EGYPTIAN AGRICULTURE. 375 



tised there, for it is said that the plains of Jordan were watered 

 everywhere, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of 

 Egypt. Such is the amount of agricultural information con- 

 tained in the writings of Moses, from which the general conclu- 

 sion is that agriculture in the East has been practised, in all or 

 most of its branches, from time immemorial. 



Agriculture of Egypt. The origin of agriculture has been 

 sought by modern philosophers in natural circumstances. Man, 

 in his rudest state, they consider, would first live on fruits or 

 roots ; afterwards, by hunting or fishing ; next, by the pasturage 

 of animals ; and lastly, to all of these he would add the raising 

 of grain. The culture of the soil for this purpose is supposed 

 to have been first practised in imitation of the effects produced 

 by the sand and mud left by the inundations of rivers. These 

 take place, more or less, in every country, and their effects on 

 the herbage, which spontaneously springs up among the depos- 

 ited sand and mud, must at a very early period have excited the 

 attention of the people. 



This hypothesis seems supported by the traditions and natu- 

 ral circumstances of Egypt, a country overflowed by a river, 

 civilized from time immemorial, and so abundant in grain as 

 to be called the granary of the world. The situation and 

 natural phenomena of Upper Egypt rendered it fitter for the 

 invention of cultivation than the low country ; for, while Lower 

 Egypt was a marsh, formed by the deposits of the Nile, the 

 principal part of Upper Egypt was a valley, a few leagues 

 broad, bounded by mountains, and on both sides declining to 

 the river. Hence it was overflowed only for a certain time 

 and season. The waters rapidly declined, and the ground, en- 

 riched by the mud, was soon dry and in a state fit to receive 

 seed. The process of cultivation in this country was also most 

 obvious and natural ; for the ground being every year covered 

 with mud brought from the Nile, and plants springing up spon- 

 taneously after its recession, must have given the hint that 

 nothing more was necessary than to scatter the seeds and they 

 would vegetate. Secondly, the ground was prepared by nature 

 for receiving the seed, and required only stirring sufficient to 

 cover it. From this phenomenon the surrounding nations 

 learned two things : first, that the ground before sowing should 



