In the time of the pharoahs Egypt was divided into the Black Land of the Nile Valley and the Red Land of the desert. Most of the desert near the valley is a reddish colour. You can tell where the antiquities were by a slight white tinge to the desert where the stone chips still cover the sand after the limestone was cut up. The black soil of the valley used to be replenished by the silt from the Nile during the yearly flood. Now it is replenished by the addition of the manure from the water buffalo, silt dug out of the canals during dredging and the careful rotation of the crops by the farmers.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The Black Land
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
and what is grown in that black soil?
Good morning Maryanne, I've been looking forward to your next blog. I think I mentioned to you that my daughter and I visited last year and it was the most fascinating time. I'm reading the Wilbur Smith Egyptian series at the mo, and it's so great to hear you talk about the same things!
The winter crop was berseem clover which is a nitrogen fixer as well as being a nutritious animal feed. Now it's been plowed possibly for okra, corn, or perhaps a new crop here, a South African grass grown for forage.
thanks.
Post a Comment