A NEW MANNER OF SOWINGAccording to iconographic (see Figure 4.3), literary and lexical sources^25 the plough
was used not only for soil preparation but also for sowing (Maeda 1995 ). For such
purposes the ploughs received funnel-shaped seeders fastened on the shaft or at the
side of the frame, behind the ploughshare. Seeder ploughs used special (obviously
lighter) ploughshares. The mechanization of sowing is one of the most significant
technological innovations of Mesopotamian agriculture (Pettinato and Waetzoldt
1975 ). Sowing by means of a seeder on a moving plough allowed the deposition of
grain into the soil at a regular depth and at regular intervals. This encouraged the
growth and stalk-building of the plants and ensured more efficient harvesting. The
use of the seeder plough also brought a 30 per cent saving of seed compared with
manual broadcasting out of a basket. The sowing itself was a demanding procedure,
requiring cooperation between ploughman and the ‘seeder man’, who had to take
care in measuring out the seed.^26 In ‘The Farmer’s Instructions’ the ploughman
instructs his son to sow into eight furrows per 1 nindan,^27 which means into furrows
spaced at an interval of 0. 75 m ( 1 nindan = approximately 6 m).
HIGH YIELDS?Herodotus (Hist. I, 193 ) and Pliny the Elder (Hist. Nat. 18. 21 , 94 – 95 ) cite yield
figures with a seed–yield ratio 1 : 200 – 300 , the famous ‘hundredfold harvest’, for Near
Eastern agricultural systems. They refer to the Ancient Near East as a ‘blessed land’,
where yields much surpassed those usual for Greece. Both authors are likely to have
cited the seed–yield ratio in accordance with the agriculture cycle from fertilization
to the following long-term fallow period. They might also have added yields for the
entire tenancy period, which might have extended over three, five, or even ten years.
The Old Testament (Exodus 23 : 10 – 11 ) prescribed at least one annual fallow period
after a six-year cerealicultural cycle. It seems that the data from the New Testament
(Mark 5 : 8 , Luke 8 : 8 ), giving the seed–yield ratios of 1 : 100 , 1 : 60 and 1 : 30 ), must
be divided by the year count of such a cycle. This results in real harvest estimates of
1 : 16. 6 , 1 : 10 and 1 : 5.^28
The situation in the dry-farming area above the 300 mm isohyet is illuminated
by sources from the fifteenth–thirteenth centuries BC. After thorough soil preparation
and relying on normal precipitation, farmers around Nuzi managed to attain seed–yield
ratios of 1 : 4 and 1 : 7 and the same figures are valid for arid and semi-arid steppes
of both North Africa and the Sahel belt, as well as for Afghanistan, West Pakistan
and India. The seed–yield ratios beween 1 : 3 and 1 : 7 are thus not exceptional. The
higher yields ( 1 : 16 and more) over short time periods could have been achieved only
in South Mesopotamia, on fertile fluvial sediments, where cereal ridges were properly
leached prior to sowing and irrigated several times during the growth period. The
relatively wide spacing of the furrows may imply that the plants were hoed manually,
a significant expenditure of labour. The economic texts do not give any figures as to
how many seeds actually sprouted. The grain counts for ‘Sumerian’ seeder ploughs
resulted in the seed loss of some 20 per cent, but still more than 100 stalks with
fertile ears grew out of 100 seeds after putting up shoots. Well-watered and well-
drained fields in semi-arid steppes can give yields of 800 – 1 , 000 kg per hectare, with
seed quantities beween 35 and 50 kg per hectare.
— Blahoslav Hrusˇka —