Did Herodotus call Egypt the "Gift Of The Nile"? The history site, Mr Dowling says: > About 450BCE, a Greek historian named Herodotus called Egypt the “Gift of the Nile” because the Egyptian civilization depended on the resources of the great river. Meanwhile, history site Mr Donn says: > Each spring, snow on the mountains would melt. The Nile River would flood. This was a very good thing. When the flood waters receded, they left behind fertile soil. Crops could easily be grown in this black, rich soil. The ancient Egyptians called this soil the "The Gift of the Nile". I always thought that the Egyptians call the soil as the "Gift Of The Nile", not the country. Did Herodotus call all of Egypt the gift of the Nile?

The 1786 article Memoirs of Baron de Tott in The Monthly Review volume 73 says:

> Herodotus, in calling Egypt the Gift of the Nile *

and gives the original Greek text in a footnote at the bottom of page 246

There is a further explanation in Hecataeus and Herodotus on "A Gift of the River" _Journal of Near Eastern Studies_ Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1966), pp. 57-61

According to this article, which provides a much more complete quotation, the meaning is not the whole of Egypt, but the delta. The river created the land of the Nile delta.