=Egypt's Climate and Resources.= The land of the Nile was peculiarly favorable for the development of an exceedingly early civilization. Lying near the equator and between extended areas of hot, dry desert, it possessed an almost perfect climate. While warm, it was never excessively hot, thanks to the fresh north winds which blew from the sea. The desert kept the atmosphere dry and cloudless through at least eleven months in the year. The narrow strip of alluvial soil which constituted the real land of Egypt was practically inexhaustible. The Nile, which rose during the hot summer months, furnished abundant water for irrigation. At the same tune the necessity for constant activity in order to develop the full resources of the land was a valuable incentive to industry. Finally, the uniformity of the Nile valley furnished an excellent basis for a unified social and political organization. =Its Isolation and Limitations.= At first Egypt's isolation favored, but in the end fatally impeded the development of its civilization. On every side it was shut in, not only by miles of rocky desert on the east and west, but also on the north and south by almost impassable barriers. In the south the fertile territory narrows to a mere ribbon, with no natural highways by land, while several great cataracts cut off approach by water. On the north the Nile broadens out into a great impassable marsh with only two narrow gateways. One of these is the main western arm of the Nile, which reaches the Mediterranean near Alexandria; the other is the Wady Tumilat, which runs from the Isthmus of Suez through the biblical land of Goshen to the Nile valley. In early centuries these few narrow and uninviting avenues of approach on the north and south were easily guarded. The result was that the Egyptians, at a very early date, attained a high stage of culture, but they lacked that stimulus from without which is essential to the highest development. Once or twice, as in the days of the Hyksos and Ethiopian invasions, foreigners pressed into the land, and as a result the centuries immediately following were the most glorious in Egypt's history. In general, however, the civilization of the Nile valley was deficient in depth and idealism. It was grossly material; it developed too easily and the people were too contented. Even on the artistic side the brilliant promise of the earlier centuries failed of fruition. Moreover, the protecting natural barriers proved constricting, so that there was little opportunity for expansion. Hence Egypt's civilization was always provincial and by 500 B.C. had ceased to develop. From this time on the people of the Nile tamely submitted to the succession of foreign conquerors who have ever since ruled over this garden land of the eastern world.