point of the Delta we begin to see the heights on either side  of the valley into which the narrow end of the Delta merges.  These heights (Figs. 24 and 69) are the plateau of the Sahara Desert, through which the Nile has cut a vast, deep trench as it winds its way northward from inner Africa. This trench, or valley, is seldom more than thirty miles wide, while the strip of soil on eachside of the river rarely exceeds ten miles in width. On either edge of the soil strip one steps out of the green fields into the sand of the desert, which has drifted down into the trench; or if one climbs the cliffs, forming the walls of the trench, he stands looking out over a vast waste of rocky hills and stretches of sand trembling in the heat of the blazing sunshine. [NEXT]	48. The low valley and the high desert plateau
FIG. 24. THE INUNDATION SEEN FROM THE ROAD TO THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH  On the right is the road leading to the pyramids; at the left the waters of the inundation cover the level floor of the Nile valley. In the distance is the desert plateau on which the pyramids stand. The trees and the small modem village just in front of the pyramids occupy part of the ground where once the royal city of the pyramid-builders stood (§ 75)
[BACK]	[NEXT]

2FBR