Egypt: Was it based off of the Nile? In Egypt, everything was based off of the Nile, and here is my proof. After Mesopotamia, there was Egypt. It was ruled by the great leaders called pharaohs. These leaders ruled until they died and got all their power off of religious belief. This belief was that pharaohs were given power to them by the gods, and because of this they were highly worshipped by the people. There was a social pyramid, which made all people know their place and also made it so that people could have many different jobs. The power went like this: at the top was the pharaoh, then the government officials, then the priests, then the scribes, then the artisans, and finally, on the bottom, peasants. Most of the population in Egypt