Nile Delta - History

History

People have lived in the Delta region for thousands of years, and it has been intensively farmed for at least five thousand years. The Delta River used to flood on an annual basis, but this ended with the construction of the Aswan Dam. Records from ancient times (Pliny the Elder) show that the delta had seven distributaries: (from east to west) the Pelusiac, the Tanitic, the Mendesian, the Phatnitic (or Phatmetic), the Sebennytic, the Bolbitine, and the Canopic (also called the Herakleotic, e.g. at Alexander 1.31). There are now only two main branches, due to flood control, silting and changing relief: The Damietta (corresponding to the Phatnitic) to the east and the Rosetta (corresponding to the Bolbitine) on the western part of the delta. The Rosetta Stone was found in the Nile Delta in 1799 in the port city of Rosetta (anglicized name of Rashid). The delta was a major constituent of Lower Egypt. The Biblical Land of Goshen was located in a small area on the west bank of the Pelusiac distributary. There are many archaeological sites in and around the Nile Delta