What type of irrigation was used in ancient egypt

This soil allowed the ancient Egyptian to grow crops. The crops needed water to grow. These early people invented a system of canals that they dug to irrigate their crops. They also built gates into these canals so that they could control the flow of water. They built reservoirs to hold water supplies in case of drought. Shadoofs: The ancient Egyptians also used water wheels. The water wheels worked the shadoofs. A shadoof was simply a counterweight system, a long pole with a bucket on one end and a weight on the other.

Buckets were dropped into the Nile, filled with water, and raised with water wheels. Then oxen swung the pole so that the water could be emptied into narrow canals or waterways that were used to irrigate the crops. It was a clever system, and it worked very well.

Nilometers: They also invented what is called a nilometer. A nilometer was used to predict flood levels. This instrument was a method of marking the height of the Nile over the years. Nilometers were spaced along the Nile River. They acted as an early warning system, alerting these early people that waters were not as high as usual, so they could prepare for a drought or for unusually high flood waters. Because the flooding of the Nile was so important to these ancient people, nilometers were permanent structures and well constructed so that any prediction of flooding, or lack of it, would be as accurate as possible.

Egyptian Irrigation. Farming in Ancient Egypt. For 5, years - Nile Valley Basin Irrigation. Reference work entry First Online: 27 March How to cite. This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access. Bowman, A. Agriculture in Egypt: Pharaonic to modern times. Rogan Eds.

Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar. Brown, N. Past and Present, , — CrossRef Google Scholar. Butzer, K. Early hydraulic civilization in Egypt: A study in cultural ecology. Sargon's son Sennacherib also developed waterworks by damming the Tebitu River and using a canal to bring water to Nineveh, where the water could be used for irrigation without hoisting devices.

During high water in the spring, overflows were handled by a municipal canebrake that was built to develop marshes used as game preserves for deer and wild boar, and birch-breeding areas. When this system was outgrown, a new canal, nearly 19 kilometers 30 miles long, was built, with an aqueduct that had a layer of concrete or mortar under the upper layer of stone to prevent leakage. During the earliest years of canal irrigation in Mexico, the technology changed little, as there are very few remains of these systems.

The technological achievements were not very great prior to around to B. Storage dams were constructed of blocks mortared together as opposed to the earlier ones constructed of loosely piled rocks. Some of the spillways were improved, and floodgates were used in some spillways. Some of the dams could even be classified as arch dams. The canals were modified somewhat during this time. Different cross-sectional areas were used, and some were lined with stone slabs.

During this time, crops were irrigated with more carefully controlled water as opposed to the earlier methods of somewhat haphazard flooding. Between and B. The channelization of streambeds, along with the excavation of canals and the construction of dams, was probably the most significant.

In a brief period, the technology of canal irrigation improved significantly; however, the technology stopped developing after B. Around C. The Hohokam and the Chaco regional systems stand out as two of the major prehistoric developments in the American Southwest.

These two systems expanded over broad geographic areas of similar size the Hohokam in Arizona and the Chacoans in New Mexico. These systems were of the similar time period but seemed to have developed and functioned independently, with little interaction. The Chaco and the Hohokam systems evolved in quite different environments, having considerably different irrigation infrastructure. These Hohokam Indian canal builders were given the name later by the Pima Indians. Even though the Indians of Arizona began limited farming nearly 3, years ago, the construction of the Hohokam irrigation systems probably did not begin until a few centuries C.

It is unknown who originated the idea of irrigation in Arizona, whether it was local technology or introduced to them from cultures in Mexico. A major flood in ultimately destroyed the canal networks, resulting in movement of the people.

Canal use was either quite limited or entirely absent among the Pima Indians, who were the successors to the Hohokams Indians.

A square piece of land containing the same area could be worked to much greater advantage. The accompanying map Pl. VII shows the subdivisions of the farm- ing lands of the village of Talbia, near Cairo. The holdings are small in the neighborhood of this village and the land is quite productive.

The areas of ten farms, selected more or less at random, ranged from 0. Any small district throughout which the productiveness aind there- fore the rate of taxation is unusually uniform is known as a hod. The farms of each hod are numbered independently. The official records therefore may refer to farm No. The maps compiled from government surveys show the farms and hods with their numbers, permitting any particular farm to be identi- fied.

Fences are not provided along farm boundaries, as they would occupy too much land. In the surveys for the finance ministry, villages are mapped inde- pendently. It is almost impossible to make up from these separate surveys a general map showing a number of villages, as the boundaries of the villages are irregular and discrepancies always occur in approx- imate work of this kind.

A survey of the boundary between two villages defined by a canal or other water course may be made during the season of high water. At the time it may be impossible to locate the water channel accurately on the map. If the adjoining village be surveyed during low water, it is easy to see that maps made from the surveys would not fit when applied to each other. Outside of these surveys, the Government possesses little information regarding the topography of the country.

Under the French occupation some general surveys were made, but no monuments were established. The English engineers are making 30 a survey of Egypt and are establishing monuments in some cases. It is doubtful whether these will have any great permanent value as they are not tied to guide meridians or standard parallels.

The lack of monuments in the surveys of the villages makes it necessary for the farmers in the districts inundated to resurvey their lands after each subsidence of the water.

A few permanent monuments may always be found in the villages and from these the rest of the land is laid out.

The work is repeated until a majority are satisfied that the land has been properly measured. It would cost the farmer only 5 or 10 cents per stone to establish permanent monuments at the corners of his farm, but so fixed has become the custom of remeasuring the land each year that it is preferred to a more convenient system. English engineers in the survey department are handicapped not only by their inability to secure the best kind of assistance in the field, but by existing surveys recognized by the native farmer.

The Egyptian has a special formula for computing the area of land to which he adheres with a steadfastness which would be praise- worthy in a better cause.

For instance, when a triangular piece of ground is to be surveyed, only the lengths of the sides are taken. To compute the area the lengths of two adjacent sides are added, the sum is divided by 2, and this quotient is multiplied by the length of the remaining side divided by 2. If the figure happens to be a quadri- lateral, the two opposite sides are added together and divided by 2 and the quotient is multiplied by the two remaining sides added together and divided by 2.

Putting the formula in. The formula for the area of a triangle never gives accurate results. The formula for a quadrilateral is correct only when the figure is a rectangle. A few years ago an investigation was made to determine the average size of the land holdings in Egypt. At the same time considerable information was gathered regarding the number of farms and as to whether the owners were natives or foreigners.

It was found that foreigners owned 5, farms, having a total area of , acres. The average size of these farms was therefore There were 22, farms owned by natives who, having considerable influ- ence, had secured titles to large areas under the conditions prevail- ing prior to the occupation of the English.

These people held 1,, acres, the average size of the holdings. There were ,S10 farms belonging to the peasantry. They owned 2,, acres, making the average size of their holdings 5.

The total number of farms in Egypt was 53Q-, The total culti- vated area exclusive of state lands and the area administered by the Daira Sanieh was 4, The average size of an Egyptian farm was therefore 8. The total population of Egypt at the time the census was taken was 6,,, so that one person in twelve was a landowner, while 80 per cent of the landholders owned less than 10 acres each.

The cost of raising different crops, as well as the yield of the same, varies greatly throughout Egypt. Crops grown in the winter on lands employing the basin system of irrigation can be matured much cheaper than those grown under perennial irrigation where water must be lifted.

In the best agricultural districts of Upper Egypt sugar cane-is the most valuable crop. If the land is rented the tenant probably pays from one-third to one-half of the crop to the owner. The principal crops grown there in order of their importance are sugar cane, cotton, wheat, Indian corn, millet, vegetables, beans, 32 and clover.

Some fruit is grown, especially in the Faum, w oranges, lemons, limes, olives, etc. In the southern half of the delta sugar cane is grown principi. The cost of raising the cane there is about t same as in Upper Egypt, but the net profit derived from the ground is about twice as great. Fruits of different kinds are among the most A profitable crops of this portion of Egypt. The date is grown exten-iI sively, and a special tax is levied on this fruit.

When a tree is t down another must be planted in its place. Considerable land is devote to the growing of different vegetables. While some cotton is grown in the northern half of the delta, this'ii portion of Egypt must be regarded as essentially a rice district.

Much of the rice grown in this portion of Egypt is planted on ground which is being reclaimed and put Indian co barley, wheat, and clover are the other crops grown in the north portion of the delta.

Some fruit is produced in the vicinity of th towns and villages. Originally all of the agricultural lands along the Nile, except narrow strip, depended upon the flood of the river for irrigation. But one crop could be grown each year, and this in the winter time. Dur- ing the remainder of the year the land remained fallow. Most of thej. If the Nile failed rise sufficiently high to furnish water for the basins, consider suffering resulted.

If the river was too high, embankments wo break, levees would be washed away, and widespread desolation w result. It was not only necessary to fill the basins with water, bu If the land failed to receive the deposit of red mud, thel'.

Emptying the basins was even more difficult:th:n filling them. The lower basins had to be emptied first, dr, if igood. S Deot.

O'f ce rr E o' S'atinr. Irr'g3'"n In Ies ';a'-7 ns. FIG 1. If one of the embankments of an upper basin broke, it meant devastation to everything below.

The basins could not be emptied until the Nile began to recede, and there was nearly as much danger in having the flood continue too long as in not having a suffi cient supply of water. This system has survived to the present time.

While the basins first laid out were crude, they have developed after many years of experience into well-regulated systems.

Expensive regulators have been constructed and canals have been made large enough to carry water to supply the land they were intended to serve. The escapes into the Nile have been perfected.

The land near the Nile is above the level of the adjoining farms tig. For this reason it is difficult to fill the basins near the Nile embankments. The grade of the Nile varies from one-half to one-third of a foot per mile. Owing to this slight fall the canals have to be quite large, because their grade must be less than that of the river. Even under the most favorable conditions they can not gain more than :a small fraction of a FEET 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, a 10 FIG.

When a canal reaches the edge of the desert, or. The second canal proceeds in the same way and siphons under the third. By this system canals can be made to serve the entire area of agricultural land. VIII shows a portion of the Nile Valley in the province of Keneh where the river has a general course from east to west. The strip of irrigated land, bounded by right lines. It will be seen that the Rannan Canal heads at the right.

The latter canal is on a higher line at their intersection and waters the elevated lands along the berm of the Nile for 12 miles below the siphon. The Rannan Canal continues westerly and soon covers all the land to the border of the desert. Just No. The basin boundaries are shown by dotted lines.

The canal and basin system on the north side of the river are also shown. There are small areas here and there in Upper Egypt which are irrigated from wells, but the larger part of the land is still flooded by the Nile and enriched by its sediment, as it has been for thousands of years past.

But this ancient system of irrigation has one great drawback-but one crop can be raised each year, while all other conditions, except the water supply, favor the raising of several crops.

Recognizing this, Mohammed Ali in began reforms looking to the supplying of water to crops during the whole year. The great barrage at the head of the delta was begun in , as a part of the plans for peren- nial irrigation.

The first perennial canals were in the delta and the Fayum, but the system is being gradually extended to the south, the country between Cairo and Assiut being in a state of transition, and the recent great works at Assuan and Assiut being for the purpose of increasing the area supplied with water throughout the year.

The returns from the soil have been greatly increased by the adop- tion of perennial irrigation. However, this system is accompanied with certain drawbacks. Only by the old flood-irrigation system can the land receive any considerable amount of rich Nile silt, and when two or three crops per year are taken from the ground the soil deteri- orates quite rapidly. Artificial fertilizers are necessary, and these. The principal supply of fertilizer at present is from the ruins of old towns and villages.

This is simply the Nile deposit which has been used in times past in the manufacture of brick for the construction of houses, impregnated with more or less fertiliz- ing matter derived from the village wastes. Long lines of camels may be seen carrying this material to the farms. IX, fig. Sometimes it is to be transported 10 or 15 miles or farther, each camel carrying about pounds, distributed between two wicker panniers thrown across his back.

As has just been pointed out, there are at the present time two kinds of canals in Egypt. First, the perennial canals of the delta, which date from the time of Mohammed Ali; the Ibraimia canal, and the canals of the Fayum, built like those in the United States, with the idea of receiving water throughout the year or whenever crops need irrigation. The water of these canals generally runs below the level of the irrigated lands. Second, the flood canals, for filling the.

These supply all the basins in that province during the flood season. The only area watered throughout the year is a narrow strip bordering the Nile and other water courses carrying a supply at all times. In the province of Keneh there are 8 canals taking water from the west bank of the river and 13 diverting water from the east bank. In the province of Girgeh 11 canals divert water from the left and 5 from the right bank. Among those on the left bank is the great Sohagia Canal, one of the oldest water channels in Egypt.

It supplies , acres of land. At its lower extremity the Yusef Canal begins, being a continu- ation of the Sohagia. So ancient are these channels that they have lost much of their resemblance to the canals of to-day and are now con- sidered natural channels. They are very tortuous, and run at but slightly higher levels than the Nile.

At its head the Sohagia is feet wide on the bottom, feet wide on top, and carries a maxi- mum of 18 feet of water in depth. Its discharge is about 15, cubic feet per second.

The canal is separated by embankments from the first basins it supplies. In the basins farther north the canal embankments are omitted. Here the canal is not a boundary line between basins, but flows through each. The length of the canal is about 60 miles. Just below its point of diversion from the river an immense masonry head gate has been erected. It is many times too large for the volume of water carried by the canal, and it would look much more in keeping with the surroundings if the canal were two or three times larger.

The head gate contains archways, each of which is nearly 10 feet wide. The foundation, which rests upon sand and gravel mixed with Nile mud, is feet wide and 61 feet thick. The superstructure is of brick, except the corner. The piers are g4 feet thick, and are about 20 feet high from the foundation to the springing line of the arch- ways. The discharge is regulated by raising or lowering flashboards by means of a winch carried on a car running along the top of the structure.

The basins filled by the canal are emptied at an escape not far from Assiut. Until recently they were drained by simply making a cut in the basin dike, permitting the water to flow back into the Nile.

This was a very dangerous and destructive practice and has been reformed by the installation of a masonry escape. In the province of Assiut two canals divert water from the left and eight from the right bank of the river. On the left bank there are also six laterals of the Ibraimia Canal.

The Ibraimia Canal was never supplied with a head gate until recently, when the construction of the Assiut dam made it necessary that the discharge of the canal be controlled at Assiut, where immense masonry 36 regulators and division gates have been put in.

At Dirut there is a wasteway in the canal, through which the surplus water can flow back into the Nile. Just below the wasteway the division gates are located, and at this point the Yusef and two. The length of the Ibraimia Canal from Dirut to its lower terminus is about miles. It flows almost parallel to the Nile, and in no place is it over 2 or 3 miles from the river.

At Dirut the width of the canal on : the bottom is about 65 feet, and the slopes of its banks are 2 horizontal. The depth of water in the canal when full is about 30 feet. The water supplied to the Ibraimia Canal at Assiut serves to irrigate over 1, About , acres of this is i still irrigated under the ancient basin system.

The Yusef Canal supplies a number of basins along its course, but its principal duty is to furnish the Fayum province with water for perennial irrigation. The cross-section dimensions of this canal are I very irregular.

It averages about feet in width on the bottom and has a depth of about 20 feet. There are levees on each side, however, which enable it to carry 30 feet of water at high Nile. During May and June it carries about cubic feet of water per second. During high Nile the discharge is about 30, cubic feet per second. Dur- ing low water summer cultivation is prohibited along the canal except in the Fayum province. The entrance to this province is between two desert plateaus, and the low gap is closed by a dike which completely separates the province from the Nile Valley proper.

The Yusef Canal crosses this dike on a masonry structure composed of three arches. The Fayum province was formerly cultivated as the valley of the Nile had always been, but perennial irrigation is practiced at the present time, owing to the increased supply of water furnished by the canal. At the town of Medinet the canal separates into many smaller ditches, and a large part of the province is watered by these.

About , acres are cultivated in the province. The slope of the land in the Fayum is greater than in any other farming district of Egypt. All the land in the province drains into Lake Kerun, which is feet below the level of the Mediterranean. In the province of Minieh three canals divert water from the right bank of the river.

The three canals on the left bank are laterals of the Ibraimia Canal. These are quite important among the distributing works of the province. In the province of Benisouef six canals take water from the left and two from the right bank of the river. There is one important branch of the Ibraimia Canal in this province.

In the province of Gizeh three canals take water from the left and one from the right bank of the river. Below Cairo there are many canals Pls. X and XXIV.

The principal ones are those leaving the Nile at the barrage and the Ismailia Canal, which diverts water from the river at Cairo. The Egyptian Govern- ment entered into an agreement, with the Suez Canal Company to construct a navigable waterway from the Nile to some point on the Suez Canal. The canal was not only to be navigable, but was to be capable of furnishing fresh water to the towns along the main canal and the branch beginning at Ismailia and running parallel with the Suez Canal to the town of Suez.

In addition, the canal was to supply water for the irrigation of a considerable area ceded by the government to the company. The contract stipulated that the canal should be so con- structed as to contain 8 feet of water in depth during flood season of the Nile, 6' feet at mean discharge, and 31 feet at low water.

The canal has two head gates, the older one being in the city of Cairo. The second head gate is about 4- miles north of Cairo, from which point a branch canal 24 miles long connects with the main channel 54 miles northeast of Cairo. For some distance the canal runs northeasterly along the edge of the desert, after which it turns to the east through a gap in the desert hills and continues to the town of Ismailia. For some 40 miles from Cairo it runs above the level of the surrounding country, and the water is confined between two parallel embankments.

This has resulted in considerable seepage, which has destroyed large areas adjoining the canal. Some work has been done toward draining a por- tion of this country. Just before reaching Ismailia a branch of the canal takes off to the south and terminates at the town of Suez.

In digging the canal some traces of an ancient channel leading in the same direction were discovered. Historical accounts of an older canal have been found. About B. The length of the branch leading south from Ismailia to Suez is about 53 miles. The bottom width of the main canal is about 40 feet. The slopes are 3 to 1. The bot- tom width of the branch canal leading to Suez is only about 25 feet, but the channel was not well excavated and the width is not uniform.

In places it does not exceed 16 feet. Many important masonry struc- tures are found throughout the length of the canal.

Swing bridges are numerous, and substantial head gates and regulators are found wherever the discharge of the canal has to be changed. Owing to the depth to which the canal has been dug, and the necessity for keeping it cleaned out so that it will carry sufficient water for navigation dur- ing low stages of the Nile, large quantities of silt have to be removed each year. Formerly this deposit frequently amounted to , cubic yards each season.

It has been reduced to about , cubic 38 yards by partially closing the head gates of the main canal during high water and supplying it through the smaller canal already referred to, diverting water 4- miles north of Cairo.

Considerable work is required each year at the head gate of the supply canal. It is over a quarter of a mile from the bank of the river. The channel leading to this head gate fills with back water from the river during high Nile and immense quantities of mud are deposited.

Many of the canals in the delta are ancient river channels. Those taking water from the Nile at the barrage are artificial. Among these latter is the Manufia Canal frontispiece , which is one of the most celebrated in Egypt.

It furnishes water for the irrigation of nearly all the land in the delta lying between the two branches of the Nile. The head gate of the canal is similar in design to the barrage itself.

XI, fig. A lock has been provided at the head gate, and the canal furnishes an important waterway for the internal commerce of the delta. The canal is from to feet wide on the bottom, and at high water carries nearly 30 feet of water in depth. Its summer discharge is nearly 4,o00 cubic feet per second. The Tewfiki Canal diverts water from the Damietta branch of the Nile at the eastern extremity of the barrage.

It was begun many years ago, but was not finished until after the occupation by the English. It furnishes water for a large area lying east of the Dami- etta branch, and its construction has added greatly to the value of this region through the introduction of perennial irrigation. The Behera Canal leaves the Rosetta branch of the Nile at the western extremity of the barrage.

It is about 60 feet wide on the bottom, with slopes of 2 to 1. It runs for a considerable distance along the margin of the desert, hence receives large volumes of sand which, with the silt deposited during high Nile, have to be cleaned from the channel each year. Until recently nearly 1. The Behera Canal is about 25 miles long. It has about the same dimensions as the Behera Canal.

It supplies all the smaller canals to the north and west. The surplus water from the drainage of the land it serves flows into Lake Mareotis. The Mahmoudia Canal begins 34 miles from the barrage of the Rosetta branch of the Nile.

This canal runs for about 45 miles to the northwest and ends at Alexandria. It supplies fresh water for that city besides furnishing water for irrigating a large area. The Mahmoudia Canal has for a long time been supplied with water by means of immense pumps located at Atfeh.

Since the repair of the barrage the pumps of Katatbeh have been removed to Mex, i which station keeps down the level of Lake Mareotis. Nearly all large public works in Egypt have been constructed by the corvee See p. The system was much abused when the English began their occupation in As soon as possible some relief was afforded the corvie by direct appropriations, under which a part of those employed on public works were paid for their labor at a price fixed by the government.

These appropriations were increased until in all work of cleaning canals was paid for. Since that time the corvee has been called out only for the protection of the Nile levees during flood season, a period of from sixty to ninety days. While thou- sands of men are thus compelled to give their time without compensa- tion, it is for the public benefit, and the length of their service is short, seldom longer than fifteen or twenty days.

But little complaint is now heard, as the work is necessary and the. The time will doubtless come when this ser-ice will also be paid for. The manner in which the native digs or cleans canals is interesting. His one tool. The engineers measure the material which is to be removed, and each man or party excavates a certain section contain- ing a known yardage.

Frequently a number of men will work together, one using a hoe and the others carrying baskets holding FIG.. The earth is loosened and the baskets tilled by the use of the hoe. Where dry sand is encountered the hands are used to till these baskets.

Children are often seen carrying the baskets, but the hoe is nearly always handled by the men. Under this method of excavation canal sections are made smoother and more regular than under the methods commonly employed in the United States.

Steps of earth are left in the banks, enabling those carrying material to walk with considerable ease.