ra, gave immense opportunities to the
industrious farmer. The normal rise of the Nile was sixteen cubits at
the island of Roda, and two cubits more or less caused a failure of the
harvest. In the paintings we see gardens irrigated by handbuckets and
_shadufs_; the latter (buckets hung on a lever-pole) were probably the
usual means of raising water for the fields in ancient times, and still
are common in Egypt and Nubia, although water-wheels have been known
since the Ptolemaic age, if not earlier. Probably a certain amount of
cultivation was possible all the year round, and there was perhaps a
succession of harvests; but there was a pause after the main harvests
were gathered in by the end of April, and from then till June was the
period in which taxes were collected and loans were repaid. Under the
Ptolemaic regime the records show a great variety of crops, wheat and
barley being probably the largest (see B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt,
_Tebtunis Papyri_, i. 560; J. P. Mahaffy and J. G. Smyly, _Petrie
Papyri_, iii. p. 205). Earlier the _boti_, in Greek [Greek: olyra]
(spelt? or durra?) was the main crop, and earlier again inferior
varieties of wheat and barley took the lead, with _boti_ apparently in
the second place. The bread was mainly made of _boti_, the beer of
barley. There were green crops such as clover, and lentils, peas, beans,
radishes, onions, lettuces (as a vegetable and for oil), castor oil and
flax were grown. The principal fruit trees were the date palm, useful
also for its wood and fibre, the pomegranate, fig and fig-sycamore. The
vine was much cultivated in early times, and the vintage is a subject
frequently depicted. Later the wine of the Mareotic region near
Alexandria was celebrated even amongst Roman epicures. Papyrus, which
grew wild in the marshes, was also cultivated, at least in the later
ages: its stems were used for boat-building, and according to the
classical authors for rope-making, as well as for the famous writing
material. About the 8th century A.D. paper drove the latter out of use,
and the papyrus plant quickly became extinct. The Indian lotus described
by Herodotus is found in deposits of the Roman age. Native lotuses, blue
and white, were much used for decoration in garlands, &c., also the
chrysanthemum and the corn-flower.

See chapters on plant remains by Newberry in W. M. F. Petrie, _Hawara,
Biahmu, and Arsinoe_ (London, 1889); _Kahun, Gurob and Hawara_ (1890);
V. Loret, _