Evidence suggests that the Egyptians irrigated land along the Nike beginning about 5000 BC. The Sumerian began to use irrigation around 2400 BC and the Chinese began around 2200 BC.
Predynastic settlers in northern Egypt inaugurated irrigation projects, from the base on the floodplain margins, during the fifth and fourth millennia BC, tackling the hydraulic problems of the bottomlands by draining the swamps and cutting down the thickets.
The development of irrigation marks a major step in the expansion of agriculture. The Egyptians and Babylonians built dams to store water the Persian built extensive tunnels to bring water down from the hills, many are in use today. It is in Egypt that the remains of one of the oldest known dams, the Sadd-el-Kafara dam, built during the period 2950 to 2750 BC. It was designed to retain a reservoir in the Wadi el-Garawi, near Helwan, south of Cairo.
Around 3100 BC a ruler named Menes united Egypt and established first dynasty or ruling family. One of the King Menes’ first great achievements after unifying Egypt was construction of an irrigation project.
The Egyptians established a ‘Department of Irrigation’ a government agency, around 2800 BC.
Ancient Egypt develop irrigation in 5000 BC
