Ancient Egyptian Irrigation practices

Egypt , the Nile River:

The Nile is the longest (6741km) and most predictable river in the world.

The flooding of the nile is very regular, and hence was good for farmers who wanted to know when to plant crops.

Near the mouth of the Nile there are many small streams (braided river formation) which create a delta of flat well watered fertile land.

The Nile did not have a problem with Salinization because there was plenty of water.

63% of the inhabited area of Egypt was in the Nile Delta.

Sources of the Nile:

1. Snowmelt from the highlands

2. Summer monsoon rains in Ethiopia, the water comes from the tributary called the Blue Nile

3. Springfed lake in Uganda, the water comes from the tributary called the White Nile. This makes the Nile very reliable

Nile Valley:

The Nile Valley is an elongated oasis that is 3km wide and runs along the banks of the Nile. It is cultivable.

Fruit trees are planted along the banks of the Nile to stabilize the riverbanks, ie: to act as natural levees by preventing floods. The fuit trees also provide sustenance.

The Nile Floods:

In summer months, namely July, the Nile rises (the watertable). In September the Nile reaches it’s peak level (watertable-wise), and in December it recedes.

The Nile provided Egyptians the chance to grow crops directly after the Nile flooded.

The flooding of the Nile could also be destructive. If the annual flood was too high villages would be destroyed (the houses partially washed away). If the annual flood were too low the land would be turned to an infertile dust, and there would be a famine.

1/5 floods were either too low or too high.

Ancient Egyptians:

The Ancient Egyptians settled along the banks of the Nile and the Nile Delta.

They called the region Kemet or ‘Black Land’ because of the fertile black silt left behind by the annual inundation of the Nile.

Nile Delta:

Near the Mediteranean sea the Nile is braided, because of sediment build up and continuous depositing.

The Nile Delta had sediment deposits which were mounds of clay and silt, ie: islands. These islands were 1m to 12m above the surface.

Early people settled on these mounds because they were high enough to not be affected by the flooding. These people also settled here because of the easy access to water.

The Nilometer, Irrigation techniques:

The Nilometer was a measuring device which allowed Ancient Egyptians to record the various heights of the water flow of the Nile during the year.

It had a staircase to walk down and a pole with different increments for measurement on it.

Records were kept on papyrus.

The Egyptians had several Nilometers along the Nile.

Shaduf:

Used From around 1550BC to 1295 BC. The Shaduf is the oldest form of irrigation in Egypt.

The Shaduf worked like a lever. One end of the Shaduf had a weight made of brick which acted as a counter balance. The other end had a bucket which one would fill with water and then swing around to deposit the water on the bank or inside of some ceramic so that one could bring it elsewhere.

Primarily used to lift water from ditches and wells to water orcards and gardens.

Channels, Egyptian advanced irrigation:

High channels were built anlong the river bank. Channels were used to captore flood waters which would later be stored for future use.

Basins, Egyptian advanced irrigation:

Basins were flat bottomed vessels in which the Egyptians stored the excess flood water.

Basins were built along the river bank.

Sluices, Egyptian advanced irrigation:

Sluices diverted wter into basins during the peak river flow.

The purpose of Sluices was to divert water, thus prevents flooding.

Channels-->Sluices-->basins.

Nile and its Tributaries:

For the last 1500km that the Nile passes through the Sahara Desert it has no tributaries.

The White Nile and the Blue Nile are two of the Nile’s tributaries.

The small number of tributaries that the Nile has is the reason why it is so predictable.

The Nile and irrigation:

The Nile was too powerful to control by building dams, so the Egyptians adopted a ‘passive’ irrigation attitude toward it.

The Widest area of agricultural land was 2-3 km away from the Nile. Therefore Ditches and Canals did not have to be too long because farmer’s fields were located so closely to the shores of the Nile.

Overall the Egyptian irrigation system was local and therefore sustainable.