“The Egyptian Nile,” wrote one Arab traveler, “surpasses all of the rivers of the world in sweetness of taste, in length of course and usefulness. No other river in the world can show such a continuous series of towns and villages along its banks.” In their hymn to the Nile,” Egyptians wrote of their reliance on the river: “The bringer of food, rich in provisions, creator of all good, lord of majesty, sweet of fragrance…[The Nile] makes the granaries wide, and gives things to the poor. He who makes every beloved tree to grow.” -James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 1969