The History

6 MILLION BCE: The earliest we know of a river through Egypt; scientists name it Eonile. This river ran through a canyon with walls that could be up to 3,000 metres high. There are indications that the Mediterranean Sea did not exist in this period. The source of Eonile is not known.

5 MILLION: The waters of the Mediterranean Sea rises, filling up a basin reaching as far as modern Aswan. This brings an end to Eonile.

4 MILLION: A second river starts flowing through Egypt, by modern scholars referred to as Paleonile. Its sources are believed to have been in equatorial Africa.

1.8 MILLION: Dramatic climatic changes, causing the end of a water stream flowing north. Desertification in North Africa casues the emoty river canal to be filled with sand.

1.5 MILLOIN: The third river, the Protonile, starts flowing through Egypt, creating many interwoven channels. The Protonile ran to the west of the modern Nile, through the region known today as Western Desert.

500,000: The Prenile replaces the Protonile, running further to the east, and starts carving out the river valley existing today. Its discharge was the largest ever for any of the Niles, before and since.

150,000 The Prenile starts to dry out.

30,000: The Neonile starts flowing through Egypt, basically following the same course as the modern Nile, but with a higher elevation.

8,000: The Neonile has carved itself down to the present elevation, and we can start talking about the Nile as we know it today.

1902: The Aswan Dam opens, allowing better control with the flow and flooding of the Nile through Egypt.

1960: The Aswan High Dam opens, allowing Egypt even better control with the flow all through the year, but removing the valuable silt which normally enriched the soil. A very important hydroelectric power plant is constructed here.