What does it refer to?

[juliana0403]

Hi, this is from my reading class.

I don't know what the underlined part mean.. What does it refer to?

What does "did" mean?

Egypt's settings were uniquely favorable to early settlement and the development and survival of a centralized state, comprising as it did the long, narrow valley of the Nile, its rich alluvial soil bounded on each side by the arid desert, beginning either witha gentle slope or with a marked escarpement.

Thank you

[Naamplao]

Originally Posted by juliana0403

Hi, this is from my reading class.

I don't know what the underlined part mean.. What does it refer to?

What does "did" mean?

Egypt's settings were uniquely favorable to early settlement and the development and survival of a centralized state, comprising as it did the long, narrow valley of the Nile, its rich alluvial soil bounded on each side by the arid desert, beginning either with a gentle slope or with a marked escarpement.

Thank you

"as it did" refers back to the " Egypt's settings"...what follows is a description of what they looked like.