than other beans, such as those domesticated in the Ameri-
cas. It grows well in poor soils, can thrive in some shade, and
is good for improving soils by adding nitrogen to it. Africans
used the cowpea to correct the soil in their fi elds in between
crops of millet or sorghum. Cowpeas appear to have been do-
mesticated in West Africa between 2500 and 600 b.c.e.
Groundnuts are legumes related to peanuts with pods
that ripen underground. Th ey originated in West Africa,
where they added protein to people’s diets. Th e most common
means of preparation was boiling. Like cowpeas, groundnuts
were domesticated in West Africa sometime between 2500
and 600 b.c.e.; historians do not know more precisely when
this happened.
Ethiopia, in eastern central Africa, developed its own
unique agricultural products. Tef is a grain that is similar to
millet, though tef contains more amino acids and minerals
and therefore is a more complete food than millet. It grows
well in the dry climate of the region, though it also grows
well in waterlogged soil. Insects do not eat it, so they are not
a problem during growing or storage. Cooks ground tef into
fl our to make fl atbread or boiled it to make porridge. Ancient
farmers also fed tef grain and stalks to their cattle and used
the stalks to reinforce their mud bricks. Tef was domesticated
some time before 1 c.e., most likely in western Ethiopia. It
was probably more diffi cult to domesticate than wheat. Tef
seeds are small, which makes it diffi cult to sow them evenly
and to fi nd them on the ground once they are sown. Because
tef fi elds grow unevenly, farmers have always had to weed
them by hand.
EGYPT
BY MICHAEL J. O’NEAL
Th ousands of years ago, before the existence of Egyptian civi-
lization, the regions of North Africa that surround the Nile
River were fertile grasslands and woodlands, providing farm-
land and grazing land for communities of people. Historians
estimate that around 3500 b.c.e., however, the environment
in these grasslands began to change dramatically, perhaps
because of overgrazing of the land, and eventually the region
turned into desert, primarily the Sahara. Looking for a place
where they could grow crops and keep herds of farm animals,
people migrated into the area around the Nile River, form-
ing small settlements beginning in about 3000 b.c.e. Because
Egypt then and now has almost no rainfall, the Nile, which
fl ows northward from Lake Victoria in Uganda, became the
cent ra l feature of Eg y pt ia n ag ricu lture, as wel l as of t he Eg y p-
tians’ cultural and religious life.
Th e region’s very earliest settlers relied primarily on
hunting, fi shing, and foraging. Th ey produced food, includ-
ing limited crops, only for personal consumption. Th ey were
unable to store food, so food production was limited by the
seasons. Th e development of more organized agriculture in
many senses led to the rise of Egypt as a nation, for it was only
through the agricultural surpluses that farmers produced
that Egypt was able to take part in trade and support a class
of rulers, soldiers, scholars, civil servants, and others who
made the existence of the state possible. Further, by growing
crops that could be stored, the Egyptians could maintain a
steady supply of food throughout the year. Th is enabled the
population of ancient Egypt to expand dramatically, because
famine became far less common. Without the Nile River, the
world’s longest river at 4,037 miles, ancient Egypt could not
have existed as a nation.THE FLOODPLAIN
Th e Nile River was surrounded by a fertile strip of land that
provided the ancient Egyptians with most of their material
needs. Immediately adjacent to the banks of the river was the
fl oodplain. Each year, this land fl ooded with rising waters
from the Nile, which was fed by water from monsoon rains in
Ethiopia, far to the south. In an average year, the water would
rise about 27 feet during a period called akhet, or the inun-
dation, which ran roughly from July to December, with the
fl ooding reaching its peak in late September and then begin-
ning to recede in October. During this period, the land was
fl ooded, and farm animals were moved to higher ground. Th e
fl ood waters provided not only moisture for growing crops
but also large amounts of fertile silt—that is, tiny particles
of soil that were carried and left behind by the water when
it receded. Th is silt was rich in nutrients, and it was in the
waterlogged silt that the Egyptians planted their crops. Th e
soil was so rich that it was black, causing the area oft en to be
referred to as the Black Land.
In addition to the fl oodplain were higher elevations
around the river. Th ese areas of low desert did not become
fl ooded, so they were not used extensively for crops. Th ey
were used primarily for hunting and burial of the dead. At
still higher elevations away from the river were sparsely in-
habited desert regions. In these areas, dates and grapes were
cultivated. Traveling caravans passed through the desert, and
the dates and grapes were oft en picked up and used to trade
with other regions in North Africa and beyond. Water for
these crops had to be laboriously transported from the river.WATER MANAGEMENT
Growing crops in the fl oodplain was not simply a matter
of allowing the water to recede and then sowing seed. Th e
ancient Egyptians relied on a complex system of locks and
dams to control, contain, store, and distribute the water. Th ey
built dams at right angles to the water’s fl ow, forcing the wa-
ter into large basins that covered some 1,000 to 4,200 acres
of ground. Th ese basins were lined with clay to prevent the
water from seeping into the ground. Th e water in the basins
was then diverted by a system of dikes into canals, where it
fl owed where it was needed. Keeping this system of dikes and
canals in working order was an ongoing task. Each year every
Egyptian (and most took part in agriculture) had to move on
average about 23 cubic yards of soil to keep the canals and
dikes working properly.20 agriculture: Egypt