IRRIGATION OF THE ANCIENTS. 



THERE'S NOTHING XEW UNDER THE SUN. 



Years ago and not so many years either to mention irrigation 

 was to call forth the query: "Irrigation, what's that? Oh, yes, they 

 use that out west in the deserts." Such ignorance has now become 

 enlightened through the work of the irrigation congresses, and of in- 

 dividuals, and irrigation is recognized as a potent factor in agriculture 

 in the humid as well as the desert regions. But we are still prone to 

 regard this artificial watering as something new, forgetting the many 

 years it has been practiced in other countries and by other people. 

 It is new to us but history proves it to be almost as ancient as agri- 

 culture itself. 



The first reservoir or artificial lake of which there is authentic 

 record was constructed, so it is claimed, in 2084 B. C., and was sup- 

 posed to have been built for the purpose of. regulating the floods of 

 the Nile. From this date we can gain an idea of the antiquity of ir- 

 rigation. The subject is a very interesting one and is ably treated by 

 Prof. F. H. King in his recently published work on "Irrigation and 

 Drainage,"* under the chapter heading of "The Extent and Geograph- 

 ic Range of Irrigation." In this chapter a concise history is given of 

 the early irrigation works, beginning with Lake Maefis, the first re- 

 servoir ever built, and which communicated with the Nile through a 

 -canal 12 miles long and 50 feet wide. Of this Prof. King says: 



"When the river rose to a height of 24 feet, and was likely to be 

 disastrous to crops, the sluices were opened and the river relieved by 

 sending the flood into this lake, which modern travelers give a cir- 

 cumference of 50 miles; but at times of low water, when drouth was 

 threatened, the gates could be opened and the volume of the stream 

 reinforced by the water stored in this reservoir. 



"Sesostris. who reigned in Egypt in 1491 B. C., is said to have 

 had a great number of canals cut for the purpose of trade and irriga- 

 tion, and to have designed the first canal to connect the Red Sea with 

 the Mediterranean, which was continued by Darius but abandoned by 

 him, and ultimately completed under the Ptolemies. So numerous 

 are the irrigation canals of Egypt that it is estimated that not more 

 than one-tenth of the water which enters Egypt by the Nile finds its 

 way into the Mediterranean Sea. 



"The Assyrians appear to have been equally renowned with the 

 Egyptians, from very ancient times, for their skill and ingenuity in 



Irrigation and Drainage. By Prof. F. H. King. The Macmillan Co., New York, publishers. 



