Geography and Agriculture The geography of Egypt is deeply important in understanding why the Egyptians centered their lives around the Nile. Both before and during the use of canal irrigation in Egypt, the Nile Valley could be separated into two parts, the River Basin or the flat alluvial (or black land soil), and the Red Land or red desert land. The River basin of the Nile was in sharp contrast to the rest of the land of Egypt and was rich with wild life and water fowl, depending on the waxing and waning cycles of the Nile. In contrast, the red desert was a flat dry area which was devoid of most life and water, regardless of any seasonal cycle.

The Nile in it's natural state goes through periods of inundation and relinquishment. The inundation of the Nile-a slightly unpredictable event- was the time of greatest fertility for Egypt. As the banks rose, the water would fill the man-made canals and canal basins and would water the crops for the coming year. However, if the inundation was even twenty inches above or below normal, it could have massive consequences upon the Egyptian agricultural economy. Even with this variability, the Egyptians were able to easily grow tree crops and vegetable gardens in the lower part of the Nile Valley, while at higher elevations, usually near levees, the Nile Valley was sparsely planted.

Agricultural crops were not the mainstay of the ancient Egyptian diet. Rather, the Nile supplied a constant influx of fish which were cultivated year around. In addition to fish, water fowl and cattle were also kept by the Egyptians. Flocks of geese were raised from the earliest times and supplied eggs, meat and fat. However, the domestic fowl didn't make its appearance until Ramesside times, and then in only very isolated places. The Egyptian farmers, in their early experimental phase, also tried to domesticate other animals such as hyenas, gazelles and cranes but gave up after the Old Kingdom. Cattle were also part of the staple diet of the Egyptians, suggesting that grazing land was available for the Egyptians during the times when the Nile receded. However, during the inundation, cattle were brought to the higher levels of the flood plain area and were often fed the grains harvested from the previous year.

The Egyptian diet was by no means limited to tree crops and vegetables, nor was it limited to an animal or fish diet. The Egyptians cultivated barley, emmer wheat, beans, chickpeas, flax, and other types of vegetables. In addition, the cultivation of grains was not entirely for consumption. One of the most prized products of the Nile and of Egyptian agriculture was oil. Oil was customarily used as a payment to workmen employed by the state, and depending on the type, was highly prized. The most common oil (kiki) was obtained from the castor oil plant. Sesame oil from the New Kingdom was also cultivated and was highly prized during the later Hellenistic Period.

While agriculture is important throughout the world, for the people of Egypt it has always been a matter of working closely with the seasons and understanding their change. Throughout history, Egypt has celebrated the relationship between the land they farm and the Nile. The Nile is the longest river in the world, a majestic body of water that flows with the very life of Egypt in its currents. The shape of the Nile is that of a Lotus flower, the ancient Egyptian symbol for regeneration of life. Rainfall is almost non-existent in Egypt, and the Nile has always been the source of water for crops and animals.

The land of ancient Egypt was divided into sections with varying proximity to the Nile. The lower land on either side of the Nile is known as the floodplain. This is the most fertile land in Egypt and most of the crops were grown here. Farming in ancient times occurred on the highest ground in this zone. The land was rich and fertile, dark black in color.

A little higher, above the floodplains was the low desert. The Nile did not water this area of land. Egyptians used this portion of land to hunt and bury their dead. It was scant with any kind of vegetation, which made it perfect for such activities.

Even higher still, was the high desert area. The area was most likely used for travel of large caravans in search of stones to cultivate. Mineral resources were sought after in this region, but there was little inhabitation. What inhabitation that did exist in the high desert was there for the strict purpose of producing dates and grapes to insure a link to remote areas. These were little pieces of paradise in the desert, often called oases.

The tools used in ancient Egypt agriculture included: plows, sickles, hoes, forks, scoops, baskets, shaduf, skiffs, and sieves. The farmers also used cattle, oxen, donkey, and goats to aid in the cultivation of their fields. The hoe most often used was made of two separate pieces fitted together and bound with rope. The first piece was a handle and the second a blade. Hoes were used to mix water and dirt in brick making, to break up dirt clods, and to manage the growing crops. Sickles were often made of glazed wood that was sharpened to cut. A shaduf is a mechanical irrigation device used to bring water from the canals to the fields. Skiffs were made of papyrus and were used for travel on the Nile, as well as fishing.

In the cultivation of grain, there were eight steps that the ancient farmer knew as well as he knew his own land. The cultivated land was ploughed with a wooden axe. Ploughing may have been done with the aid of an animal, or exclusively by human strength. Sowing was done by hand, with the help of goats that walked over the newly sown fields to push the seeds out of the reach of bird looking for a quick meal. Once the grain was ready for harvesting, the fields would come to life with the harvesting. The harvesting of the grain was done with sickles. The grain was then bundled and carried, on the back of donkeys, to a safe and dry place to avoid spoilage. The grain was then put through the process known as threshing. It was spread in a contained area and trampled on by the hooves of donkeys. In the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, often cows were used in this process. This process aided in the beginning of separating the grain from the chaff. The next step is often depicted in the tomb paintings of ancient Egyptians. Often done by women, wooden forks were used to eliminate the light chaff and straw from the grain. Next, they would use sieves made from reeds and palm leaves to separate the longer chaff and weeds from the grain. The final step was to secure the crop of grain in bins until consumption.

The ancient Egyptians were thorough in their cultivation of grain, as it was their main staple. Barley and emmer were used to make bread and beer. Excessive grain was exported to neighboring countries. This exportation of grain allowed the Egyptian treasury to accumulate income.

The main vegetables grown in ancient Egypt were onions, leeks, beans, lentils, garlic, radish, cabbage, cucumbers, and lettuce. The fruit grown consisted of dates, figs, grapes, pomegranates, and melons. Due to the wonderful variety of flowers grown in ancient Egypt, bees were able to pollinate and produce honey. Women cultivated and processed honey to be used in desserts. Flax was grown and processed to make linen. Papyrus was converted into in to sandals, skiffs, paper, and mats.

Animals were raised for; food, hides, milk, and dung (used in cooking fires). Oxen increased agricultural productivity. Others animals were domesticated and used by farmers of ancient Egypt. They raised cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, ducks, goats, and oxen. Around 1600 B.C., horses and donkeys were introduced to Egypt from Asia. Camels were unknown during the time of the pharaohs, as they were introduced at a much later time.

For centuries the Nile flooded the valley, and the Egyptians established a routine in dealing with the seasons. The flooding period was called Aketo. This lasted from July to December, using the current calendar months. During this time the farmlands were under water. The farmers used their irrigation canals to run water to the lands not reached by the Nile. Animals were moved during this time to a safer place, to avoid drowning. The outflow period was known as Peleto. This was the coolest season, and it ran from December to March. Seeds were sown during this time and crops cultivated. From March to July they experienced a dry season known as the Syumuu. This was a busy time of bringing in and storing the crops. The yearly flooding was known as the "gift of the Nile," for without it the people of ancient Egypt would have perished.

The average rise in the Nile at flood time was twenty-seven feet. The monsoon rains from Ethiopia were predictable, but often the amount of the rise was not so predictable. If the Nile rose lower than the expected twenty-seven feet, there was famine and loss of crops and lives. If the Nile rose higher than the expected twenty-seven feet, there was damage to villages and a loss of livestock and human life. The flooding was predictable in its coming, but often caused chaos when it was too much or too little. The annual flooding of the Nile continued in to modern times. The completion of the high damn in 1988, at Aswan, has made the flooding controllable. The construction of the Aswan dam started in 1902, and has been built taller through the history of Egypt, to its current height.

In ancient Egypt, most people were involved in some fashion in the agricultural process. It was so interwoven in to the very society and economy that no one was spared the work of farming, excluding those noblemen and scribes that were not suited for the work. However, even then, the noblemen were included in the economic part of agriculture, as they often owned the land being farmed and supervised the tending of such.

There were full time farmers. They often worked the land of wealthy landowners and were paid in food, clothes, and shelter. Some families rented land from the landowners, and they gave the owners a portion of their crops as payment. Still, others were forced by the government of Ancient Egypt to dredge canals, survey land, and prepare the ground as a form of taxation. This was called being drafted through corvee. Anyone that tried to avoid the corvee was dealt with harshly, as was his family.

The Egyptians were the first culture to establish gardens of an ornamental nature. The first recorded garden dates around 2200 B.C. The gardens included pools for fish, fig and pomegranate trees, grapevine covered trellises, and beds of flowers. The pharaohs and government officials used them as oases of privacy and cool and shady retreats from the hot desert sun. They were also found at many religious and sacred sites.

Today, agriculture is still an integral part of Egyptian society and culture. They have continued to use traditional methods handed down through the centuries. Many still use the ancient methods of irrigation, organic manure, and crop rotation. Egypt is an agricultural country with as much beauty as practicality. The wealth derived from agriculture in Egypt can be weighed in more than just coins. The history of agriculture in Egypt has made them rich in knowledge. The courage of past generations has become the courage and wisdom of present and future generations in Egypt. Egypt is a shining example that pride, skill and determination are the foundations of a successful nation.

Agriculture in ancient Egypt required only a few basic tools: plows, hoes, sickles, baskets, forks, and scoops. Hoes such as this one were used in breaking dirt clods formed during plowing and for tending the growing crops. The ancient Egyptians also used hoes to move dirt during building or brick making. This hoe is made from two pieces, a handle and a blade, that were fitted together and then bound with a rope. The binding of modern rope that now holds both parts together is based on original attachments known from other hoes. The object does not show signs of heavy use. Its excavation at Deir el-Bahri and its lack of wear patterns suggest that this hoe was used to mix water and dirt for mud brick.

Egyptologists do not know much about farmers' lives beyond their daily tasks in the fields. As members of the lower class, full-time farmers were illiterate and, therefore, did not have the education or income to leave behind their personal histories. Farmers endured a hard but secure life, since serious deprivation appears to have been an uncommon circumstance. All farming was done by hand with the occasional use of cattle to pull plows. On small private farms, most family members were involved in agricultural activities; women are seen in tomb paintings gleaning the fields during harvest. A large number of farmers, however, worked on estates owned by others and were paid in food and clothing. Some farmers rented land from wealthier people, giving a portion of the harvest in payment to the landowner.

It appears likely that most of Egypt's adult population spent some time farming. Although there were full-time farmers, during and immediately following inundation most men were drafted through corvée (forced labor by the government as taxation) to increase the personnel available for dredging irrigation canals, surveying land boundaries, and preparing the ground for planting. Avoidance of corvée carried stiff penalties for the individual and sometimes his family. Noblemen and scribes, the literate upper class, were the only people consistently excluded from the corvée. Most noblemen were automatically involved in the agricultural system, however, because they owned farms and supervised royal or temple agricultural land.

The Egyptian landscape is scenically among the most extraordinary in the world. A relatively narrow strip of fertile valley spreads out into the Delta in the north, and to the south cuts through the endless expanse of the Sahara.

Its fertility does not depend on the amount of rainfall, which suddenly decreased from the end of the Neolithic wet phase in Upper Egypt and Nubia till it virtually came to a stop. Regular floods bring about the Nile valley's annual miracle, when nature is reborn and the fields turn green and then gradually golden with the harvest.

As early as the fifth millennium BC, the Egyptians realised the extraordinary fruitfulness of their fields and the secret behind it - the deposits of black silt borne down by the river in floodtime. Hence they called the soil of the Nile valley 'black earth' (kemet), as distinct from the 'red earth' (deshret) of the desert.

In their black land they felt content and safe. They were satisfied that a host of gods, originally regional gods, kept guard over its fertility and that Khnum, the god of the First Cataract, would ensure the punctual onset and adequate height of the flooding. The regular cycle of natural events conferred a rhythm on their lives which was part of the maat, the eternal order of things.

The red land, by contrast, was to be shunned as far as possible. From the western wilderness a scorching, destructive wind, the khamsin as we now call it, would sometimes blow down on them. Then, as now, it would raise clouds of fine sand and dust, blinding men and animals alike, and sometimes drying out their fields.

No wonder they saw the desert as the domain of malignant forces disruptive of the established order and personified in the Late Period by the baneful god Seth. It was of course the peasant farmer whose links with the soil were strongest. He had learnt to cultivate it to perfection and gradually extended the area of his fields to wherever the annual floods reached. He would clear a course for as much water as he needed and steer the surplus back to its riverbed. In the passage of time the size of his harvests and his herds grew to the point where, even in predynastic times (4000--3000 BC), part of the population could turn to other employment.

This second social division of labour (following the first, that between men and women, which went far back into prehistory) continued up to the threshold of the historic period. But even then the majority of the population was still tied to agriculture and the rest of society lived on its produce.

Egypt is the 'gift of the Nile' and her harvests depend on its floodwaters. These were the fundamental pacemaker of the Egyptian farmer's life. It was the farmer, above all, who had vested interest in the calendar, an invention which - thanks to the regularity of natural events - this country was one of the earliest in the world to possess.

People knew from long experience that this was about the time for the level of the Nile to start rising. Just before this, flocks of white ibises would have appeared on the fields as they returned from the south. If they came late or not at all, farmers would see this as a bad omen foreshadowing low floods and a poor harvest. So they regarded the wise bird that knew the secret of this vital phenomenon as an embodiment of the learned god Thoth.