Tales of the Nile Delta Trivia Quiz

Answer: 7

Pliny the Elder wrote that in ancient times the Nile Delta had 7 branches. Do you remember this from your geography class? Due to the fact that it flows downhill, the Nile River's course begins in Sudan, where the Blue and White Niles join at Khartoum. Making its way through a basin that is mostly desert, the Nile travels about 4,031 miles before it reaches the Nile Delta. From the beginning of the Nile Delta, branches of the river travel an additional 99 miles before reaching the Mediterranean Sea. From west to east, the Nile Delta is about 150 miles wide. Today, due to flooding and the depositing of silt, only two of the seven branches remain.

Answer: Arcuate

Aristotle believed the Nile Delta was man made for agricultural purposes because it was so perfectly formed; however, modern historians have been unable to definitively decide how it was made. By all appearances, it seems that the delta was simply created by the annual flooding of the river over centuries, when layers of silt and sediments would be deposited on the land. Aerial photographs of the region show that it looks like a triangle, or is fan shaped, so it is an arcuate, or arc-shaped delta.

A cuspate delta, like the one formed by the Tiber River, has points that can be described as tooth-like, caused typically by deposits made by just one branch of a river. A bird's foot delta, like the Mississippi Delta, is in the shape of a bird's claw formed by several branches, and an estuarine delta, like the one found at the mouth of the River Shannon, is formed when rivers deposit sediments along the sides of an estuary.

Answer: Distributaries

Headwaters are streams that are located at the source of a river, and meanders are streams that follow a winding path. That just leaves the terms tributaries and distributaries to discuss. A tributary is a stream that flows into a larger streams or a river. A river and its tributaries form the river basin.

On the other hand, a distributary is considered to be the opposite of a tributary, since its streams branch off from the major body of water (the Nile River) and flow away from it. This process is called river bifurcation; the Nile River broke into several branches, as already explained, as it continued its downhill trek from its source and eventually formed the Nile Delta.

Answer: Alexandria

Alexandria, founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, is the third largest city in modern Egypt. Prior to its founding, there is evidence that suggests that at one time it was a trading post, however, by the time Alexander arrived on the site, it was just a small fishing village.

After his death, and the subsequent civil wars between his generals, the area came under the rule of Ptolemy in 305 BC, who made Alexandria his capital. In a very short time, Alexandria became quite a diverse city, filled with intellectuals and skilled craftsmen.

It was the center of the Hellenistic Age, and the largest city in the ancient world for a time, before becoming second to Rome. Today it is considered to be the largest city on the Mediterranean Sea. All of the other choices are found along the Nile River; the Nile Delta begins about 12 miles north of Cairo.

Answer: True

It was a topic that had been discussed for a long time - since the 11th century to be exact - should there be a dam built on the Nile River? The annual flood was potentially destructive; too much water or too little water during flood season was ruinous to the well being of the people of Egypt. Was damming the river worth the loss of the valuable silt and nutrients that had been deposited annually since before the beginning of written history in Egypt? Yes! The Aswan Dam could potentially store large amounts of water that could be released when needed without destructive flooding.

In addition, it was calculated that hydroelectric power generated by the dam could produce half of Egypt's needs in 1970. So the loss of naturally fertile soil that could be enhanced by commercial fertilizers when necessary was believed to be a good tradeoff.

Answer: Rosetta

Originally known in ancient Egypt as Khito, the name of the town was changed to Bolbitine, during the reign of the Ptolemys, and was named after the Bolbitine branch of the Nile. In Roman times the town was known as Rashid (also its modern name), which continued to be its name until the occupation of the town by the French under Napoleon; they renamed the city Rosetta. That is why the important artifact was named the Rosetta Stone. Found in 1799 by a soldier in Napoleon's army, the Rosetta Stone contained the same writing in three languages - demotic, hieroglyphics, and ancient Greek.

In 1822 Jean-François Champollion announced that he had used his knowledge of ancient Greek to decode the hieroglyphic writing, which enabled historians to learn more about ancient Egypt.

Answer: Lower Egypt

Historians believe that people have been inhabiting the Nile Delta region for thousands of years, and that some of the earliest farmers occupied the region five thousand years ago. The area contained very rich farmland, due to the annual flooding of the Nile River, which deposited all kinds of fertile silt on the land. Over time, perhaps as early as 3600 BC, the people began joining together, as the cooperation made farming, as well as dealing with the annual flood, easier, and nomes were established. Nomes originally were city-states that were led by officials called nomarchs; over time the city-states united and the nomes were more like districts.

The 20 nomes in the Nile Delta area were called Lower Egypt (remember how the Nile flows), and the 22 nomes along the Nile River were called Upper Egypt. Pharaoh Menes is credited with the unification of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt in 3100 BC.

Answer: Avaris

The Hyksos were invaders from Asia who easily conquered Egypt with their superior bow and the use of the horse and chariot - a contraption that the ancient Egyptians had never seen. Even though they adopted many aspects of Egyptian culture, the people could not tolerate foreign rule. Around 1550 BC, Ahmose I expelled the Hyksos, and the site of Avaris became a storage site with several silos, a military encampment, and, eventually, a summer palace complex for pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the Nineteenth Dynasty, Avaris became part of a new capital called Pi-Ramesses. Today the archaeological site of Avaris is part of a modern town called Tell el-Dab'a.

The other choices were all ancient capitals of Egypt at one time or another, but were not located in the Nile Delta.

Answer: Nile Hippopotamus

Deltas make wetlands, and hippos love water! In addition, the fertile soil provided the Nile hippo with plenty of its favorite food - grass. Pliny said there were many hippos living in the Saite nome, which was located on the Canopic branch of the Nile Delta, and there were also reports of some living on the Damietta branch as late as 639. Members of the species, Nile hippopotamus, are still found today in South Sudan.

A danger to boats and people, the Nile hippo also could potentially provide lots of meat - but a certain amount of care had to be taken. Even though hippos were a nuisance, they were also sacred to Tauret, a fertility goddess associated with women and childbirth, who was depicted as being very protective of her creatures. The ancient Egyptians believed that they could not kill too many of the hippos without causing her offense.

The other dangerous, feared creature that inhabited the Nile Delta in ancient times, the Nile crocodile, no longer lives in the area. It mainly lives in areas south of the Sahara Desert today.

Answer: False

There are many historical sites located in the Nile Delta region, but the Valley of the Kings, located across the river from the modern city of Luxor, is not one of them. Aside from locales already mentioned in other parts of the quiz, travel sites recommend that visitors to the Nile Delta may enjoy visiting Tanis, which, in ancient times, was located on the Tanitic branch in the Nile Delta. Used as a capital during the 21st and 22nd dynasties, the city contains ruins of a temple to the sun god, Amun-Re, and intact royal tombs that were found in 1939-40. Outside the modern city of Zagazig, is a site called Bubastis, which was an ancient center of worship for the ancient deity Bastet, defender of the pharaoh, and goddess of pregnancy and childbirth.