Herodotus once said: “Egypt is the gift of the
Nile”. Surrounded by the inhospitable Sahara desert, the Nile provides life. Its floods, rich
with silts, made the river’s shores one of the most fertile lands on the planet, providing
bountiful harvests for the ancient Egyptians. However, these floods could also
displace countless numbers of Egyptians. This made controlling the Nile
waters crucial to ensure prosperity. This begs the question: How did
ancient Egypt control the Nile? intro Our story begins during the Bronze age, with Egypt
being ruled by its 12th Dynasty. This Dynasty is known to have built numerous projects aimed at
increasing the agricultural output of Egypt. The region that saw the most investment by
these pharaohs is now known as the Faiyum, back then known as the ta-she which means “land
of the lakes”. This name comes from the fact that the region lay in a depression that filled
up with water whenever the Nile overflooded, creating many lakes. This made the region
so lush that numerous groups of people came from the surrounding arid plateaus to settle,
attracted by the abundant game and grasses. As such, many a pharaoh tried to take advantage
of this land and built many irrigation systems in the Faiyum. Nevertheless, it is believed that
during the reign of Amenemhat III, in the 19th century BCE, a canal linking the Nile to the
Faiyum was opened. This canal would branch off from the Nile in the city of Assiut. From there it
would follow the previously mentioned depression, although now expanded, flowing parallel to the
Nile for hundreds of kilometres until it reached the city of Lahun, where stood a dam which
served as a regulatory station for the canal. There the waterway would
be either closed or opened depending on the time of the year. When
the dam’s sluices were closed in January, the waterways would be drained and cleared
in order to be ready for the year's flood. Officially, after crossing this dam, one
would find themselves in the Faiyum proper. where the remainder of the canal would discharge
into Lake Moeris, which during the flood season was estimated to double in size, providing the
Egyptians with 27,000 new acres of farmland. Nowadays, this canal is known as the Bahr
Yussef, but to the Greeks, it was known as Dioryx Megale – The Great Canal. This title is well
justified as its construction revolutionalized the Faiyum for millennia to come. Still being used to
this very day, as an important irrigation system. If you’re interested in the other
great canals of ancient Egypt, be sure to check out our two preceding videos on
this very topic - linked in the description below.
