View of the Mississippi River from Perot State Park

International Conference on Rivers and Civilization:
Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Major River Basins


La Crosse, Wisconsin USA
June 25-28, 2006

HOST AND PRESENTER INSTITUTIONS
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Home Page National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium Home Page

CONFERENCE SPEAKER

Fekri Hassan (University College London, England):  The Nile and Civilization (Abstract)

Photograph of Fekri Hassan Fekri Hassan is the Petrie Professor of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology and Department of Egyptology at University College London, England.  His research interests are many and include cultural heritage management, water and civilization, archaeological perspectives on ethics, relevance of archaeology to contemporary human issues, cognition, climate change, and the origins of civilization and state-societies.  Professor Hassan has published numerous articles and has served as editor for several manuscripts.  His professional activities are many and include positions as Vice-President of the World Archaeological Congress, Chairman of the Dams and Cultural Heritage Task Force of the World Archaeological Congress, Secretary of the International Water History Association, editor of the African Archaeological Review, member of the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Potential Conflict to Co-Operation Project, member of the Steering Committee of the UNESCO Water and Civilization Project:  International Hydrological Programme, and Member of the Editorial Board, Water Policy:  The Journal of the World Water Council, to name a few.  Forthcoming publications include Water and Civilization (with J del Priscoli) and Dams and Cultural Heritage (with Steven Brandt).
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/profiles/hassan.htm

Abstract: The Nile is Egypt's life line. Descending into Egypt from Equatorial Africa and Ethiopia, the Nile, from the Cataracts near Aswan in the South to the reaches of Cairo in the North, forms a narrow floodplain snaking through a barren desert, the easternmost margin of the Sahara. Beyond Cairo and until it reaches the Mediterranean coast, the river flows in two branches. Many more branches existed a thousand years ago forming an extensive deltaic plain. Their disappearance is only one of the many changes in the course and flooding regime of the river. Climate change influencing the volume and timing of the summer floods that bring water and fertile mud to the banks of the Nile every year has been crucial in the evolution of both the natural and cultural landscapes of Egypt. Congregating along the margins of the Nile Valley, as droughts gripped the eastern Mediterranean, the inhabitants of the Nile were introduced to farming and herding 7000 years ago. Once they began to depend on farming for their livelihood, the Egyptians were inexorably linked to the vagaries of Nile floods. They responded to crises with ingenuity manifesting the resilience that has so far enabled humanity to survive under daunting conditions. The cultural responses to droughts are astounding. From collaborative strategies among communities to buffer against food shortages that led to the rise of a nation state, to the construction of extensive waterworks to combat water scarcity, the responses to variations in Nile floods reveal a remarkable case study of rivers and civilization.