A recent study has unveiled why Egypt’s iconic pyramids are concentrated along a narrow desert strip.
- Researchers from the University of North Carolina Wilmington have discovered an extinct branch of the Nile River, termed the Ahramat Branch, which played a crucial role in the transportation of materials for pyramid construction. In Arabic, Ahramat translates to ‘pyramid’.
- The presence of Ahramat also explains why the pyramids were built at different spots.
- The study was published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
About Nile River
- The Nile River has been fundamental to the growth and expansion of Egyptian civilization since the Pharaonic era.
- It begins in the rivers that flow into Lake Victoria (located in modern-day Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya),
- The Nile is often associated with Egypt, but in fact, it flows through 11 countries: Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.
- This mighty river has two main tributaries which meet to form ‘the Nile’. One tributary is called the White Nile, which starts in South Sudan, and the other is called the Blue Nile, which starts in Ethiopia.
- The Blue Nile and White Nile merge together in the city of Khartoum in Sudan. From there, the river continues to flow north through Egypt and, finally, into the Mediterranean Sea.
