Between 2500—2200 BCE, Egypt witnessed a period of surprisingly high rainfall. While the Old Kingdom was much wetter than today, archaeologists have found strong evidence for huge downpours, sweeping across northern Egypt and flooding tombs, cities, and forcing the ancients to adapt…This episode is a brief epilogue to the Decline & Fall of the Old Kingdom series.

Intro music: Michael Jackson – Stranger in Moscow (Instrumental Version).

Outro music: Toto – Africa (Bardcore) by Stravitticus.

Logo image: Rain spout/gutter at the pyramid complex of Niuserrra (c.2400 BCE). Photo by Kairoinfo4u.

References used in this episode:

K. W. Butzer, ‘When the Desert Was in Flood: Environmental History of the Giza Plateau’, AERAgram 5 (2001), 3—5.

K. W. Butzer et al., ‘Urban Geoarchaeology and Environmental History at the Lost City of the Pyramids, Giza: Synthesis and Review’, Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (2013), 3340—3366.

K. O. Kuraszkiewicz, ‘Architectural Innovations Influenced by Climatic Phenomena (4.2 KA Event) in the Late Old Kingdom (Saqqara, Egypt)’, Studia Quaternaria 33 (2016), 27—34.

S. Rzepka et al., ‘Preliminary Report on Engineering Properties and Environmental Resistance of Ancient Mud Bricks from Tell el-Retaba Archaeological Site in the Nile Delta’, Studia Quaternaria 33 (2016), 47—56.

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