The pharaohs of the middle Empire tried to develop fluvial commerce with Nubia while at the same time protecting themselves from Nubia. Sesostris III extends the border of Egypt up to Semna, beyond the second cataract. A stela contains the following text: “Southern border established in year 8 of his majesty the king Khakaoure (Sesostris […]
Рубрика: Water Engineering in Ancient Civilizations. 5,000 Years of History
On the river to Nubia, navigation works on the Nile (IIIrd and IInd millennia BC)
Navigation canal at the first cataract Nubia is rich in quarries, and in gold and amethyst mines. A concerted effort to exploit these resources of the south began in the VIIth Dynasty, under the ancient Empire. But the Aswan rapids, comprising the first cataract of the Nile (Figure 3.4), present an obstacle to navigation. In […]
Sadd el Kafara11: the first known large dam… and the story of its failure
In the IIIrd or IVth dynasty, about 2700 or 2600 BC, The Egyptians undertook the construction of a dam on an ephemeral tributary of the Nile, the wadi Garawi, some ten kilometers southeast of Memphis. This effort, coinciding with the period of construction of the great pyramids of Giza, is part of the development and […]
The earliest developments in Egypt, IIIrd millennium BC
One of the first depictions of an Egyptian king is found on a macehead,[92] where the king is apparently opening a breach in a dike with a hoe, next to a man who is filling a basket with dirt. This king, called the Scorpion King from the ideogram on the mace — head, is said […]
The Nilometers
One can readily see that in Egypt, measurement of the flood level has great importance. The management of the irrigation system is based on such measurements, as are the taxes, since the agricultural yield can be deduced almost automatically from the flood level. The level is quantified using graduated scales carved into stone; Strabo calls […]
The ancestral principles of use of the Nile
An irrigation technique that is natural for the regimes of the Nile develops in the IIIrd millennium BC. The flood regime of the Nile is quite regular in time, from June to October, but is obviously of quite irregular magnitude. The earliest agriculture consisted quite simply in planting seeds in the moist soil fertilized by […]
Historical Points of Reference
The earliest Egyptian cultures evolve essentially in parallel with those of Mesopotamia, lagging only slightly. However in contrast to the agitated history of the Syro — Mesopotamian universe, the historical evolution in Egypt is relatively linear. The political unification of the twin lands (upper Egypt and the delta) occurs about 3100 BC, and clearly is […]
Ancient Egypt and the Arabia Felix, the rhythm of the flood seasons
Deserts border the two shorelines of the Red Sea. Along these shorelines are two countries whose verdant fringes have been struggling to resist the desert since the IVth millennium BC — two countries that are highly dependent on seasonal flood cycles. On the east there is Arabia Felix, present-day Yemen. On the west is Egypt, […]
On the steppes of central Asia: Irrigation in Bactria and Margiana before the arrival of Alexander the Great
Bactria, to the east of the Zagros mountains and the Iranian plateau, is connected to the Syro-Mesopotamian world through a continuous thread of ancient exchanges, and thus it also must be mentioned in this chapter. Bactria was a land of plenty and fertile valleys as noted by Strabo: “Man has only to take the trouble […]
The qanats: a new technique for obtaining water
When surface water cannot meet the needs of irrigation, one must tap groundwater. It was probably at the beginning of the Ist millennium BC, in Persia or in neighbouring lands, that a remarkable device for obtaining high quality water was invented: the qanat.[80] This word means “reed” in Akkadian. The device comprises a gallery, or […]