Flax harvest (ancient Egypt)
| Flax harvest in hieroglyphics | ||||||||
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| Old empire |
Tjat-mehau ṯ3t-mḥˁw Picking up the flax plants |
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Weha-mehau Wḥ3-mḥˁw Tearing out the flax plants / cutting down the flax plants |
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Tjat-mehau ṯ3t-mḥˁw digging up the flax plants |
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The flax harvest was a central theme in agriculture and in the cult of the dead in ancient Egypt . The best attested older forms of representation were in the world chamber of the solar sanctuary of Niuserre (2455 to 2420 BC). In the New Kingdom , the flax harvest was a popular iconographic motif in the Book of the Dead in connection with Sechet-iaru .
Flax cultivation and harvest
The basis of agricultural planning was the ancient Egyptian lunar calendar , which had the advantage over the ancient Egyptian administrative calendar that the seasons did not move through the ancient Egyptian calendar year.
Cultivation
Since the cultivation of flax does not place any special demands on the soil, it could be grown in ancient Egypt on the other side of the Nile . Another requirement was a good water supply in the main growth phase in February / March .
The sowing took place in the month of Rekeh-nedjes ( January , from the New Kingdom month Pharmouthi ), immediately after the coldest season, which in ancient Egypt lasted from December to the beginning of January.
Pick out
During the ripening period in February and March the flax had to be freed of weeds and bad vegetation, as in the case of wheat cultivation . The Egyptians called this activity, which lasted until the harvest, of picking up the flax plants .
Harvesting and tying the flax
The harvest usually began in the month of Chonsu (end of March, from the New Kingdom month of Pachon ) and lasted only eight to ten days, as the seed pods burst open when fully ripe in the month of Chenti-chet ( April , from the New Kingdom month Payni ) .
After the harvest ( cutting down the flax plants ), the possible uses began to be divided into the areas of medicine , clothing and other utensils. In further processing, for example, the activity of drawing out and binding is known to produce the necessary flax fiber .
In the depictions, the determinative of the man standing almost upright was chosen for aesthetic reasons, in order to make the activity carried out in the crouching position on the harvested flax tuft look more artistic.
Mention of the flax blossom in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament , the flax blossom (February / March) is mentioned in the account of the ten plagues in connection with the seventh plague: the flax and the barley were smashed; for the barley had just set ears and the flax was in bloom. ( 2 Mos 9,31 EU )
literature
- Elmar Edel : On the inscriptions on the seasonal reliefs of the "World Chamber" from the solar sanctuary of Niuserre, part 2 . In: News from the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, No. 5 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1964, pp. 167–170.