Egyptian Plants
Lotus flower
Egyptian plants included many which may not be familiar
to you.
Papyrus plant
The lotus and the papyrus
plants, for instance, were (and are) very common in Egypt. Papyrus is
a kind of reed which grows in marshy areas along the banks of the Nile
River.
There were not very many trees in ancient Egypt, because there isn't
really enough water in that area to support big trees. When the Egyptians
needed wood, they had to go get it from Lebanon.
There were also plants which are more familiar in the United States
like wheat, barley,
lentils, chickpeas (garbanzos) and various vegetables. Egypt was famous
for producing huge amounts of wheat especially; under Roman
rule a lot of the wheat was sent to Rome, and then later to Constantinople.
Some of the wheat was made into beer;
Egypt is the only Mediterranean
country where people drank beer instead
of wine (though beer was also popular in Mesopotamia).
To find out more about Egyptian plants, check out these books on Amazon.com or in your local library:
Farming & Food (The Ancient Egyptians), by Jane Shuter (1998). For kids.
Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt, by Lionel Casson (revised edition 2001). Not especially for kids, but pretty entertaining reading, and Casson knows what he's talking about.
Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Cultivated Plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley, by Daniel Zohary (2001).
Main Egyptian environment page
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