Water With The Crop example essay topic

Ancient Egyptian Agriculture There are many valid points to be made in Ancient Egyptian agriculture. Irrigation, ploughing and planting, harvesting, and of course, crops. These will be some of the subtopics I will be touching upon in this essay of ancient Egyptian agriculture. Irrigation When the Nile is overflowing, it floods the Delta and the lands called Libyan and Arabian, for a distance of a journey of two days from both banks in places, and sometimes, sometimes less.

I could not learn anything about its nature, neither from the priests nor from anyone else. I was curious to learn why the Nile is flooding for a hundred days from the summer solstice; and when this time is passed, sinks again, and the river is low during the whole winter until the summer solstice again. -Herodotus, Histories 2, 19 Above, is a quote from a man recovered from an article of writing back in the ancient Egyptian times. Irrigation is a form of re-routing water, to parts of land that the water is needed, in farming terms. For Example, there are two crops, one crop is getting all the water, and it's flooding. With irrigation, the farmer will re-route the water towards the other crop, as well as sharing the water with the crop that was being flooded.

So now, both crops are getting enough water and they are not flooding nor suffering from drought. Natural river irrigation shaped the early landscape of ancient Egypt. Drainage was not required for the Valley to become live able. With the natural flooding and draining of the floodplain, the annual flood allowed a single crop-season over two-thirds of the alluvial ground. Once the main canals, many of them natural, were in place, they just had to be scoured yearly to prevent their clogging up. The levees had to be raised, and smaller ditches had to be re-excavated.

Organized by the regional authorities, every Egyptian had to move about thirty cubic metre's of soil in about ten days every year. With this relatively small investment of labour, they kept the system in working order. Once the main canals, many of them natural, were in place, they just had to be dredged yearly to prevent their clogging up; the levees had to be raised, and smaller ditches had to be re-excavated. At the time of the highest flooding (towards the end of September) most of the Nile Valley was covered with water, only villages and cities, built on higher ground and connected by dams, were above water. Ploughing and Planting Ploughing, is the process of turning over soil, so it stays fresh and high in nutrients so crops can grow nice and big. Planting, is inserting the seeds of plants into places into the soil, where you think they would grow the best.

Many tools were used to help the people of Egypt do their ploughing and planting. The Egyptian plough was lightly built and tied to the horns of the cattle. Cows were generally used for ploughing, which caused their milk production to decrease during ploughing time. A helper, often a child, led the animals, sometimes urging them on with a stick. When draft animals were unavailable, humans would pull the plough. Hoeing was another way of loosening the soil.

Because the handles of the hoes were very short (an aspect of these tools even today in southern countries), this was backbreaking work. The planter of seeds walked ahead of the team, a two handled woven basket tied around his neck, his hands free for sowing. The plough covered the seeds with earth. Driving hogs or sheep over the field sometimes also served the same purpose. Harvesting Harvesting is when after the seeds have fully bloomed, you go out and take all the plants out in an orderly fashion, so you wont' ruin the soil or the seeds of your crops for next the harvest.

The harvest generally took place shortly before the beginning of the next flooding, about in May or June, at times in April. The whole population took part and on big estates journeying harvesting teams were employed. These itinerant reapers began the season in the southern part of the country and followed the ripening crops downriver. The administration was involved in everything the farmer did, from the assignment of the land to the collecting of the taxes, here is a quote on what some things were said:" Made by the overseer of fields, experienced in his office, The offspring of a scribe of Egypt, The overseer of grains who controls the measure, Who sets the harvest-dues for his lord, Who registers the islands of new land, In the great name of his majesty, Who records the markers on the borders of fields, Who acts for the king in his listing of taxes, Who makes the land-register of Egypt, The scribe who determines the offerings for all the gods, Who gives land-leases to the people, The overseer of grains, [provider] of food, Who supplies the granary with grains... ".

-The Instruction of AmenemopeNew Kingdom. Licht heim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume II, pp. 448 f Before the harvest began, surveyors, scribes, supervisors and inspectors came to measure the size of the fields and estimated the quantity of grain. Scribes trying to impress their pupils with the harshness of a peasant's daily struggle for survival, may have slightly exaggerated the methods used by tax-collectors. Crops Crops, are the fruits, vegetables, or grain that grows from the seeds that they plant during the ploughing and planting season. There were many crops that held important values, or that were more valued than other crops, much like today. Important crops were emmer, barley, wheat, pe kha, a type of corn that is not known of, flax, beans and chickpeas, lettuce, onions, leeks, dill, grapes, melons and gourds, the naturally happening papyrus reeds which was used as most of us know for papyrus paper on which the scribes used to write on, and the castor oil plant that was used for money making.

(Literally) As you can tell, the Egyptians established themselves as well-thought out farmers who knew pretty much exactly what they were doing. Many of the methods they used were used even up until the 1900's before common machinery came about. That's amazing, that something that started so far back, could last for so long. Technology came along only a little while ago, and basically just "upgraded" the Egyptians ideas when it came to agricultural development.