Even though only about a fifth of the length of the Nile runs through Egypt in most people’s minds the Nile is associated with Egypt. Many of Egypt’s most important cities - and most of its population – are situated along its banks. Because there is almost no rain in Egypt until the Aswan Dam was built the people relied entirely on the yearly floods of the Nile to grow their crops. Every year heavy rains in the mountains of Ethiopia would surge down the Nile overflowing the banks in Egypt and leaving behind a thick rich black mud in which the Egyptians would plant seeds. In fact so important was the flooding of the Nile that it was worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians as a god. (See Rashi Shemos 7:17)