Ancient Egyptians depended on the seasonal floods to bring fresh, fertile soil deposits to the farmland each year. Without the floods and the industrious work of the farmers, the advanced society would have crumbled. Sixth grade students explore how the Nile affected farming, various tools the Egyptian farmers used, methods of irrigation that kept the plants watered and methods the community used to divert the floods that fed the crops so it wouldn't destroy homes.
River of Life
The Nile was crucial to Egyptian agriculture. Students can demonstrate how the Nile enriched farmland each year and how the farmers utilized it to feed their crops. Use a long deep pan with an inclined bottom where students can use dirt, clay, silt, rocks and water to create a landscape model of the Nile river. Add water using tubing or poured water to explore how the river moved fertile sediment into the fields. Consider steps farmers took to prepare for the floods each year. Discuss what would happen if the Nile floods came early, had too much or too little water during the flood season and how to protect young crops from late floods.
The Egyptians planned their communities around the Nile to take advantage of the area. They set aside areas to plant crops on the fertile soil watered by the Nile, living space so workers could get to the fields, and areas where merchants, artisans and other trades could supply the needs of the people. Have students build a model of the settlement that demonstrates how the Egyptians organized their communities to take advantage of the Nile without jeopardizing their living areas during the flood season.
Efficient Farming Techniques
Very early Egyptians used the single sowing method, inserting a stick into the dirt, dropping the seed, and covering the hole. Later Egyptians perfected advanced methods of plowing, using animal-drawn plows to cut a channels in the soil, and humans to scatter seeds. Challenge students to use raw materials, such as rock, wood, rope and metal to produce rudimentary plows such as the ones Egyptians used.
The wheat and barley harvests supplied a significant portion of the Egyptian diet. Have students illustrate and describe the function of the tools ancient farmers used in the grain fields, such as sickles, sheave baskets and threshing equipment. Present other Egyptian crops, such as dates, leeks, onions and grapes, and discuss appropriate tools for each type of harvest. Demonstrate ways to store each crop to ensure pests did not consume the crop before the people could.
Irrigation was a fact of life for the Egyptian farmer and for those who lived in small settlements in the desert. Students can create canal models that farmers used to transport water from the river to the fields. Students can construct and demonstrate the shaduf irrigation tool and why it was more efficient than hauling water to crops on foot. Students might also discuss wells as a source of water and where wells were more common than canals and shadufs.
- New York City Department of Education Department of Social Studies: Egypt Past and Present
- History for Kids: Egyptian Farming
- HistoryontheNet.com: The Egyptians -- Farming
- Tour Egypt: Ancient Egyptian Agriculture
- The Tech Museum of Innovation: Farming in Ancient Mesopotamia: An Ancient Civil Engineering Problem
- Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images