What was the Nile River's importance to the people of ancient Egypt? ?

If there had been no Nile River, there would have been NO ancient Egypt.

Nile River's importance: It allowed ancient Egyptians to be able to eat, by planting wheat near the river. Became a Trading system between the middle east and other areas of Africa.

The Nile not only was a continuing source of fresh water it served as a super highway for transporting goods,livestock and people.

But it was the Nile's unique annual inundation or flooding that made Egypt's agrarian culture sustainable and enabled its continuation and development into a greatly advanced and powerful civilisation.

Each year in the season of akhet,coinciding with the helical rising of the dog star we know as Sirius the inundation would commence and to serve as a warning system as to the expected height the waters they constructed nilometers at strategic positions,along its banks

beginning at the 3rd cataract and continuing to near the ancient cities of On and Heliopolis which lie under what is modern Cairo.

When the flood waters receded they left behind a layer of black loam,

rich in minerals and nutrients, for the water of the Nile originate high in the volcanic mountain ranges of Rwanda and Ethiopia.

There is no doubt that if the Nile did not have this unique annual flood pattern and the annual gift of the black soil that grew high crop yields

the civilization would not have lasted and developed to the high level it did.The continuation relied on the black loam deposits which they called kmt (pronounced kemet).

The people also referred to themselves as the people of the land of kemet or the black land to distinguish themselves from the desert dwellers who were referred to as the people of the red lands.

The rich black loam deposts were more valuable to survival than gold,for without it Egypt would have found itself unable to sustain an agrarian culture and like the Mesopotamian and Sumerians and so

the Egyptian civilization would have diminished instead of grown.

Herodotus remarked very aptly that "Egypt is truly the gift of the Nile"

This is a very good essay on the subject written by a respected Egyptologist.

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/nile.htm

The Egyptian civilization was built around the Nile River because it is and was the only source of water in the middle of a dry environment. Civilizations depend on water to exist. They relied on it for agriculture. That's what makes a civilization a civilization.

Well you see Egypt has a desert-like climate because it is mostly desert, and the Nile river is really really big and supplies water to everybody. It also allows agriculture because it provides the soil with nutrients

It was a main source of water and it also allowed trade with the Mediterranean. Civilizations always thrive around water and the Nile was perfect for a thriving culture

it was the main water source which is important for a desert country but it also meant that the crops could be nourished and therefore continue to grow the nile represented fertility as it kept the land and the crops fertile.

Fertile ground for farming ~ annual flood deposited new, fresh soil that allowed for excellent crops.

Only water source around

Fishing

Shipping and travel up and down Egypt

Allowed Pharaoh to easily travel

the nile is egypt's life blood.

Transportation

Only source of water [food and drink]

Supported native wild life also [food]

Communication from place to place [boats are faster than camels :] Had to have a way to get information from one area to another.