Brendan Haug, an Associate Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan, dives into the environmental history of Egypt's Fayyūm. He explores how irrigation systems shaped ancient societies and governance from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. The conversation highlights the evolution of agricultural practices and the transformation of smallholder communities into larger estates. Haug discusses the lessons of sustainability from ancient Egypt and the intricate relationship between water management and social structures.
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Haug's Personal Fayoum Journey
Brendan Haug's interest in Fayoum started from his personal experiences in arid Washington state and curiosity about human-transformed landscapes.
His dissertation evolved into a cross-period study linking ancient, medieval, and modern irrigation and settlement evidence in Fayoum.
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Challenging Collapse Narrative
Early Islamic Arabic sources portray Fayoum not as collapsed but as a paradisiacal, verdant landscape, challenging ancient historians' collapse narrative.
Integrating these sources with Greek papyri reveals a long-term continuity despite changes in settlement patterns.
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Unique Gravity-Irrigation System
Fayoum's unique below-Nile-level terrain enabled gravity-fed canals that move water efficiently, unlike flat Nile valleys.
This system fostered community cooperation but also created hierarchies and conflicts over water access.
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Garden of Egypt, Irrigation, Society, and the State in the Premodern Fayum
Garden of Egypt, Irrigation, Society, and the State in the Premodern Fayum
Irrigation, Society, and the State in the Premodern Fayyūm
Brendan Haug
Brendan Haug's "Garden of Egypt" offers a comprehensive environmental history of Egypt's Fayyum depression, spanning from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. The book meticulously examines the intricate interplay between human societies, water management, and the environment in this unique region. Haug masterfully interweaves diverse sources, including ancient Greek papyri and medieval Arabic literature, to illuminate the long-term evolution of the Fayyum's irrigation systems. The study reveals how the Nile's water, local farmers' practices, and state power continuously shaped the landscape over centuries. Ultimately, "Garden of Egypt" provides a nuanced understanding of human-environment interactions and the resilience of socio-ecological systems.
Garden of Egypt: Irrigation, Society, and the State in the Premodern Fayyūm (University of Michigan Press, 2024) is the first environmental history of Egypt’s Fayyūm depression. The book examines human relationships with flowing water from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. Until the arrival of modern perennial irrigation in the nineteenth century, the Fayyūm was the only region of premodern Egypt to be irrigated by a network of artificial canals. By linking large numbers of rural communities together in a shared dependence on this public irrigation infrastructure, canalization introduced a radically new way of interacting with both the water of the Nile and fellow farmers in Egypt. Drawing on ancient Greek papyri, medieval Arabic literature, and modern comparative evidence, Garden of Egypt explores how the Nile’s water, local farmers, and state power continually reshaped this irrigated landscape over more than 13 centuries. Following human/water relationships through both space and time further helps to erode disciplinary boundaries and bring multiple periods of Egyptian history into contact with one another.
In this episode, Ibrahim Fawzy chats with Brendan Haug about the relationship between people, water, and the environment in Egypt’s Fayyūm.
Ibrahim Fawzy is a literary translator and writer based in Boston. His interests include translation studies, Arabic literature, ecocriticism, disability studies, and migration literature.
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