page_title: Ancient Egyptian agriculture
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Ancient Egyptian agriculture / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: An exceptionally beautiful example of John Cary’s important 1805 Map of the Egypt. Covers Egypt in extraordinary detail focusing on the course of the Nile River Valley from the Delta region south to Aswan. Notes the sites of numerous riverside villages and cities as well as important ancient Egyptian ruins, Coptic and Abyssinian Monasteries, and important caravan routes between important desert oases. Also notes the locations of both Mt. Horeb and Mount Sinai, in the Sinai Peninsula. The left hand side of the map is dominated by a large inset of the Nile Delta region. This wonderful inset offers details on ancient ruins and European explorations in the region as well as noting numerous delta cities, villages, and trade routes. All in all, one of the most interesting and attractive atlas maps of Egypt to appear in first years of the 19th century. Prepared in 1805 by John Cary for issue in his magnificent 1808 New Universal Atlas .
context_page_description: Ancient Egyptian agriculture was probably the first to be practiced on a large scale. They grew staple food crops. These included grains such as emmer and barley. The earliest evidence of irrigation in the Nile area is about 3100 BC.
  They also grew flax for clothing and oil. Orchards
  and vegetable gardens were also common. Unlike other crops these were grown away from the areas flooded by the Nile river each year. Agriculture was the basis of the ancient Egyptian economy. It gave work and food for its people. It was a source of wealth for Egypt's elite. Egypt was the breadbasket for much of the ancient world.
context_section_description: The geography of ancient Egypt was unlike that in other parts of the Mediterranean region, which had rainy winters and hot dry summers. In Egypt most of farming was done near in the Nile river valley and the Nile Delta. Egypt had little rainfall and the land had to be irrigated. This was from the Nile either when flooded or normally.
  The Nile began to rise in the summer and go down again in late fall. The growing season was during the winter months. It was called Sha-et (the growing season). The second season was called P' ru-et (the dry season). This is the hot dry season when the grain was harvested and stored. The third season, She (sea) was the months during which the Nile flooded. Each season was about four months long. The fertile Nile valley is about 760 miles long and about 14 miles wide. The rest of Egypt is desert.
  This system allowed one crop a year. A shorter agricultural season meant more workers available for construction of buildings like temples and other royal buildings. Workers were also used for year-round irrigation projects. Water was usually carried manually on men's shoulders using yokes.
caption: 1805 map showing the Nile valley and Delta in detail
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