 THE GARDENS OF ANCIENT EGYPT BEGAN AS SIMPLE FRUIT ORCHARDS AND VEGETABLE

GARDENS, IRRIGATED WITH WATER FROM THE NILE.

 GRADUALLY AS THE COUNTRY BECAME RICHER, THEY EVOLVED INTO PLEASURE GARDENS
WITH FLOWERS, PONDS AND VALLEYS OF FRUIT AND SHADE TREES.
 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.
 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.
 FOUR MAIN CATEGORIES OF EGYPTIAN GARDEN WHICH, LOGIC SUGGESTS, DEVELOPED IN
THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE:
 FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GARDENS
 DOMESTIC GARDENS
 PALACE GARDENS
 TEMPLE AND TOMB GARDENS
 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.[1]

HISTORY

WATER WAS HOISTED FROM THE NILE IN LEATHER BUCKETS AND CARRIED ON THE SHOULDERS TO
THE GARDENS, AND LATER, BEGINNING IN ABOUT THE 4TH CENTURY B.C., LIFTED FROM WELLS BY
HOISTS WITH COUNTERBALANCING WEIGHTS CALLED SHADOUF IN ARABIC. GARDENS BELONGED TO
TEMPLES OR THE RESIDENCES. SECULAR GARDENS WERE LOCATED NEAR THE RIVER OR CANALS AND
WERE USED MAINLY FOR GROWING VEGETABLES. BEGINNING DURING THE NEW KINGDOM,
GARDENS WERE ATTACHED TO MORE LUXURIOUS RESIDENCES AND WERE SOMETIMES ENCLOSED
BY WALLS. TEMPLE GARDENS WERE USED TO RAISE CERTAIN VEGETABLES FOR CEREMONIES,

 OPEN COURTS WERE USUALLY ON THE NORTH SIDE OF DWELLINGS, FOR SHADE.
 A POOL, RECTANGULAR OR T-SHAPED, WAS THE FIRST LUXURY OF SUCH A SPACE.
 WEALTHY FAMILIES WOULD HAVE SEVERAL COURTS, SEVERAL POOLS AND AREAS FOR
DIFFERENT KINDS OF PLANT.
 THE LIVING AREA WOULD OFTEN BE SHADED BY A GRAPE VINE ON A PERGOLA. WILKINSON
OBSERVES THAT
 THE GENERAL LAYOUT OF A GARDEN AND ITS BUILDINGS FOLLOWS A TIME-HONOURED
PATTERN, WHICH CAN STILL BE SEEN TODAY IN THE HUMBLEST HOMESTEAD, FOR EXAMPLE,
IN THE OASIS OF BAHARIYA.
 THE PROPERTY IS ENCLOSED WITH A WALL ALL ROUND. INSIDE THE GATEWAY IS AN
UNROOFED COURTYARD, FILLED WITH TREES. THEN, THERE IS ANOTHER WALL AND
ANOTHER DOOR.
 THE SECOND COURTYARD IS ALSO UNROOFED, AND CONTAINS MORE TREES, PROVIDING
SHADE AND FRUIT, AND HERE THERE IS A VEGETABLE PATCH AND A VINE SHADING A WORK
AREA, OR THE ENTRANCE TO THE HOUSE.
 THIS ARRANGEMENT IS ILLUSTRATED IN ANCIENT TIMES AT AMARNA, AND IN THE TOMB OF
NEFERRONPET.
 GARDENS WERE CLOSED BY HIGH WALLS AND WERE USUALLY RECTILINEAR AND
GEOMETRICAL.
 EGYPTIAN GARDENS DIDN’T CHARACTERIZE FOR THEIR GREAT DESIGNS, BUT RATHER FOR
THEIR UTILITARIAN STYLE, WHERE EVERYTHING HAD A PURPOSE.
 IT WAS COMMON TO FIND RECTANGULAR PONDS IN THE CENTER OF THE GARDEN, THAT
DRANK FROM THE WATER CHANNELS SUPPLIED BY THE RIVER NILE, AND THAT WERE
USUALLY DECORATED WITH LOTUS FLOWERS (NYMPHAEA CARELUEA), WHOSE FLOATING
LEAVES SHADED THE FISH, AS WELL AS WITH NILE GRASS (CYPERUS PAPYRUS) AND OTHER
AQUATIC PLANTS.
 THESE GARDENS ALSO HAD COVERED BOATS, AND LOW PERGOLAS WHOSE PURPOSE WERE
TO DELINEATE AND SHADE THE PATHS THAT CONNECTED THE GARDENS WITH THEIR
HOMES.
 • EGYPTIAN GARDENS DIDN’T CHARACTERIZE FOR THEIR GREAT DESIGNS, BUT
RATHER FOR THEIR UTILITARIAN STYLE, WHERE EVERYTHING HAD A PURPOSE.
• IT WAS COMMON TO FIND RECTANGULAR PONDS IN THE CENTER OF THE GARDEN,
THAT DRANK FROM THE WATER CHANNELS SUPPLIED BY THE RIVER NILE, AND THAT WERE
USUALLY DECORATED WITH LOTUS FLOWERS (NYMPHAEA CARELUEA), WHOSE FLOATING
LEAVES SHADED THE FISH, AS WELL AS WITH NILE GRASS (CYPERUS PAPYRUS) AND OTHER
AQUATIC PLANTS.
• THESE GARDENS ALSO HAD COVERED BOATS, AND LOW PERGOLAS WHOSE
PURPOSE WERE TO DELINEATE AND SHADE THE PATHS THAT CONNECTED THE GARDENS
WITH THEIR HOMES.

 THOSE WHO COULD AFFORD TO DO SO LAID OUT GARDENS IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSES.
AND THE BUILDING MATERIAL WAS ADOBE, THAT IS, SUN-DRIED BRICKS.

 A PARADISE IS ASSUMED TO BE AN IDEAL PLACE, POSITIVE AND HARMONIOUS. THE WORD

'PARADISE' PROBABLY COMES FROM AN ANCIENT IRANIAN WORD FOR "WALLED
(ENCLOSURE)" - REFERRING TO WALLED ROYAL PARKS AND MENAGERIES. IN OTHER, OLD
CONTEXT IT MEANS GARDEN AND ORCHAND TOO.
 GARDENS WERE VERY POPULAR AND PLAYED A LARGE PART IN THE LIVES OF ANCIENT
EGYPTIANS.
 GARDENS WERE MUCH TO THEM, HIGHLY ESTEEMED, AND ALLOWING GARDEN OWNERS TO
SEE LIFE NICELY REGULATED WITHIN THE LARGE OR SMALL STRIP OF LAND - ONE THAT
FOSTERED LIFE.
 ANCIENT EGYPTIANS DESIGNED AND THRIVED IN GARDEN HOUSES, IT WAS NO MODERN
ARCHITECT WHO INVENTED THE GARDEN HOUSE CONCEPT.
 Water body- ponds
 water lilly





The ancient Egyptians grew garden vegetables, herbs and spices including onion, lentils, leek, cucumber, lettuce,

fennel, coriander and cumin. They also grew sycamore fig trees, date and dom palms, persea, pomegranate, carob

and tamarisk trees, as well as papyrus, lotus, mandrake, cornflower, poppy and marshmallow plants. Vine plants

were popular for making wine. From tomb scenes of the 18th Dynasty, we also know that fish and fowl were kept in

gardens as they were a diet staple and traditionally used as food offerings.

 Basket containing six persea fruits, about 2055 - 1650 BC

Not just an important source of food for everyday cooking and eating, gardens also provided raw ingredients and

materials for religious and funerary offerings, and for making ornamental bouquets, garlands, collars, cosmetics,

perfumes, medicinal remedies, building materials, and various everyday objects such

as baskets, ropes, mats, sandals, candle wicks and writing materials.


 Funerary garland of flowers, about 332 BC - 100 AD

Trees and plants had symbolic meanings, often related to fertility and rebirth. For example, the date palm was

associated with the sun god Re, and the dom palm was associated with the moon god Thoth. Both stood for rebirth

and nourishment. The lotus flower was linked to the myth of creation: the sun god Re emerged from a lotus flower in

the primeval waters, thus the lotus was a symbol of rebirth and fertility. Gardens depicted on tomb walls and models

of gardens placed in tombs served to help the deceased to be reborn and provide sustenance in the afterlife.

 Wall fragment from the tomb of Nebamun depicting an ancient Egyptian garden, about 1350 BC

  

 Chapels were built in gardens for religious or funerary worship. Archaeologists who excavated wealthy private

houses at Tell el-Amarna - the capital city built by king Akhenaten in the late 18th Dynasty - uncovered remains of

statues and stelae dedicated to the royal family and the sun-god Aten. They also found the remains of offering tables,

altars and fragments of scenes from the walls of these chapels depicting scenes of religious worship.

 Finally, gardens were associated with love and eroticism and were often mentioned in ancient Egyptian love poetry.

Gardens, orchards and parks in love poems are usually places where lovers meet, and where music, drinking and

dancing take place. 


The ancient Egyptians grew garden vegetables, herbs and spices including onion, lentils, leek, cucumber, lettuce, fennel,
coriander and cumin. They also grew sycamore fig trees, date and dom palms, persea, pomegranate, carob and tamarisk trees,
as well as papyrus, lotus, mandrake, cornflower, poppy and marshmallow plants. Vine plants were popular for making wine.
From tomb scenes of the 18th Dynasty, we also know that fish and fowl were kept in gardens as they were a diet staple and
traditionally used as food offerings.

Not just an important source of food for everyday cooking and eating, gardens also provided raw ingredients and materials for
religious and funerary offerings, and for making ornamental bouquets, garlands, collars, cosmetics, perfumes, medicinal
remedies, building materials, and various everyday objects such as baskets, ropes, mats, sandals, candle wicks and writing
materials.

Funerary garland of flowers, about 332 BC - 100 AD

 Funerary garland of flowers, about 332 BC - 100 AD

 TREES
 POND
 CHAPELS
 HIEROGLYPHICS
 PERGOLAS
 LOTUS

 GARDENS WERE NOT SIMPLY FOR PLEASANT ENVIRONS TO THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. THERE WERE MANY SYMBOLISMS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE ELEMENTS.
 THE PAPYRUS AND LOTUS PLANTS WERE SYMBOLIC OF THE TWO REGIONS OF LOWER AND UPPER EGYPT.
 TREES AND PLANTS HAD SYMBOLIC MEANINGS, OFTEN RELATED TO FERTILITY AND REBIRTH. FOR EXAMPLE, THE DATE PALM
WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUN GOD RE, AND THE DOM PALM WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MOON GOD THOTH. BOTH
STOOD FOR REBIRTH AND NOURISHMENT.
 THE LOTUS FLOWER WAS LINKED TO THE MYTH OF CREATION: THE SUN GOD RE EMERGED FROM A LOTUS FLOWER IN THE
PRIMEVAL WATERS, THUS THE LOTUS WAS A SYMBOL OF REBIRTH AND FERTILITY.
 GARDENS DEPICTED ON TOMB WALLS AND MODELS OF GARDENS PLACED IN TOMBS SERVED TO HELP THE DECEASED TO BE
REBORN AND PROVIDE SUSTENANCE IN THE AFTERLIFE.
 CHAPELS WERE BUILT IN GARDENS FOR RELIGIOUS OR FUNERARY WORSHIP.
 THEY ALSO FOUND THE REMAINS OF OFFERING TABLES, ALTARS AND FRAGMENTS OF SCENES FROM THE WALLS OF THESE
CHAPELS DEPICTING SCENES OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.

 FINALLY, GARDENS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH LOVE AND EROTICISM AND WERE OFTEN MENTIONED IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
LOVE POETRY. GARDENS, ORCHARDS AND PARKS IN LOVE POEMS ARE USUALLY PLACES WHERE LOVERS MEET, AND WHERE
MUSIC, DRINKING AND DANCING TAKE PLACE.