Mysteries of the Nile: Lake Victoria to Egypt's Pharaohs

1. The Nile and Egypt

2. Lake Victoria is the world’s second largest freshwater lake. (Only Lake Superior in North America is larger.) It receives its water mostly from precipitation and from thousand of small streams.

3. Three countries border Lake Victoria--Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya.

4. The mouth of the Nile flows from Lake Victoria at Jinja, Uganda. gruntzooki

5. Lake Victoria Jinja, Uganda neiljs_flickr

6. gsz_flickr Nile near its source on north side of Lake Victoria, Jinja, Uganda

7. Lake Victoria schinkerj_flickr Kenya

8. Lake Victoria schinkerj_flickr Remba Islands, Kenya

9. Lake Victoria Gizmo Bunny_flickr Tanzania

10. The Nile River is the longest river in the world. It flows for 4,145 miles northward from Lake Victoria at the equator and empties into the Mediterranean through the Nile Delta in Egypt.

11. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center_flickr

13. 447 miles from Cairo to Luxor Across Nile from Luxor (on west side) is Valley of the Kings Mark Dingemanse_wikipedia

14. Baby Moses was in a little boat floating in the marshes of the Nile.

15. The Bible also tells us that the children of Israel “built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses” (Exodus 1:11) These two cities were in the northeastern part of the Nile delta.

16. banksias_flickr Nile river near Luxor

17. Galen Frysinger

18. Galen Frysinger

19. Galen Frysinger Along the Nile at Luxor

20. Most likely Hatshepsut, a daughter of Thutmose I, was the foster mother of Moses.

26. kairoinfo4u_flickr

27. Cameron’s Personal Page_flickr Osirid statues in the middle colonnade of Hatshepsut’s Temple, standing about 12 feet tall.

28. Cameron’s Personal Page_flickr Memorial temple of Queen Hatshepsut

29. When Moses fled Egypt, most likely Thutmose III was pharaoh.

30. wallyg_flickr

31. DJMcCrady_flickr Temple of Thutmose III

32. When Moses returned to Egypt, most likely the pharaoh was Amenhotep II, son of Thutmose III.

33. Amenhotep II • Metropolitan Museum of Art peterjr1961

34. Amenhotep II was raised in Memphis in the north, rather than in Thebes, the traditional capital. Memphis had been the capital of Egypt for many dynasties. Prof. Mortel_flickr Amenhotep II at Egyptian Museum in Munich

35. Amenhotep II was not a very nice person.

36. During a battle, he single-handedly killed seven rebel princes at Kadesh and ordered their bodies to be hung upside down on the prow of his ship. When he reached his capital city of Thebes, all but one of them were mounted on the city walls. The seventh was sent to the rebellious territory of Nubia and hung on the city wall of Napata as an example of the consequence of rising against him.

37. His last campaign proceeded north to the Sea of Galilee. His list of plunder mentions 101,128 slaves, which is believed to be an exaggeration; however, this campaign was followed by peace. The kings of Babylon, of the Hittites, and of the Mitanni made peace with Amenhotep II and paid tribute to him.

38. Now Amenhotep II could concentrate on expanding and decorating existing temples, on building new temples, as well as on building shrines, columns in courtyards, and steles throughout his kingdom. And he used slave labor to do it.