Cross-disciplinary studies in cultural history require regions with unusually favorable conditions of preservation as well as relevance to the disciplines and cultures involved. The first cataract of the Nile offers precisely such a combination, and this work employs a diverse set of academic perspectives to present a diachronic picture of its cultural and geographic history over a period of more than 5,000 years.

Cross-disciplinary studies in cultural history require regions with unusually favorable conditions of preservation as well as relevance to the disciplines and cultures involved. The first cataract of the Nile offers precisely such a combination, and this work employs a diverse set of academic perspectives to present a diachronic picture of its cultural and geographic history over a period of more than 5,000 years.