The Nile made the desert fertile and gave abundance to the people of ancient Egypt. But woe betide you if the river ever fails.
As summer approached, the tension grew. Would the level of the Nile rise sufficiently again this year? Would its floods flood the land extensively and fertilize the desert soil with fertile mud? It was a question of satiety or hunger, wealth or poverty, sometimes even life or death. The answer determined whether it would be a good year or a bad year.