The Flooding of the Nile Celebration (Wafaa El-Nil)
by Shahinda Abdalla
Celebrated on August 15 and traditionally observed for two weeks, the Flooding of the Nile commemorates the treasure upon which the entirety of the Egyptian civilization was built — the Nile River. A celebration that is as old as the land itself, the Flooding of the Nile is the time of year when we remember the abundance the Nile has brought to this land. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that the flooding of the Nile was brought on by Isis’s crying over the slaying of her husband Osiris by Set. Today, we know that the flooding happens due to the yearly monsoon between May and August in Ethiopia that result in torrential summer rains on the Ethiopian Highlands that flow through the Blue Nile and Atbarah River into the Nile, and through the Sobat River in South Sudan and into the White Nile, where it is carried into the Nile and flows up through Egypt. During this short period of time, these rivers swell up so much that they contribute about ninety percent of the water of the Nile and most of the sedimentation carried by it, and following the rainy season they shrink back to become minor rivers again. In ancient Egypt, the year centered around the flood cycle. It was divided into three seasons: Akhet, Peret, and Shemu. Akhet was the flooding season, Peret was the planting and growth season, and Shemu was the harvest season. The beginning of the flooding season (Akhet) was so consistent that the ancient Egyptians timed its onset using the heliacal rising of Sirius, which was the key annual event they used to set their calendar.
The festival of the Nile depicted in Frederic Norden’s Voyage d’Egypte et de Nubie. Image Source: Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s Memory of Modern Egypt Digital Archive)
One of the main reasons the flooding was so treasured was that the flooding would leave behind this black silt. In fact, the ancient Egyptians called it Ar which means “black”, a reference to the rich, dark sediment that the Nile’s waters brought as it flooded every year in late summer. At the end of flooding season in the end of October and early November, when the water levels returned back to normal, this black silt was found covering the land. The silt was rich in minerals and vitamins that made the land very fertile allowing the crops planted not only to grow but to flourish in what was otherwise desert all around. This floodplain only made up 3% of Egypt’s land and was responsible for feeding all those who lived in Egypt. The prosperity of the year depended on the flooding and how much silt was left behind. In years when the Nile would not rise much, those years would be ones of famine. So it is no wonder that the ancient Egyptians celebrated the flooding and that we today continue to celebrate this national treasure without which our entire history and peoples would not exist. Even though in today’s modern world we don’t see the Nile rise because of the Aswan High Dam that was completed in 1970, we still rely on the waters in its reservoirs. Lake Nasser is one such reservoir, a direct result of the Aswan High Dam. It is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world sitting between Egypt and Sudan. It is named after President Gamal Abdel Nasser who initiated the Aswan High Dam project.
Nile Flood celebrations in Egypt (1958/61) Image Source: Ahram Digital Content Project
Traditionally, the Flooding of the Nile was celebrated with joyful dances, colorful costumes, flowers and offerings to the great river. It was a sacred time of the year when people got to thank the Nile for its gifts. Boats were designed in Pharanoic-style to sail on the Nile on this day. In Arabic, this celebration is called Wafaa El-Nil which translates to ‘Fidelity of the Nile’. We can see reflected in this name not only the devotion of the Egyptian people to the Nile, but as well the devotion of the Nile to all the Egyptian people it has fed for millennia with its waters.
Egyptians flocked to watch the annual celebration 1964 Image Source: Ahram digital Content Project