History cannot easily go back beyond written records. These alone will preserve a full and accurate account of man's achievements. Manuscripts and books form one class of written records. The old Babylonians used tablets of soft clay, on which signs were impressed with a metal instrument. The tablets were then baked hard in an oven. The Egyptians made a kind of paper out of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley. The Greeks and Romans at first used papyrus, but later they employed the more lasting parchment prepared from sheepskin. Paper seems to have been a Chinese invention. It was introduced into Europe by the Arabs during the twelfth century of our era.
History, based on written records, begins in different countries at varying dates. A few manuscripts and inscriptions found in Egypt date back three or four thousand years before Christ. The annals of Babylonia are scarcely less ancient. Trustworthy records in China and India do not extend beyond 1000 B.C. For the Greeks and Romans the commencement of the historic period must be placed about 750 B.C. The inhabitants of northern Europe did not come into the light of history until about the opening of the Christian era.
Which of the civilizations mentioned in this passage can you infer lived in or near the Nile valley?
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Correct Answer: C
The author states, “The Egyptians made a kind of paper out of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley.” As the Egyptians used the plant, and the plant was native to the Nile Valley, it can be inferred that the Egyptians lived in or near the Nile Valley. The Nile is a very important river, both historically and today for the massive amounts of farming its flood plains allow.