Nile and Its Masters: Past, Present, Future

The Pharoahs were masters of the Nile: they had adetailed understanding of the ways of the river. Modern Egyptianssee themselves as heirsto this tradition, and as owners of the Nile waters.Inthe 1960's, Egypt decided to protect its increasingly-populated Nile valley from theravages ofannualflooding by building a dam.A relativelysmall daminthe valley of Nubia, in the region of Tushka, would have enabled the excess floodwaters tosafely be divertedtowards the fossil valley of the pre-Nile. However, it was decided to select a site near Aswan, making it necessary to inundate more than 250km ofriver valley.Over the years, this strategy has been revealed to have been faulty, andnumerous irrigation schemes in upriver countries have progressively reduced the amount of water descending into Egypt. The dire warning of the 14th century oracle appears to be prophetic: "the water of the river in my country will be stopped from reaching yours, whichI shall cause to die of thirst..."