The Water Regime for Orchards and Plantations in Pharaonic Egypt

Abstract

Plantation agriculture differed from annual arable farming because of the need for investment in land development and for a perennial water supply. The typical orchard, a small walled plot containing a standing water source, is widely attested in the textual and pictorial record at all periods of Egyptian history. Differences in water management between plantation and seasonal crop cultivation are important for the history of irrigation and water control in ancient Egypt. Changes in the terminology for types of land in the New Kingdom may reflect the development of large-scale plantation agriculture in the Fayum and the Delta, which implies the use of seasonal, canal-fed rather than basin flooding of the land. It may also reflect the expansion of fully-controlled basin irrigation into previously under-developed areas. In appearance, organization, working practices, and economic role, the individual orchard changed little between the Old Kingdom and the Roman period. However, the development of plantation districts and the associated habits of water control provide a model for land development in general during the pharaonic period, and the basis for perennial irrigation in the post-pharaonic period.