thumb|Map of Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile River split into seven branches of the delta in Lower Egypt. Lower Egypt was divided into nomes and began to advance as a civilization after 3600 BC. Today, it contains two major channels that flow through the delta of the Nile River – Mahmoudiyah Canal (ancient Agathos Daimon) and Muways Canal (, "waterway of Moses").
Name
In Ancient Egyptian, Lower Egypt was known as mḥw which means "north". Later on, during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Greeks and Romans called it Κάτω Αἴγυπτος or Aegyptus Inferior both meaning "Lower Egypt", but Copts carried on using the old name related to the north – Tsakhet () or Psanemhit () meaning the "Northern part". It was further divided into a number of regions or nomes () – Niphaiat (, ) in the west, Tiarabia () in the east, Nimeshshoti () in the north-east and Bashmur (Bashmuric ) in the north. Champollion adds another region in the middle of the Delta which he calls Petmour () based on mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium, but it is unclear if this is a separate region or just a Greek rendering of the name Bashmur.
After the Muslim conquest, the middle part of the Delta was called al-Rif () which means "countryside, rural area" and which is derived from Ancient Egyptian <hiero>
r:Z1-pr*Z1:niwt
</hiero>r-pr, "temple", because the rural areas were administered by them. The eastern part roughly comprising the ancient Tiarabia was called al-Hawf () meaning "edge, fringe".
Geography
Today, there are two principal channels that the Nile takes through the river delta: one in the west at Rashid and one in the east at Damietta.
The delta region is well watered, crisscrossed by channels and canals.
Owing primarily to its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, the climate in Lower Egypt is milder than that of Upper Egypt, the southern portion of the country. Temperatures are less extreme and rainfall is more abundant in Lower Egypt.
History
It was divided into twenty districts called nomes, the first of which was at el-Lisht. Because Lower Egypt was mostly undeveloped scrubland, filled with all types of plant life such as grasses and herbs, the organization of the nomes underwent several changes.
The capital of Lower Egypt was Memphis. Its patron goddess was the goddess Wadjet, depicted as a cobra. Lower Egypt was represented by the Red Crown Deshret, and its symbols were the papyrus and the bee. After unification, the patron deities of both Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt were represented together as the Two Ladies, Wadjet and Nekhbet (depicted as a vulture), to protect all of the ancient Egyptians.
By approximately 3600 BC, Neolithic Egyptian societies along the Nile River had based their culture on the raising of crops and the domestication of animals.
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