output was reduced. In general, though, the Nile Valley pro-
duced an abundance of food. Th is surplus enabled the state to
support traders, merchants, craft smen, civil servants, priests,
an army, scribes, and others who contributed to the rise of
Egyptian civilization. Without this surplus, people would
have been limited to subsistence agriculture, or agriculture
that provided just enough food for a family to stay alive. Fur-
ther, the abundance of grain enabled ancient Egypt to engage
in trade with neighboring regions. By trading its surplus of
grain, the nation was able to acquire many commodities, in-
cluding lumber, metals, precious and semiprecious stones,
minerals, and the like.
HORTICULTURE
Th e word agriculture refers to the cultivation of major crops
such as grains, usually grown in large fi elds and harvested a
single time at the end of a growing season. In contrast, the
word horticulture is used to refer to the cultivation of fl owers,
fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants, usually in smaller
family plots of ground. Because these plots were not irrigated
in the same way as the fi elds were in ancient Egypt, water
typically had to be carried in by hand. Also, because the soil
was poor without the silt carried by the fl ooding Nile, it had
to be fertilized. Some families kept pigeons in cages and used
the birds’ droppings to fertilize their gardens.
Th e ancient Egyptians devoted considerable energy to
horticulture. Th e earliest record of a private garden dates to
2200 b.c.e. Th e ground surrounding nearly every home had
trees that were thought to be the dwelling places of spirits
and gods. Additionally, the Egyptians cultivated fl owerbeds;
if space was limited, they grew fl owers in pots or troughs.
Flowers included poppies, cornfl owers, irises, jasmine, chry-
santhemums, ivy, mandrakes, mallows, lotus lilies, and lark-
spurs. Families grew fruit such as dates, as well as oil-bearing
trees such as the baq, or horseradish tree. Grapes were a pop-
ular crop, used in making wine. Vegetables and herbs such
as lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, beans, leeks, garlic,
dill, chickpeas, and lentils were routinely grown for family
consumption. Th e fl ower gardens attracted bees, so honey
was a staple in the ancient Egyptians’ diet. Many gardens had
ornamental ponds with fi sh.
Th e ancient Egyptians also made use of trees, shrubs,
and other plants that grew wild. Th ese plants were used to
produce dyes as well as wickerwork, including sandals, mats,
baskets, and similar items. In marshlands the Egyptians
found papyrus used to make not only paper but also amulets
thought to have magical powers. Bouquets of papyrus sym-
bolized joy and victory.
THE MIDDLE EAST
BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL
Agriculture fi rst appeared in the Near East. Th e world’s
fi rst agricultural societies appeared between 8000 and 6000
b.c.e. in an area called the Fertile Crescent, which stretches
over 1,200 miles from the Mediterranean coast of Israel and
Lebanon to the Zagros Mountains in Iraq and Iran. Climate
change made agriculture possible. At the end of the last ice
age in about 11,000 b.c.e. the climate in the Fertile Crescent
grew warmer and wetter. Th is improved growing conditions
for many local grains and other plants. Grasslands and forests
expanded, increasing the available habitats for both animals
and humans. Th e local grazing animals became more plenti-
ful along the edges of woodlands; the most common game
animals were wild sheep and goats, two species of gazelles,
onagers (wild donkeys), aurochs (wild cattle), and several
kinds of deer. Small mammals and waterfowl also thrived in
the improved climate. Wild grasses such as einkorn wheat,
wild emmer, and wild barley grew more abundant. Th ese lo-
cal plants and animals served as the raw materials that hu-
mans domesticated.
Humans had been in the area for thousands of years.
Th ey lived as hunter-gatherers, feeding themselves by gather-
ing wild plant foods and killing wild animals. Th e increased
availability of wild cereals and wild animals for meat allowed
them to expand their populations throughout the Fertile
Crescent. Groups of humans tailored their lifestyles to local
conditions. In the eastern part of the region, hunter-gather-
ers moved up and down the mountains, depending on the
season. In the spring they pursued herds of wild sheep and
goats up to higher elevations, harvesting wild grasses along
the way. In the winter they moved to lower elevations along
with their game animals. In the more temperate zone of the
western Mediterranean, groups of hunter-gatherers lived in
permanent settlements, harvesting the more than 40 spe-
cies of wild plants that grew around them and hunting and
trapping local animals. Th ese settlements were the precur-
sors to the permanent agricultural settlements established in
the next two to four millennia. Humans did not switch from
hunting and gathering to settled agriculture instantly. Th e
transition took centuries and occurred at diff erent times in
diff erent places throughout the region.FERTILE CRESCENT CROPS
Th e Fertile Crescent was an ideal location for developing
agriculture. Its climate was characterized by long, hot, dry
summers and wet winters that rarely got too cold. Th e seed-
bearing plants that grew there just aft er the last ice age were
perfect for cultivation. Th ey were annuals, which meant they
completed their life cycles in one year; because the plants’ lives
were so short, they put all their energy into making many
big seeds and little into making stalks or leaves. Th ey were
productive enough even in their undomesticated state to al-
low hunter-gatherers to live in permanent settlements largely
supported by wild plants. Th ey were easy to cultivate because
they did not have complicated fertilization requirements.
Th e Fertile Crescent had a large number of wild grains
suitable for human consumption, all of them nutritious and
high in calories. Eight separate crops launched human agri-
culture in this area. Historians call them the eight founder24 agriculture: The Middle East