Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

waters of the Nile could be introduced inland for fertil-
ization of lands. Early farmers dug trenches from the Nile
shore to the farmlands, using draw wells, crude irrigation
tools, and then the SHADUF, a primitive machine that
allowed them to raise levels of water from the Nile into
canals. The shadufwas introduced into Egypt by the HYK-
SOS, or Asiatics (1600–1500 B.C.E.). Fields thus irrigated
produced abundant annual crops.
From the Predynastic Period, agriculture was the
mainstay of the Egyptian economy. Most Egyptians were
employed in agricultural labors, either on their own lands
or on the estates of the temples or nobles. Control of irri-
gation became a major concern, and provincial officials
were held responsible for the regulation of water. The
storage of crops occurred at the local level and at royal
granaries in the capital, and assessors were sent from the
capital to the provinces to collect taxes in the form of
grain. The local temples of the gods also had vast fields,
with their own irrigation needs. The temples had storage
units and were subject to taxes in most eras, unless
exempted for a particular reason or favor.

Agriculture began in the FAIYUMand in the DELTA

regions well before the start of the Dynastic Period, c.

2920 B.C.E. Normally the Egyptians plowed the fields

with oxen, and teams of two men each worked to form

shallow furrows for the seeds. One man guided the plow,

and the other led the oxen through the designated pat-

tern. Some tomb reliefs depict the activity and show a

second plow being dragged behind the first one. The sec-

ond implement turned up the earth between the furrows.

If the farmers wanted only the top layer of soil tilled in

any season, they used lighter plows, normally pushed by

the farm workers. In any case the furrows had to be bro-

ken up after the initial plowing. Men and women entered

the fields with simple wooden hoes to break up the

clumps of earth. The sowing of the fields was a two-part

activity in most areas. The farmers put the seed in the

earth and then drove herds of sheep or swine into the

fields to trample the seeds deep into the furrows. Nor-

mally crops were harvested with sickles. Barley, emmer,

and other grains were gathered with such tools and taken

to the local threshing areas, where again animals were

agriculture 1 1

A tomb display of agriculture, dating to the New Kingdom Period and portraying harvesters in the fields.(Hulton Archive.)