Learn about the basic agricultural food production techniques, and understand how the Nile was at the center of Ancient Egypt wealth.
While crops were cultivated in different cases around the desert, most of the arable lands were near the Nile.
Two types of cereal grain were cultivated: barley, and an ancient wheat known as emmer.
These two key ingredients contributed in establishing bread and beer as the staple of the Egyptian diet, and the basis of its economy.
The Ptolemaic era created an agricultural revolution with the introduction of advanced agricultural techniques and new grain types such as rice, durum wheat and pearl millet.
The resulting agricultural mass production greatly increased the economy of ancient Egypt. It also prompted the development of storage and transportation, allowing long-distance trade with other regions.
Both bread and beer rations were part of a system of barter payment. The state used those goods to pay wages for those who worked in the quarries and at the construction sites.
Beer was so important to ancient Egyptians they had a goddess of beer brewing: Tenenet.
Tenenet is seen in many paintings and sculptures with beer, and women are depicted as the primary beer makers.
In order to increase agricultural production, fertile land was divided into plots, and large agricultural villages were encouraged.
The state and temples were the biggest landowners. Depending on the region, fertile land was managed by civil servants, or rented to individuals.
Ancient Egyptians relied on rudimentary tools for land cultivation. Soil was broken down with hoes, and wing plows were used to make furrows.
The three seasons known as Akhet, Peret and Shemu corresponded to a specific phase of the agricultural process and the river's natural changes.
Akhet, was the time of the flood, beginning with the appearance of the star Sirius in July.
Peret was the time when lands were cultivated, plowed and sown. This fell between October and November.
Shemu ran from May to September, and was when harvesting and taxation began.
The pharaoh's duty was to uphold order against chaos, and provide for his people. Priests and local governors also wanted to appear as protectors of the people.
However, any variation in the Nile's seasons could cause water shortages. This had devastatingconsequences on wheat and barley crops.
The pharaoh, administrators and priests knew they needed to demonstrate their ability to prevent such a catastrophe from happening, and so they invented the story which would be inscribed upon the Famine stela.
The story begins with the pharaoh worried for his people. The Nile hasn't flooded in years and his people are starving. In search of the origins of the flooding, Djoser seeks out Khnum, the protector god of the region and the source of the drought.
Djoser gives the god offerings and orders his priests to restore the temple of Khnum. These offerings please the god, and the floods are restored.
This story was intended to highlight the importance of the deity in everyone's daily lives, while also demonstrating the crucial role that the priests and the king played in feeding and protecting the people of Egypt.