They usually had a small square house or pavilion with wooden columns, surrounded by a wall, Within the wall was a basin surrounded by a row of trees. Made of painted and gessoed wood, originally from Thebes.įuneral gardens were miniature versions of house gardens that were placed in tombs. Funeral gardens A funerary model of a garden, dating to the Eleventh dynasty of Egypt, circa 2009–1998 BC. These gardens also produced medicinal herbs and spices such as cumin, marjoram, anise, and coriander. Flowers were part of all the religious ceremonies during the time of the god Amon. Temple gardens often were the homes of animals sacred to the gods, such as the ibis and the baboon. This goddess was believed to carry water to the dead to quench their thirst. During the time of Amenophis III, some temples were devoted to a goddess in the form of a tree, with a trunk for a body and branches for arms. When rows of trees were planted far from the river, wells had to be dug ten meters deep to reach water for irrigation. The temples themselves had esplanades planted with trees. Rows of trees sometimes stretched for several kilometers, connecting several temples. Temple gardens often had rows of fig trees and sycamores (the tree sacred to the goddess Hathor), tamarisks, willows, or palm trees. The hymns painted on the walls of tombs show that religious ceremonies centered on the cycles of nature and the changing seasons. The Temple of Amun at Karnak had twenty-six kitchen gardens, alongside a very early botanical garden, which, according to an inscription, contained "all kinds of beautiful flowers and bizarre plants which are found in the divine land which His Majesty has conquered." (Royal Museum of Art and History, Brussels) Temple gardens Gardens of Amun from the Temple of Karnak, mural in the tomb of Nakh, the chief gardener, early 14th century BC. The walls and columns were decorated with colorful paintings of people, animals, and plants such as the poppy and rose. The pond was often surrounded by walls or columns supporting grapevines. The edges of the water basins were sloping, with a stairway down one side so gardeners could collect water for irrigation. Around the pond were successive rows of trees, including sycamores, palms, and pomegranates, alternating with flower beds. They had a pond, usually rectangular, in the center, filled with colorful fish, with lotus blossoms in the water and flowers around the edges. According to paintings in tombs in Thebes from the 18th Dynasty (1552–1296 BC), gardens of that time had a standard design. Pleasure gardens īeginning during the time of the New Kingdom, pleasure gardens became a common feature of luxury residences. The rulers of ancient Egypt, such as Queen Hatshepsut (1503–1482 BC) and Ramses III (1198–1166 BC), used pots to bring back to Egypt new kinds of trees and flowers discovered during their conquests in Libya, Syria, and Cyrenia. In the second millennium BC, the garden pond of King Sneferu was large enough for boats rowed by twenty oarsmen. The ponds of palace gardens were enormous and numerous. These gardens were very large in scale, and were laid out in geometric patterns. Palace gardens first appeared in Egypt just before the Middle Empire (2035–1668). Temple gardens were used to raise certain vegetables for ceremonies. Beginning during the New Kingdom, gardens were attached to more luxurious residences and were sometimes enclosed by walls. Secular gardens were located near the river or canals and were used mainly for growing vegetables. Gardens belonged to temples or the residences. The earliest gardens were composed of planting beds divided into squares by earthen walls, so the water could soak into the soil rather than be lost. Water was hoisted from the Nile in leather buckets and carried on the shoulders to the gardens, and later, beginning in about the 14th century B.C., lifted from wells by hoists with counterbalancing weights called shadouf in Arabic. The history and character of gardens in ancient Egypt, like all aspects of Egyptian life, depended upon the Nile, and the network of canals that drew water from it. Temples, palaces, and private residences had their own gardens, and models of gardens were sometimes placed in tombs so their owners could enjoy them in their afterlife. Gradually as the country became richer, they evolved into pleasure gardens with flowers, ponds and valleys of fruit and shade trees. The gardens of ancient Egypt probably began as simple fruit orchards and vegetable gardens, irrigated with water from the Nile. Rectangular fishpond with ducks and lotus planted round with date palms and fruit trees, in a fresco from the Tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, 18th Dynasty
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