Farming in ancient Egypt

The first farmers

Picking grapes, 18th Dynasty
There is no evidence for food production on the Nile floodplain before the fifth
millennium B.C. Traces of the earliest undisputed farming community in Egypt
have been discovered at Merimde Beni Salama, a site on the western fringe
of the delta dating to ca. !"# B$C. the possibility of whether there were
earlier farming settlements along the Nile has often been lin%ed to the
discovery of ceramics , on the grounds that pottery, li%e other & urban & s%ills ,
could not conceivably have arisen before the establishment of settled
communities . pottery dating to ca . ""## B.C. has been found in the 'aiyum ,
where ceramics and stone tools display stylistic similarities with those of
Merimde , suggesting some %ind of cultural affiliation between the inhabitants
of these sites . pottery dating to ca. "(## B.C.has also turned up at Eltariff
near )u*or in upper Egypt .
But there is no accompanying evidence of food production, and it is now
%nown in any case that the development of ceramic techni+ues may predate
the arrival of farming. The appearance of Saharan pottery , cattle , sheep and
goats on the Nile floodplain between ca. ",## B.C. and ca .### B.C ,
together with wheat and barley from southwestern -sia, coincides with a
transition to drier conditions throughout the region and in particular with the
second of two spells of e*treme drought that occurred ca. "### B.C.
Reaping grains , 5th Dynasty
Evidence from 'arafra oasis in the western desert suggests that between
these two dates the climate fluctuated severely , before the advent of cold and
dry conditions ca . "### B.C. .uring this millennium the Saharan la%es dried
up and the human presence in the desert became spare and ephemeral . /t is
highly probable that many inhabitants of the western .esert, the Sinai and the
Negev .esert began to tric%le toward the Nile during this time of unstable
climatic conditions. Some of these former desert0dwellers remained outside
the Nile floodplain, becoming nomadic herders who moved between sources
of water, or settling at spring0fed oases such as 1haraga and .a%hla .
Winnowing and carrying ears of grains to granary, 18th Dynasty
2owever, other migrants moved southward up the Nile 3alley or settled near
the Mediterranean coast . They established themselves along the edge of the
floodplain, where they began to raise animals and to cultivate cereal crops.
These & colonists4 lived alongside the indigenous hunters, fishers and forgers
of the Nile 3alley, and the newcomers5 cultural traditions 6 such as their use
of cattle symbolism and their techni+ues of ceramic and crop productions of
the e*isting inhabitants, a process that can be witnessed in the development
of communities such as 2iera%onpolis 7seep.89:. By ca. ###B.C, farming
villages had sprung up all along the ban%s of the river. The practice of fishing
and fowling continued, but hunting as a primary means of obtaining meat was
replaced by the raising of sheep, goats, cattle and pigs .
Living of the land
-ncient Egypt was %nown as land of abundance , and %ings sometimes
boasted of the good harvests during their reigns. 'or e*ample, it was said of
-menemhet /// 7ca. ;<;<0;!!(bce: that = he ma%es the two land verdant
green more than a great Nile ... he is life .... the %ing is food and his mouth is
plenty = in an inscription at the temple of -bu Simbel , >amesses // put the
following words into the mouth of the god path$ =/ give to you 7>amesses // :
constant harvests ... the sheaves are li%e sand , the granaries approach
heaven , and the grain heaps are li%e mountains =
Plowing,Middle Kingdom
This agricultural prosperity relied on the river Nile , on good land management
and , above all ,on hard wor% . the rich silt from the Nile?s annual flood
regularly renewed the fertility of Egyptian farmland.
The floodwater irrigated the fields and the depth of the inundation determined
how much land could be cultivated . To measure how much the river rose ,
the Egyptians built flood gauges %nown as = Nilometers= at various places
along the Nile.
The Egyptians built emban%ments and dy%es in order to protect buildings and
land during the inundation and to control the flow of water into the fields. They
too% advantage of natural depressions in the floodplain, which formed flood
basins, @ater was allowed to flow from one basin to another following the
slope of the land, while artificial channels carried water to the farthest areas if
the flood was low. No tools were used for irrigation until the New %ingdom,
when a method for lifting water was devised , %nown in -rabia as Shaduf. -
post acted as a pivot for a cross0pole, which could swing in all directions and
had a container attached to one end and a counterweight on the other . The
container was filled by dipping it into the channel, and the counterweight then
raised it to the appropriate level so that the water could be emptied out. /n
post0pharaonic times the Shaduf 6 which is still in use today in some parts of
Egypt 6 was supplemented by the water0wheel and the -rchimedean water0
screw.
-fter the floodwaters receded, much wor% was re+uired to repair dy%es and
canals, to re0establish land0mar%ers and to prepare the soil for sowing.
)ightweight wooden ploughs were often all that was needed to turn the earth,
but sometimes a hoe was used to brea% up heavy soil. Aloughs were pulled
by teams of cows or people, and seed was often scattered in front of the
plough. Crops ripened and were harvested before the ne*t flood. /n some
cases, the use of irrigation e*tended the cultivable area and enabled two
crops per year to be grown.
The harvest was another time of great activity. Cereal crops 6 barley and
wheat 6 were harvested using wooden sic%les with flint teeth, and the green
was ta%en to the village in large bas%ets. Men used for%s to brea% up the
stal%s on the threshing floor and then don%eys or o*en were driven around the
floor to trample the grain. -fter winnowing the harvest was ta%en to a granary,
where it was stored. - scribe recorded the amount of the harvest.
The Egyptians grew a range of vegetables in irrigated plots but the staples of
their diet 6 bread and beer 6 were made from cereals. The grain was first
crushed in large mortars, and then ground to obtain flour using grinding0
stones and a +uern 7hand0mill:. )oaves were ba%ed in many different shapes
over an open fire, often in conical moulds, people also made ca%es flavored
with honey from wild or domesticated bees.
Beer was as much a nutritious food as a drin%, being produced from
fermented barley0bread and often sweetened with honey, dates or spices.
This was the Egyptians? principal beverage, but wine was also produced.
3ineyard wor%ers pic%ed grapes by hand, they were then trampled in vats by
up to si* men. The Buice underwent primary fermentation in huge vats by up to
si* men. The Buice underwent primary fermentation in large, uncovered pottery
Bars, and was then left to ferment a second time in stoppered Bars on rac%s.
These would be labeled with information such as the year, the place of origin
and the winema%er.
'arming also included the rearing of animals, most commonly cattle. )arge
herds graCed on the rich grass of the .elta. Egyptians generally ate beef only
on special occasions or if they belonged to the elite, however, cattle were also
%ept for their dairy produce and as beasts of burden. The value of an estate
was calculated every couple of years according to the siCe of its herd. Aeople
also raised sheep, goats and pigs for meat, while geese and duc%s were often
reared at home for meat and eggs.