The Agricultural Practices Of The Ancient Egyptians

The Agricultural Practices of the Ancient Egyptians

CONTENTS

1. Introduction 3

2. The Agricultural Practices of the Ancient Egyptians:

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2.1 The Farming System 4

2.1.1 Irrigation 4

2.1.2 Tools and technology 5

2.1.3 Cycle of cultivation 6

2.1.4 Crops harvested 7

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2.2 Source of labour 8

2.3 Animal husbandry 8

2.4 Involved gods 9

3. Conclusion 10

4. Cited works 11

Introduction

From the beginning, it was clear to see that agriculture held a tremendous amount of importance to the people of ancient Egypt. Silverman (1998:66) even goes so far as to state that “The continuity and resilience of Egyptian civilization was primarily a result of its agricultural economy”. In addition, James (1985:112) attests that the Egyptians’ efficient management of their land could be seen as one of their greatest achievements. The following essay will hence serve to provide greater insight into the agricultural practices of the Ancient Egyptians.

~ THE FARMING SYSTEM ~

Irrigation

With every annual flood of the Nile, a fresh layer of silt was deposited over the land, and this built up the rich fertile soil of the river floodplain. With these annual blankets of silt and water, Quirke & Spencer (1992:16) maintain that nature irrigated the valley for the Egyptians. According to Silverman (1998:60), the Egyptians took advantage of natural depressions in the floodplain, which formed flood basins. Brewer & Teeter (1999:25) supplement this statement by verifying that when the floods subsided, the waters were trapped behind in the natural basins. The basins constituted an immense natural reservoir that could hold water in reserve for six to eight weeks. In this sense, Egypt’s irrigation system was more a means of redistributing and rationing floodwaters (Brewer & Teeter 1999:25). Water was then allowed to flow from one basin to another following the slope of the land, while artificial channels carried water to the farthest area if the flood was low (Silverman 1998:60). Moreover, Caminos (1997:8) describes how sluices and canals regulated the course and volume of the flow In addition, Quirke & Spencer (1992:16) explain how over the millennia, canals and dykes would have slowly modified local agriculture in two other respects: by increasing the cultivable area and by fostering second or third crops within a year in small select plots.

The Egyptians therefore did not use any tools for irrigation until the New Kingdom, when a method for lifting water was devised known in Arabic as a shaduf (Silverman 1998:60). This piece of technology was a counterweighted device for lifting water out of the Nile and emptying it into irrigation trenches, and Quirke & Spencer (1992:16) confirm that the following advance in irrigation technology came in Ptolemaic times with the waterwheel. This innovation was called saqiya in Arabic, and was worked by oxen rotating a wheel, that then drew up vases of water from river to the field level (Quirke & Spencer 1992:16).

Tools and Technology

According to Strouhal (1992:95), the Egyptians made do with a small range of simple tools when tilling the land, but claims that the most indispensable tool was the hoe, used for loosening the soil. Caminos (1997:6) illustrates how this tool consisted of a broad, thin piece of wood вЂ" which was the blade вЂ" tied to the end of a wooden handle with twisted rope (which was actually plant-fibre cord). By enlargement and addition of further parts, the hoe evolved into the ploughshare, and then into the plough. This implement consisted of a long blade of hard wood, fastened at its lower end to a pair of wooden stilts, splayed out toward their upper end (Strouhal 1992:95), and was attached to the oxen with a wooden yoke.

The wooden sickle was used for cutting the corn, and it had a groove in which a row of squarish flint blades was set close together (Strouhal 1992:96). Strouhal (1992:96) further contends that ground stone axes were used for woodcutting, and other agricultural implements included wooden shovel for tossing grain, wooden pitchforks for loading the sheaves and wooden rakes for colleting the cut ears. According to Caminos (1997:2), winnowing scoops were also used.

There was understandable preoccupation with measuring the fluctuating height of the Nile, since the flood brought not only silt to fertilise the land, but Quirke & Spencer (1992:17) claim that it also changed the appearance and potential yield of each field. If the flood was too high, villages and crops would be destroyed, and if it was too low, the Egyptians would not be provided with sufficient silt and water. The Egyptians therefore made use of boundary markers to secure their property. The techniques of measurement ranged from simple rock carvings in the Early Dynastic Period, to specially constructed stone-lined pits, such as the Nilometer (Shaw 2003:4).

Cycle of Cultivation

According to Quirke & Spencer (1992:17), the farming year followed the Nile cycle, with three seasons of four months each: drought, the season in between, and the season of inundation.

Quirke & Spencer (1992:17) explain that the rise of the floodwaters marked the New Year. This season was called akhet, perhaps meaning �time of inundation’, and