DOI Artikel:
Ellison, Rosemary: The agriculture of Mesopotamia c. 3000-600 B.C.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0181
THE AGRICULTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA
c. 3000-600 B.C.
By
Rosemary Ellison
By the third millennium B.C. the main
method of food production in Mesopotamia
was agriculture. Cultivated cereal crops had
become the staple foodstuff, without which
the people of Mesopotamia could not sur-
vive. Fruit and vegetables were grown and
herds of sheep, goats and cattle were kept for
their dairy produce, meat, wool, hair, hides
and dung. Life was dominated by agriculture
which fed the population and supported the
economies of the towns.
The main sources of evidence are the bot-
anical and faunal remains, settlement surveys
from which probable irrigation patterns can
be deduced, artistic representations on cylin-
der seals, plaques and reliefs showing agri-
cultural tools and methods and the remains
of actual tools found during excavations.
The cuneiform texts also provide an invalu-
able source of information.
Crop Preferences
The most important crops grown in
Mesopotamia were the cereals. These in-
cluded barley, different types of wheat, mil-
let and rice. The evidence for the last two is
scarce: an imprint of a millet grain was found
on a pottery lid at Jemdet Nasr dating to
c. 3000 BC and about 800 cc of millet were
found at Nimrud dating to the seventh cen-
tury B.C. (Helbaek 1966, 615). Millet was
also found at Assur among vegetable remains
in a bowl set in a grave (Andre W. 1906, 10)
and it is recorded in texts at Nippur and at
Nuzi (CAD Vol. 3, 171). The evidence for
rice is even slighter, and it probably did not
arrive as a crop until the Assyrian period or
later (Postgate 1973, 205, No. 207, line 11).
There is plenty of evidence for the cultiva-
tion of barley and wheat. Both six-row and
two-row barley were cultivated in the Near
East from the seventh millennium and the
palaeobotanical material shows that both
continued to be cultivated into the first mil-
lennium. In general, the two-row barley was
grown in the mountainous areas and the six-
row in areas where there was irrigation.
Emmer wheat had been cultivated in the
Near East since the seventh millennium B.C.
and is present in early levels in sites in Iraq,
Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor as well as in
Europe. Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum)
and Club wheat (fPriticum compactum) have
been found in sites dating from 6000 B.C.
Palaeobotanical remains show all three con-
tinued into the first millennium (Renfrew
1973; Ellison et. al. 1978, 167-77).
The cereals most frequently referred to in
the texts are barley, emmer wheat, and an-
other type of wheat, probably bread wheat.
The identification of words with types of
cereals is not straight-forward. Terms for
more than one type of barley and emmer-
wheat are found in the texts marking distinc-
tions in colour and possibly species. These
terms usually appear in texts of the third
c. 3000-600 B.C.
By
Rosemary Ellison
By the third millennium B.C. the main
method of food production in Mesopotamia
was agriculture. Cultivated cereal crops had
become the staple foodstuff, without which
the people of Mesopotamia could not sur-
vive. Fruit and vegetables were grown and
herds of sheep, goats and cattle were kept for
their dairy produce, meat, wool, hair, hides
and dung. Life was dominated by agriculture
which fed the population and supported the
economies of the towns.
The main sources of evidence are the bot-
anical and faunal remains, settlement surveys
from which probable irrigation patterns can
be deduced, artistic representations on cylin-
der seals, plaques and reliefs showing agri-
cultural tools and methods and the remains
of actual tools found during excavations.
The cuneiform texts also provide an invalu-
able source of information.
Crop Preferences
The most important crops grown in
Mesopotamia were the cereals. These in-
cluded barley, different types of wheat, mil-
let and rice. The evidence for the last two is
scarce: an imprint of a millet grain was found
on a pottery lid at Jemdet Nasr dating to
c. 3000 BC and about 800 cc of millet were
found at Nimrud dating to the seventh cen-
tury B.C. (Helbaek 1966, 615). Millet was
also found at Assur among vegetable remains
in a bowl set in a grave (Andre W. 1906, 10)
and it is recorded in texts at Nippur and at
Nuzi (CAD Vol. 3, 171). The evidence for
rice is even slighter, and it probably did not
arrive as a crop until the Assyrian period or
later (Postgate 1973, 205, No. 207, line 11).
There is plenty of evidence for the cultiva-
tion of barley and wheat. Both six-row and
two-row barley were cultivated in the Near
East from the seventh millennium and the
palaeobotanical material shows that both
continued to be cultivated into the first mil-
lennium. In general, the two-row barley was
grown in the mountainous areas and the six-
row in areas where there was irrigation.
Emmer wheat had been cultivated in the
Near East since the seventh millennium B.C.
and is present in early levels in sites in Iraq,
Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor as well as in
Europe. Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum)
and Club wheat (fPriticum compactum) have
been found in sites dating from 6000 B.C.
Palaeobotanical remains show all three con-
tinued into the first millennium (Renfrew
1973; Ellison et. al. 1978, 167-77).
The cereals most frequently referred to in
the texts are barley, emmer wheat, and an-
other type of wheat, probably bread wheat.
The identification of words with types of
cereals is not straight-forward. Terms for
more than one type of barley and emmer-
wheat are found in the texts marking distinc-
tions in colour and possibly species. These
terms usually appear in texts of the third