THE ECONOMY OF ANCIENT EGYPT

Ancient Egypt’s economy was based on agriculture, and the rich bounty of its farmers depended on the Nile. In addition, the river’s waters and marshes were a source of fish and fowl, important parts of the ancient Egyptians' diet. The fertile soil left by the Nile’s yearly receding floodwaters provided the means for growing a wide variety of grains, vegetables, and fruits. Two of the most important crops, emmer (a type of wheat) and barley, were used to make bread and beer, the staples of the diet. After the crops were harvested, the same fields served as grazing areas for herds of cattle, sheep, and other animals, which in turn served as sources of meat and dairy products.

Farming the fields, tending livestock, hunting wildlife, and similar agrarian activities were the main duties of the majority of Egypt's lower classes. These people used simple tools, such as hoes, sickles, threshers, winnowing fans, forks, and baskets. Laborers tilled the soil by their own efforts or used plows drawn by cattle or oxen. In addition to this agrarian work, the Egyptians developed associated industries, such as beer and wine making, textile production, leather tanning, woodworking, pottery making, and baking. A portion of the crops and animal products that the farmers produced served as the raw materials for some of these industries. A portion of all the goods produced was used for bartering in the marketplace, as there was no monetary system. Taxes consumed a large share of the total production.

Much of the land was under the control of the throne or the temple, but private ownership also existed. Farmers who did not own land could lease private land, working the fields and keeping part of what they produced. Because so much depended on the Nile’s annual flood, the Egyptians sought to control as much of it as they could by constructing dikes, maintaining high walls, and digging irrigation channels. They also developed a simple mechanism to lift small amounts of water out of the channels and onto the fields. That device, called a shadoof, consists of a bucket set at one end of a counterweighted pole. It is still used today.

Despite all their efforts to control the annual flood, the ancient Egyptians could not prevent problems. An inundation that was too high could result in damaging floodwaters. One that was too low might not provide sufficient water for irrigation.

The ancient Egyptians had other natural resources besides the Nile. The country was rich in a wide variety of minerals, which the people learned to exploit early. They mined gold and copper and established a metalworking industry that produced jewelry, vessels, statues, weapons, and tools, among other objects. They learned to make bronze in around 1500 bc, but evidence for iron smelting does not appear before the 6th century bc. They quarried many types of stone, including limestone, calcite, granite, and diorite. The stoneworkers used bronze tools and hard pounding stones in the quarrying process. Stone quarrying provided the raw material for architectural projects, statues, sarcophagi, and vessels. Minerals such as galena, natron, and feldspar were also mined, as were carnelian, malachite, amethyst, and other semiprecious gemstones. Some of these minerals were used for jewelry and decorative purposes, and others were used for cosmetic and funerary preparations. The demand for various types of wood for furniture, coffins, statues, and architectural components exceeded what was available in Egypt. As a result, wood, along with oils and certain manufactured items, was among the materials for which the Egyptians traded their emmer, gold, natron, produce, and other natural resources. The Egyptians carried on trade with the Nubians and with many of the peoples of southwestern Asia, including those of Canaan, Syria, and Mesopotamia.