The Nile Delta (Arabic: دلتا النيل, Delta an-Nīl or simply الدلتا, ad-Delta) is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest deltas. From Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east; it covers 240 km (150 mi) of the Mediterranean coastline and is a rich agricultural region. From north to south the delta is about 160 km (100 mi) long. The Delta begins from Cairo.
Geography
From north to south, the delta is about 160 km (100 mi) long. From west to east, it covers some 240 km (150 mi) of coastline. The delta is sometimes divided into sections, with the Nile dividing into two main distributaries, the Damietta and the Rosetta, flowing into the Mediterranean at port cities with the same names. In the past, the delta had several distributaries, but these have been lost due to flood control, silting, and changing relief. One such defunct distributary is Wadi Tumilat.
The Suez Canal is east of the delta and enters the coastal Lake Manzala in the north-east of the delta. To the north-west are three other coastal lakes or lagoons: Lake Burullus, Lake Idku and Lake Mariout. The Nile is considered to be an "arcuate" delta (arc-shaped), as it resembles a triangle or flower when seen from above. Aristotle speculated that the delta was constructed for agricultural purposes due to the drying of the region of Egypt. In the modern day, the outer edges of the delta are eroding, and some coastal lagoons have seen increasing salinity levels as their connection to the Mediterranean Sea increases. Because the delta no longer receives nutrients and sediments from upstream, thanks to the 1970 completion of the Aswan Dam, the soils of the floodplains have become poorer, and large amounts of fertilizers are now used. Topsoil in the delta can be as much as 21 m (70 ft) in depth.
History
People have lived in the Nile Delta region for thousands of years, and it has been intensively farmed for at least the past five thousand years. The delta was a major part of Lower Egypt, and many archaeological sites are located in and around the region. Artifacts belonging to ancient sites have been found on the delta's coast. The Rosetta Stone was found in the delta in 1799 in the port city of Rosetta (an anglicized version of the name Rashid). In July 2019 a small Greek temple, ancient granite columns, treasure-carrying ships, and bronze coins from the reign of Ptolemy II, dating back to the third and fourth centuries BC, were found at the sunken city of Heracleion, colloquially known as Egypt's Atlantis. The investigations were conducted by Egyptian and European divers led by the underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio. They also uncovered a devastated historic temple (the city's main temple) underwater off Egypt's north coast. In January 2019, archaeologists led by Mostafa Waziri working in the Kom Al-Khelgan area of the Nile Delta discovered tombs from the Second Intermediate Period and burials from the Naqada II era. The burial site contained the remains of animals, amulets and scarabs carved from faience, round and oval pots with handles, flint knives, broken and burned pottery. All burials included skulls and skeletons in the bending position and were not very well-preserved.
Ancient branches of the Nile
Records from ancient times (such as by Ptolemy) reported that the delta had seven distributaries or branches, (from east to west):
the Pelusiac the Tanitic the Mendesian the Phatnitic or Phatmetic (later the Damietta) the Sebennytic the Bolbitine (later the Rosetta) the Canopic (also called the Herakleotic, Agathodaemon)
George of Cyprus list Source:
Alexandrian (Schedia canal) Colynthin (Canopic) Agnu (Rosetta) Parollos (Burullus) Chasmatos (Baltim) Tamiathe (Damietta) Tenese (Tinnis) Modern Egyptologists suggest that in the Pharaonic era there were at a time five main branches:
the Pelusiac the Sebennytic the Canopic the Damietta the Rosetta The first three have dried up over the centuries due to flood control, silting and changing relief, while the last two still exist today. The Delta used to flood annually, but this ended with the construction of the Aswan Dam.
Butic Canal Butic Canal, or Butic River, was an ancient east-west watercourse in the Nile Delta. It had a reconstructed length of about 185-200 km, which would make it the longest canal in Egypt. It did not pass by the town of Buto, itself, but went south of it and the large Butic lake that almost reached the Mediterranean Sea. The earliest reference to this canal is in Flavius Josephus’ History of the Jewish War. It is only an indirect reference; Josephus is describing the events around 70 CE, during the reign of Vespasian and his son Titus. At that time, the Roman authorities moved troops from Alexandria to Judea, partly by ship, in order to fight against the Jewish rebellion. Also, the 2nd century CE geographer Ptolemy described this canal as spanning the entire width of the delta from east to west. He calls this canal Boutikos potamos. It probably reached from Pelusium in the east, to Hermopolis Parva (Damanhur) in the west. According to Schiestl (2021), in the eastern delta, the canal is much better attested, and some portions of it have been located. But in the western delta, its traces are more difficult to find. He suggests that the eastern portion of the canal was much older, but the western portion was only completed in the Roman times.
Population
About 70 million people live in the Delta region. Outside of major cities, population density in the delta averages 1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi) or more. Cairo is the largest city in the delta. Other large cities in the delta include Shubra El Kheima, Port Said, El Mahalla El Kubra, Mansura, Tanta, and Zagazig.
Wildlife
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