Unlike most river valley civilizations, Egyptian communities existed only along the Nile, which was navigable enough to get valuable resources downstream, from timber to gold, which the Egyptians considered the divine metal, thereby introducing an idea that would eventually culminate in Mr. T. The Nile was also easily tamed. While other river valley civilizations needed complicated and labor-intensive hydraulic engineering projects to irrigate crops, the Nile was so chill that Egyptians could use a simple form of water management called basin irrigation, in which farmers used floodwaters to fill earthen basins and canals for irrigation. In short, the awesomeness of the Nile meant Egyptians could create big food surpluses with relatively little work, allowing time and energy for some pretty impressive projects. Also, the Nile may help explain ancient Egypt's general optimism. While ancient Sumerian religion, for instance, saw the afterlife as this gloomy, dark place, Egyptians were often buried with things that were useful and pleasurable to them in life, because the afterlife was seen as a continuation of this life, which, at least if you lived along the Nile, wasn't half bad. Thanks, Thought Bubble. And now, my dear pupils, I shall terrorize you with the oppression of dates.