Why Agriculture Thrived in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

  Introduction 

Agriculture is the growing of crops and the keeping of livestock . The growing of crops is cultivation while keeping of livestock is pastoralism or herding. This is also refered to as animal husbandry. The feeding of world population depends on agriculture and the type of agriculture practised in any region of the world depends on climate, availability of labour and other resources. 

In early days man used to hunt. He moved from place to place in all sorts of weather looking for animals to kill and gathering fruits, roots and other items. As time passed man learnt to domesticated animals,he could keep them for food when weather conditions were not favourable for venturing out. The taming of animals made man to have a more settled way of life because hunting was now limited.

Factors that led to growing of crops and Rearing animals in Early Days 

• There were climatic changes that caused the animals to migrate far from their previous locations.  This made the man not to reach these animals with ease and therefore find another alternative to sustain himself and that is crop Production.
• Due to an increase in human population, man need to Provide adequate food and this could be done by carrying out agriculture. 
• People and animals were competing for food leading to scarcity of food. This forced the people to adopt cultivation. 
• Overhunting on the part of man depleted the stocks of animals that he could rely on food.
• Natural calamities such as floods, or forest fires would kill the animals and vegetation making it necessary for human beings to grow crops and keep animals. 
• Sometimes hunting and gathering had become an insecure sources of food as man would occasionally return empty handed having failed to catch anything. 
• Sometimes the weather condition was Unfavourable eg. Snow and rain that would make it uncomfortable for man to go and hunt.
• Animals could be used as a means of transport and as a source of clothing ie. From hides and skins.

Early agriculture in Egypt 

Egypt is a famous country in Africa because it came up with techniques of food production. Agriculture in Egypt was practised along the banks of river Nile. The water of river Nile deposited the silt that it had carried  from the Ethiopian and East African Highlands into Egypt. The Egyptian created their earliest farms by draining the water that caused the silt to be swampy. They dug canals from the Nile and direct the water to their farms during the dry season.  The canal irrigation replaced the basin irrigation. This was followed by the invention of the shadows. The invention of shadows consisted of a long pole that swing up and down between two supporting posts. A bucket was hung at one end and a heavy weight Attached to the other end. The bucket would be filled with water from the river which was then poured into the canal. The use of the shadoof made two Harvest in a year possible.  The Egyptian farmers grew wheat,barley, beans,cucumbers, figs,lentils, onions,grapes,dates and flax. They also reared cattle, sheep, goats,chicken, ducks, geese and bees.

Factors that led to Early agriculture in Egypt 

• Availability of water that was used for irrigation which was drawn from river Nile. 
• Availability of fertile soil from silt along the river banks of the Nile due to flooding of the river.
• Invention of durable tools such as bronze hoes which replaced previous one made from wood.
• The invention of shadoof led to increase in agricultural production as it made the farmers work easier. 
• The invention of ox-plough made it possible to cultivate larger fields faster and more efficiently and this led to an increase in food production. 
• There was high demand for food from the rising urban population. 
• The pharaohs leadership encouraged agriculture. 

Early agriculture in mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is one of the earliest areas in the world to develop farming.  Mesopotamia is surrounded by two rivers ie. R. Euphrates and river Tigris. The southern part of Mesopotamia known as Sumeria was arid and received little rain. The sumerians began to improve the land by irrigating it. They practised basin irrigation where they allowed the river to flood the plain and deposit silt on the land. Later canals were dug to channel water into the fields where dykes were constructed to prevent further flooding of the fields. 

The sumerian later invented the shadoof that was used to draw water from the liver. The water was then poured into the canals and used to irrigated the fields. This invention increased the area that was cultivated. Agriculture in mesopotamia then became the most economic activities.  The people grew grains like wheat ,barley and also grew figs,flax,olives and vegetables. They also kept cattle, goats, ducks,donkeys, horses sheep and pigs.

Factors that led to Early Agriculture in mesopotamia 

• The availability of water from river Tigris and river Euphrates that was used to irrigate the fields. 
• The fertile silt that the rivers deposited. 
• Land reclamation methods like the construction of dykes
• Labour which was provided by the local population as well as slaves.
• The inventions by sumerians such as the plough and seed drills that assisted in the production of crops, the wheel that was used on carts to transport the produce,and the clay and woven vessels that were used to store the produce.
• Availability of indigenous crops. 

Effects of early agriculture in Egypt and mesopotamia 

• There was increased production hence food was regular. 
• Increase in population as there was sufficient and nutritional food.
• Trade emerged as the people within exchanged their products with pots and tools. 
• There was invention of writing, arithmetic and Geometry due to the need to keep records.
• Shadoof irrigation methods were developed that put more land into use.
• There was emergence of urban centers such as Memphis, Thebes in Egypt and ur,Nippur and Babylon in mesopotamia. 
• Important inventions including the ox-drawn plough,seed drills and wheels were made.
• There was better standards of living and farmers settled more permanently. 
• Religion developed e.g various gods emerged that were related to agriculture. 
• There was construction of great buildings due to the emergence of mathematics and science. 
• There was growth of empires and kingdoms.
• Formal education began as people were trained in literacy and numeracy. 

Conclusion:

Agriculture in Egypt and Mesopotamia succeeded due to fertile land, irrigation, and innovation. Their farming systems shaped civilization, trade, and culture.