ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AGRICULTURE AND THE ORIGINS OF HORTICULTURE

Abstract

The story of Egypt leads us to the dawn of history.Paleolithic-Neolithic artifacts (flint hand-axes, arrowheads, hammers) along the Nile date back 12,000 years.Nubian, Ethiopian, and Libyan populations fusing with Semitic and West Asian immigrants formed a people and created the Egypt of history (Durant, 1954).A continuous 6000 year record exists (Table 1) with a unique and productive agriculture at its base.From 4000 to 3000 BCE these mingled peoples of the Nile valley formed a government, constructed the first pyramids, and established a highly advanced agricultural technology.The ancient names for Egypt underscore the relation between the land, the people, and it agriculture (Khattab, 2000).These include Ta-meri, the beloved land cultivated by the hoe, Ta Akht, the land of flood and fertile soil, Kmt, the black soil, Tamhi, the land of the flax plant, Nht, the land of the sycomore fig tree, and Misr, the safe and civilized country.The name, Egypt, was derived from the name of the Earth God, Ge, or from Agpt, referring to the land covered with flood waters.Knowledge of the history of Egyptian agriculture and horticulture can be gleaned from the archeological record supported by surviving written Egyptian documents, temple inscriptions, and commentaries from antiquity including those of the Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 BCE), the philosopher Theophrastus (372-288 BCE), and the book of Genesis in the Hebrew bible.The supporting technology can be vividly reconstructed from the artistic record, painted and carved in tombs and temples dating from before 3000 BCE.Agricultural activities were favorite themes of artists who drew or sculpted lively scenes of daily life that adorn the tombs of the pharaohs.Illustrations of these artifacts and artistic works found in two key references, Food, Gift of Osiris (Darby et al., 1974) and Volume I of A History of Technology (Singer et al., 1954) have been used for this paper supplemented by other sources (Janick, 1979), as well as some personal photographs by the author.The development of Egyptian agriculture did not occur in a vacuum.Egypt was an aggressive culture and, at one time, Egypt ruled from present day Libya in the West, Syria in the Northeast, and Ethiopia and Somalia and, perhaps, portions of sub-Saharan Africa in the south.Egypt continuously incorporated technology as well as new crops from the Fertile Crescent (present day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq) as well as Africa.In addition there were contacts with the world beyond including Africa, Western Asia, and, even China.Strands of silk have been found on mummies of the Pharaohs dating to about 1000 BCE, indicating an ancient exchange of spices and fabrics.A stream of immigrants and captives, as well as invasions by others, such as the Persians in 525 BCE, also contributed to new introductions of germplasm and technology.To explain the unknown the Egyptians created a complex and bewildering theology that drew on the sun and the sky as well every form of life, and later included a pantheon of human gods and goddesses.Their beliefs greatly influenced the ancient world and has since been incorporated into many present day religions.Egyptian understanding and knowledge of plant and animal life was incorporated into both religious beliefs and art.Thus, papyrus, the symbol of lower Egypt, and the lotus, the symbol of upper Egypt, were incorporated in numerous paintings of hunting scenes, floral offerings, as well as the architectural designs of columns (Fig. 1A,B,E,F).The unification of upper and lower Egypt is expressed not only by the fused hats of the pharaohs but also by the ceremonial intertwining of the two plants (Fig. 1C,D )

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