6 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



equally renowned with the Egyptians from the most 

 remote periods of history for their skill and ingenuity 

 in the construc5lion of hydraulic works. Through the 

 foresight, enterprise, and energy of their rulers they 

 converted the sterile country in the valleys of the Eu- 

 phrates and Tigris into fertility, which was the theme 

 of wonder and admiration of the ancient historians. 

 The country below Hit on the Euphrates, andSamarra 

 on the Tigris, was at one time intersecfled with numer- 

 ous canals, one of the most ancient and important of 

 which, called the Nahr Malikah, connecfling the Eu- 

 phrates with the Tigris, is attributed by tradition to 

 Nimrod, King of Babel, 2204 B.C., while other histo- 

 rians assert that Nebuchadnezzar construdled it. 



Among the ancient works at Babylon, with its 

 fabled hanging gardens, was a lake 42 miles in circum- 

 ference and 35 feet deep, to store the flood- waters of 

 the Euphrates and distribute them for irrigation. The 

 Nahrawn canal, taken from the Tigris river, was over 

 400 miles long, and varied in width from 250 to 400 

 feet, and from numerous branches on both sides it irri- 

 gated a very extensive area of country, while at the 

 same time it was also available for navigation. With 

 the destrudlion of Babylon the glory of the Mesopo- 

 tamian Empire departed, the canals were negle<5led, 

 and the country described by Herodotus as being pro- 

 lific before all other lands in its produ(5lion of rye, 

 wheat, and barley has become so dry and barren that 

 it cannot be cultivated, and is inhabited only by 

 nomadic bands of Bedouins and the scurvy, wandering 

 Arabians. 



In the book of Ecclesiastes we read of the hidden 



