4 Wildlife 5 Climate 6 Sea level rise 7 Governorates and large cities 8 References 9 External linksGeography Edit From north to south the delta is approximately 160 km 100 mi in length From west to east it covers some 240 km 150 mi of coastline The delta is sometimes divided into sections with the Nile dividing into two main distributaries the Damietta and the Rosetta 4 flowing into the Mediterranean at port cities with the same name In the past the delta had several distributaries but these have been lost due to flood control silting and changing relief One such defunct distributary is Wadi Tumilat Nile River and Delta The Suez Canal is east of the delta and enters the coastal Lake Manzala in the north east of the delta To the north west are three other coastal lakes or lagoons Lake Burullus Lake Idku and Lake Mariout The Nile is considered to be an arcuate delta arc shaped as it resembles a triangle or flower when seen from above Some scholars such as Aristotle have written that the delta was constructed for agricultural purposes due to the drying of the region of Egypt 5 In modern day the outer edges of the delta are eroding and some coastal lagoons have seen increasing salinity levels as their connection to the Mediterranean Sea increases Since the delta no longer receives an annual supply of nutrients and sediments from upstream due to the construction of the Aswan Dam the soils of the floodplains have become poorer and large amounts of fertilizers are now used Topsoil in the delta can be as much as 21 m 70 ft in depth History Edit Ancient branches of the Nile showing Wadi Tumilat and the lakes east of the Delta People have lived in the Nile Delta region for thousands of years and it has been intensively farmed for at least the last five thousand years The delta was a major constituent of Lower Egypt and there are many archaeological sites in and around the delta 6 Artifacts belonging to ancient sites have been found on the delta s coast The Rosetta Stone was found in the delta in 1799 in the port city of Rosetta an anglicized version of the name Rashid In July 2019 a small Greek temple ancient granite columns treasure carrying ships and bronze coins from the reign of Ptolemy II dating back to the third and fourth centuries BC were found at the sunken city of Heracleion colloquially known as Egypt s Atlantis The investigations were conducted by Egyptian and European divers led by the underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio They also uncovered a devastated historic temple the city s main temple underwater off Egypt s north coast 7 8 9 10 In January 2019 archaeologists led by Mostafa Waziri working in the Kom Al Khelgan area of the Nile Delta discovered tombs from the Second Intermediate Period and burials from the Naqada II era The burial site contained the remains of animals amulets and scarabs carved from faience round and oval pots with handles flint knives broken and burned pottery All burials included skulls and skeletons in the bending position and were not very well preserved 11 12 Ancient branches of the Nile Edit The Nile delta at the time of Herodotus according to James Rennell 1800 Records from ancient times such as by Ptolemy reported that the delta had seven distributaries or branches from east to west 4 the Pelusiac the Tanitic the Mendesian the Phatnitic or Phatmetic later the Damietta the Sebennytic the Bolbitine later the Rosetta 13 the Canopic also called the Herakleotic 14 and the Agathodaemon 15 Modern Egyptologists suggest that in the Pharaonic era there were at a time five main branches 16 17 the Pelusiac the Sebennytic the Canopic the Damietta the RosettaThe first three have dried up over the centuries due to flood control silting and changing relief while the last two still exist today The Delta used to flood annually but this ended with the construction of the Aswan Dam Population Edit Population density About 39 million people live in the Delta region Outside of major cities population density in the delta averages 1 000 km2 2 600 sq mi or more Alexandria is the largest city in the delta with an estimated population of more than 4 5 million Other large cities in the delta include Shubra El Kheima Port Said El Mahalla El Kubra Mansura Tanta and Zagazig 18 Wildlife Edit Whiskered tern During autumn parts of the Nile River are red with lotus flowers The Lower Nile North and the Upper Nile South have plants that grow in abundance The Upper Nile plant is the Egyptian lotus and the Lower Nile plant is the Papyrus Sedge Cyperus papyrus although it is not nearly as plentiful as it once was and is becoming quite rare 19 Several hundred thousand water birds winter in the delta including the world s largest concentrations of little gulls and whiskered terns Other birds making their homes in the delta include grey herons Kentish plovers shovelers cormorants egrets and ibises Other animals found in the delta include frogs turtles tortoises mongooses and the Nile monitor Nile crocodiles and hippopotamus two animals which were widespread in the delta during antiquity are no longer found there Fish found in the delta include the flathead grey mullet and soles Climate EditSee also Climate of Egypt and northern coast of Egypt The Delta has a hot desert climate Koppen BWh as the rest of Egypt but its northernmost part as is the case with the rest of the northern coast of Egypt which is the wettest region in the country has relatively moderate temperatures with highs usually not surpassing 31 C 88 F in the summer Only 100 200 mm 4 8 in of rain falls on the delta area during an average year and most of this falls in the winter months The delta experiences its hottest temperatures in July and August with a maximum average of 34 C 93 F Winter temperatures are normally in the range of 9 C 48 F at nights to 19 C 66 F in the daytime With cooler temperatures and some rain the Nile Delta region becomes quite humid during the winter months 20 Sea level rise EditFurther information Climate change in Egypt Population density and low elevation coastal zones The Nile delta is especially vulnerable to sea level rise Egypt s Mediterranean coastline experiences significant loss of land to the sea in some places amounting to 90 m 100 yd a year The low lying Nile Delta area in particular is vulnerable to sea level rise associated with global warming 21 This effect is exacerbated by the lack of sediments being deposited since the construction of the Aswan Dam If the polar ice caps were to melt much of the northern delta including the ancient port city of Alexandria could disappear under the Mediterranean A 30 cm 12 in rise in sea level could affect about 6 6 of the total land cover area in the Nile Delta region At 1 m 3 ft 3 in sea level rise an estimated 887 thousand people could be at risk of flooding and displacement and about 100 km2 40 sq mi of vegetation 16 km2 10 sq mi wetland 402 km2 160 sq mi cropland and 47 km2 20 sq mi of urban area land could be destroyed 22 flooding approximately 450 km2 170 sq mi 23 Some areas of the Nile Delta s agricultural land have been rendered saline as a result of sea level rise farming has been abandoned in some places while in others sand has been brought in from elsewhere to reduce the effect In addition to agriculture the delta s ecosystems and tourist industry could be negatively affected by global warming Food shortages resulting from climate change could lead to seven million climate refugees by the end of the 21st century Nevertheless environmental damage to the delta is not currently one of Egypt s priorities 24 The delta s coastline has also undergone significant changes in geomorphology as a result of the reclamation of coastal dunes and lagoons to form new agricultural land and fish farms as well as the expansion of coastal urban areas 25 Governorates and large cities EditThe Nile Delta forms part of these 10 governorates Alexandria Beheira Kafr el Sheikh Gharbiya Minufiya Qalyubiya Dakahlia Damietta Sharqiyah Port Said Large cities located in the Nile Delta Abusir Alexandria Avaris Bilbeis Bubastis Canopus Damanhur Desouk Damietta El Mahalla El Kubra Kafr El Sheikh Leontopolis Mendes Mit Abu El Kom Mansoura Naucratis Pelusium Port Said Rosetta Sais Tanis Tanta ZagazigReferences Edit Dumont Henri J 6 May 2009 The Nile Origin Environments Limnology and Human Use Springer Science amp Business Media p 88 ISBN 978 1 4020 9726 3 Negm Abdelazim M 25 May 2017 The Nile Delta Springer p 36 ISBN 978 3 319 56124 0 Zeidan Bakenaz 2006 The Nile Delta in a global vision Sharm El Sheikh archived from the original on 10 July 2020 retrieved 10 July 2020 a b John Cooper 30 September 2014 The Medieval Nile Route Navigation and Landscape in Islamic Egypt The American University in Cairo Press p 76 ISBN 978 977 416 614 3 Holz Robert K 1969 Man made landforms in the Nile delta American Geographical Society OCLC 38826202 Location of the site Kafr Hassan Dawood On Line with a map of early sites of the delta Mysterious temple discovered in the ruins of sunken ancient city www 9news com au Retrieved 17 August 2019 History Laura Geggel 2019 07 29T10 37 58Z 29 July 2019 Divers Find Remains of Ancient Temple in Sunken Egyptian City livescience com Retrieved 17 August 2019 Santos Edwin 28 July 2019 Archaeologists discover a sunken ancient settlement underwater Nosy Media Archived from the original on 17 August 2019 Retrieved 17 August 2019 EDT Katherine Hignett On 7 23 19 at 11 06 AM 23 July 2019 Ancient Egypt Underwater archaeologists uncover destroyed temple in the sunken city of Heracleion Newsweek Retrieved 17 August 2019 3 500 Year Old Tombs Unearthed in Egypt s Nile Delta Archaeology Magazine www archaeology org Retrieved 11 September 2020 Ancient tombs and prehistoric burials found in Nile Delta Ancient Egypt Heritage Ahram Online Retrieved 11 September 2020 Hayes W Most Ancient Egypt p 87 Journal of Near Eastern Studies 23 1964 73 114 e g at Callisthenes Alexander 1 31 e g in Ptolemy Geography Shaw Ian Nicholson Paul 1995 The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt London British Museum Press p 83 Margaret Bunson Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt Infobase Publishing 2009 ISBN 1438109970 p 98 City Population website citing Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics Egypt web accessed 11 April 1908 Beentje H J Lansdown R V 2018 Cyperus papyrus IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018 e T164158A120152171 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2018 2 RLTS T164158A120152171 en Retrieved 11 November 2021 Nile Delta Facts Global Warming Threatens Egypt s Coastlines and the Nile Delta EcoWorld 25 September 2009 Archived from the original on 29 September 2011 Retrieved 22 August 2019 Hasan Emad Khan Sadiq Ibrahim Hong Yang 2015 Investigation of potential sea level rise impact on the Nile Delta Egypt using digital elevation models Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 187 10 649 doi 10 1007 s10661 015 4868 9 PMID 26410824 S2CID 207139887 Egypt s Nile Delta falls prey to climate change 28 January 2010 Egypt fertile Nile Delta falls prey to climate change Egypt News 28 January 2010 Archived from the original on 9 February 2011 Retrieved 22 August 2019 El Banna Mahmoud M Frihy Omran E 2009 Human induced changes in the geomorphology of the northeastern coast of the Nile delta Egypt Geomorphology 107 1 72 78 Bibcode 2009Geomo 107 72E doi 10 1016 j geomorph 2007 06 025 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nile Delta Ancient Egypt portal Nile Delta flooded savanna Terrestrial Ecoregions World Wildlife Fund Adaptationlearning net UN project for managing sea level rise risks in the Nile Delta The Nile Delta Keyway Bible Study Archived from the original on 2 August 2010 30 54 N 31 7 E 30 900 N 31 117 E 30 900 31 117 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nile Delta amp oldid 1160820327, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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