“This romanticized description is nevertheless basically accurate, although it obscures the role of the constant hard work involved in digging irrigation ditches and in maintaining earthworks to prevent floods. Egypt’s prosperity was possible only because a group of disciplined village agriculturalists learned to cooperate under regional leaders who displayed remarkable intelligence and who, thereby, won power and prestige. The people called their country, The Red Land.’ As the valley communities grew more prosperous, they attracted bands of marauders who lurked in the desert and raided the villages and the caravan trails. The disciplined activity that made civilization in the valley possible began during what Egyptologists call the Predynastic Period, and the knitting together of the village communities into a nation extending from the Mediterranean to the first cataract also began in predynastic times, that is, before king lists were kept. Egyptian prehistory ended sometime during late predynastic times, when writing was adopted by priests and scribes.” “A recent definitive discussion of Egyptian prehistory and early history suggests that experience gained from flood control was used by Egyptian leaders as the basis for an elaborate engineering system to distribute Nile flood water efficiently: ‘It is sometimes forgotten that the overflowing of the Nile is not solely beneficial; it can bring disaster, and it was no doubt for themselves that the valley’s inhabitants learned to build dikes and dams to shield their villages and to dig canals to dry out their fields…. Using the dike-building and canal-digging techniques which they had perfected over the centuries, the Egyptians little by little developed the system of irrigation by basins (hods), thus securing not only their survival in a climate increasingly desert-like, but even the possibility of expansion.’ “Embankments and drains were devised to fill and empty the basins and to distribute the water equitably over wide areas.” ‘It is no exaggeration to say that this unique system of irrigation is at the very root of the development of Egyptian civilization. It explains how human ingenuity slowly managed to overcome great difficulties and succeeded in changing the valley’s natural ecology…. Egypt is not only a gift of the Nile; it is above all, a creation of man.’ “It was necessary to repair the embankments, strengthen the cross-dams, and clear the canals each year after the Nile flood.” ‘It was a continual collective task, which in primitive times was probably carried out at the level of the village. In the historic period it was conducted and supervised by the central government. If the latter failed to ensure in due time the detailed maintenance of the entire system, the next flood might carry it all away, returning the valley to its original state.’ “The central government stored grain in warehouses set up throughout the country to provide food when there were either excessive or inadequate Nile floods. Priests and scribes made up the corps of experts who maintained the complex accounting system that was necessary for efficient social control. They also kept records of past climatic conditions and possessed the knowledge of astronomy needed for guiding the farmers through their yearly cycle of agricultural activities. Writing was essential for carrying out these activities.” St. Clair Drake “Black Folk Here and There Volume 1” Page 148
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 00:42:58 +0000
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