Irrigation in ancient egypt

Some of the earliest forms of irrigations were pioneered in the Nile River Delta by the ancient Egyptians over 5000 years ago. These innovations helped fuel social and cultural development by providing abundant resources which allowed the ancient Egyptians focus their efforts toward other innovations such as Art, Mathematics, Shipbuilding, Architecture, and Medicine.

Egypt may be a region dominated by desert, but it has one significant source of water. The Nile River. The Nile River provided more than just water though. Each summer the Nile River floods because of heavy monsoon like rains that originate in the higher elevations of the Ethiopian highlands. The heavy rains would flow down the mountain sides, eroding soil as it traveled downstream to the rivers delta where it would drain into the Mediterranean Sea. The nutrient rich silt carried by the floods wake would provide the rich soil that would enable the growth of crops in a barren sand covered desert. The Ancient Egyptians were not limited to semiannual planting seasons unlike the Mesopotamians who relied on the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which would carry less silt downstream. With each successive seasonal flood the soil would be renewed and become prime farming land once again

The first method of irrigation devised by the Ancient Egyptians would be the basin method. The Ancient Egyptians would essentially dig a simple basin in the ground prior to the seasonal floods. Then the Ancient Egyptians would surround the basin with a rock or dirt wall to help retain more water. When the seasonal floods would arrive in summer the basins would then fill with fresh silt and water.

These yearly seasonal floods provided the nutrients and water needed for a s...

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...er flood level would not provide enough water and an extremely high flood level would wash away the levees and dams used to divert the water. To aid in predicting the yearly flood cycle the Ancient Egyptians invented one of the earliest forms of flood gauges. The Nilometer was a stone vertical column that would be placed along the rivers bank. On that column they would etch marks to indicate the current level of the river. These measurements could then be recorded by Ancient Egyptian priests. Now scholars and priests could forecast when the anticipated flood would arrive with greater precision. Later designs of the Nilometer would become more ornate and moved inside of temples. The Ancient Egyptians would channel river water into the temple though a series of canals into a well like structure not unlike the canals they used to irrigate their farmland with.