12. Even today, the world around the Nile is quite barren. Outside of the narrow swath of greenery next to the river, there is sand as far as the eye can see. To the Nile's west exists the giant Sahara Desert, the largest desert in the world. From north to south, the Sahara is between 800 and 1,200 miles wide; it stretches over 3,000 miles from east to west. The total area of the Sahara is more than 3,500,000 square miles. It's the world's biggest sandbox.
13. And, as if there weren't enough sand in the Sahara, east of the Nile are other deserts.
14. Although sand had limited uses, these deserts presented one tremendous strategic advantage: few invaders could ever cross the sands to attack Egypt — the deserts proved too great a natural barrier.
15. After learning to take advantage of the Nile's floods — and not having to fear foreign attacks — the Egyptians concentrated on improving farming techniques. As the years passed, Egyptians discovered that wheat could be baked into bread, that barley could be turned into soup (or even beer) and that cotton could be spun into clothing.
16. With many of life's necessities provided, the Egyptians started thinking about other things, such as art, government, religion and philosophy — some of the basics needed to create a civilization. Eventually, pyramids, mummies, Cleopatra and the Sphinx of Giza became touchstones of this flourishing culture.
