How did the nile river influence the ancient egyptians? a. the egyptians named all of their cities after the river. b. the egyptians only built houses near the river. c. the egyptians built their cities around the river to use as a source of food and water because they were surrounded by desert. why is upper egypt in the south and lower egypt in the north? a. the king in upper (or southern) egypt conquered the part of egypt called lower (or northern) egypt. b. the nile river flows south to north because it feeds into the mediterranean sea, which is at the north end of the river. c. it was located in northeast africa.