Abdelrahman Abdelazeem · CC BY-SA 4.002The land
Gift of the Nile
A green ribbon in a sea of sand
From the air the Nile is a thread of fields and palms between two deserts. The valley and its delta form the largest oasis on earth and the only farmland in the country. The ancient Egyptians called their land Kemet, 'the black', after the river's fertile silt, and the desert 'the red land'.