A rural Egyptian couple admires the wonders of their native civilization along the Nile River. For it is the mighty Nile that has always sustained the people of Egypt more than any other geographic feature in their country. It was at once their main source of drinking water and fertility for their farms, their most important lane of transportation, and a corridor of commerce and cultural influence linking the African interior to the Mediterranean basin and beyond. The history not only of Egypt but of the world might have turned out quite different without the Nile.