Brendan Haug, an associate professor of classical studies and archivist at the University of Michigan's Egyptian papyri collection, discusses the environmental history of Egypt's Fayyūm depression. He explores the impact of irrigation on societal development from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. Notably, Haug highlights the intricate relationships between local farmers, state power, and water management. He also reflects on the challenges historians face in documenting ancient irrigation systems and how these influences resonate in contemporary agricultural practices.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Personal Journey to Fayoum Study
Brendan Haug's research interest in Fayoum grew from personal experiences and his familiarity with irrigated landscapes in Washington state.
His project expanded by integrating Greek papyri and medieval Arabic sources, bridging historical eras.
insights INSIGHT
Continuity Amidst Historical Change
Ancient and early Islamic sources reveal Fayoum's landscape did not collapse suddenly but evolved with continuity.
Islamic authors portrayed Fayoum as a verdant paradise, challenging the narrative of decline after antiquity.
insights INSIGHT
Fayoum’s Unique Irrigation System
Fayoum irrigation uses a unique gravity-fed canal system enabled by the region's below-Nile-level depression.
This system links villages in mutual dependence but also causes water access hierarchies and conflicts.
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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.
New Books in Middle Eastern Studies