Agriculture in ancient Egypt __ A good overview of ancient Egyptian agriculture for middle grade students. - illustrated - From nefertiti.iwebland.com - http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/timelines/topics/agriculture.htm

Agriculture of ancient Greece __ "Agriculture was the foundation of the Ancient Greek economy. Nearly 80% of the population was involved in this activity." An encyclopedic article. - illustrated - From wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_of_ancient_Greece 

Ancient Chinese Rice Archaeology Project __ You will find numerous papers dealing with ancient farming practice in China. - From an assortment of scholars - http://www.carleton.ca/~bgordon/Rice/.

Ancient Egypt: Farming __ "Most Egyptian people were farmers. Their main crops were the staples of life - emmer wheat and barley for making bread and beer, and flax for making linen cloth." A brief article about Egyptian farming. Links to related material. - illustrated - From University of Chicago - http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/EGYPT/farming.html
 
Ancient Egyptian Farming __ "Hope you were able to afford a few animals such as some goats, pigs, ducks, cows, and geese. Animals were one of the most important things about farming. Animals helped you with jobs like trampling in the seeds, pulling your plow, eating unwanted grain or wheat and providing you with food and drink." A brief but good overview of ancient Egyptian farming techniques. - From Dragonstrike.com - http://www.dragonstrike.com/egypt/farm.htm

Ancient Egyptian Gardens and Garden Living __ The garden was an integral part of middle and upper class Egyptian homes and lives. "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 not modern architect who invented the Garden House concept." - illustrated - From T. Kinnes - http://oaks.nvg.org/sa5ra5.html

Ancient Farming Rituals of Sri Lanka __Rice cultivation in ancient Sri Lanka was treated with the greatest respect. Since the people were unaware of natural causes for crop failure or success, they used ritual to appease an unseen god or demon. Learn how these actions lead to effective farm practices. - FromRohan Jayetilleke/Sunday Observer - http://www.lankalibrary.com/rit/farming.htm

Ancient Kernel: Clue to Origins of Farming? __ "The earliest sign of agriculture in North America -- a tiny kernel of corn -- has been found in an Arizona cave by archaeologists at Berkeley and the University of New Mexico." A brief article. - From University of California, Berkeley - http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/1999/0224/kernel.html

Ancient System Helps Peruvian Farmers Handle Drought, Floods, Frost __ "Known as "waru waru," in the local Quechua language, the technique has proven an inexpensive way to improve crop yields and ease the punishing effects of farming at 12,500 feet above sea level on the Andean plains." A system which faded a thousand years ago is back producing crops. - illustrated - From USA Today - http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2003-08-05-peru-farming_x.htm

Egypt: Ancient Egypt Farming __ "As early as the fifth millennium BC, the Egyptians realized the extraordinary fruitfulness of their fields and the secret behind it - the deposits of black silt borne down by the river in flood time. Hence they called the soil of the Nile valley 'black earth' (kemet), as distinct from the 'red earth' (deshret) of the desert." Read a good synopsis of ancient Egyptian farming methods. - illustrated - From InterCity Oz, Inc. - http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/lifeinEgypt11.htm

Gardening History Timeline . . . __ Here is a timeline of gardening and farming from ancient times to the 16th century. - By Michael P. Garofalo - http://www.gardendigest.com/timegl.htm#Start

Gardens in Ancient Egypt __ A garden was very much a part of an ancient Egyptian home. "Gardens at private houses and villas before the N.K. were mostly used for growing vegetables and located close to a canal or the river. However, in the N.K. they were often surrounded by walls and their purpose incorporated pleasure and beauty besides utility." An overview of ancient Egyptian gardening and a list of some flowers and trees they used. - From philae.nu - http://www.philae.nu/akhet/Garden.html 
 
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon __ "Some stories indicate the Hanging Gardens towered hundreds of feet into the air, but archaeological explorations indicate a more modest, but still impressive, height." - illustrated - By Lee Krystek - http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm

Heathrow Dig Reveals Ancient Farming __ "Shedding new light on the development of farming, the archaeologists found that field boundaries laid down as early as 2,000 B.C. continued to be shown on maps in the 20th century." A brief news story about archaeological excavation at Heathrow International Airport. - illustrated - From The discovery Channel - http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20030804/heathrow.html

History of Botanical Concepts - Some Notes __ The notes and links here cover early European botany from ancient times till about 1500 CE. - illustrated - From University of Toronto - http://www.botany.utoronto.ca/courses/BOT307/F_Organization/307notes09.html

History of Horticulture __ "Mankind has been practicing horticulture for at least 11,000 years. We know from archaeological evidence that rice was grown in China in about 9,500 B.C. Wheat and barley were grown by people in the area of present-day Iraq in about 8,000 B.C. Around the same time, millet was grown in Africa. Man probably began experimenting with the cultivation of wild plants well before then." - illustrated - From Artzia - http://artzia.com/Home/Garden/History/

Hohokam Farming Systems __ The subtitle of this is "How to survive 1,000 years in the desert." "The Hohokam did it from at least 500 to 1450 A.D. by being farmers and environmentalists at the same time. As farmers, they adapted their subsistence strategies to specific environmental conditions. As environmentalists, they used resources conservatively and minimized their impact on the ecosystem on which they depended." You will find a brief but interesting paper. - From International Ag-Sieve - http://fadr.msu.ru/rodale/agsieve/txt/vol5/3/art1.html

Hos-McGrane - Ancient History - The Vikings__ "A Viking farm had a lot of different sections to it. On one side of the farm there are the fields. In these field the Vikings grew flax for making clothes, barley, green vegetables such as beans and cabbage (these were grown in the vegetable garden), turnips, wheat, rye, etc." A good overview of a Viking farm. - illustrated - By M. Hos-McGrane - http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/viking/eg_viking_8.html

Mesopotamia __ "The following are raw research notes on the development of farming in Ancient Mesopotamia." Links to other ancient farming notes too. Brief overview. - From historylink101.com - http://historylink101.com/lessons/farm-city/mes1.htm

Parks and Gardens - A Never Ending Quest for Beauty and Harmony __ While this may seem a strange name for a gardening website, it is about gardening in ancient Rome. "Roman masters used the accomplishments of classic Greece not only in the fields of architecture and sculpture, but also in the principles of garden building. However, the conditions of the social life at that time diverted the course of development in a different direction. Around the 1st century BC, the end of the republic started a mass-scale construction of villas surrounded by parks." - illustrated - From Thinkquest - http://library.thinkquest.org/C0125521/_rome.htm

Pf's Roses Roses Roses! __ A good general site about roses which includes interesting information about the growing and use of roses in ancient times. - illustrated - By Dail Reid - http://pages.prodigy.com/gardenshop/rosehist.htm

Plant Trivia Timeline __ Begin five billion years ago and zip up to present times. This interesting timeline has it all. 17,000 BCE - "Excavations at Wadi Kubbaniya, Nile Valley (Egypt) reveal charred remains of 25 different plants, including wild nut sedge tubers, acacia seed, cattail rhizomes, and palm fruit." You can plan a garden of your own with these ancient varieties. - From Huntington Botanical Gardens - http://www.huntington.org/BotanicalDiv/Timeline.html

Roman agriculture __ "Roman agriculture was highly regarded in Roman culture. Of the many commentators who praised simple rural life and endowed it with the aura of ancient Roman virtues, Virgil in his Georgics stands pre-eminent. Cicero considered farming the best of all Roman occupations, he writes in On Duties “But of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a freeman…” An encyclopedic overview of Roman farms and farming. - From wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_agriculture

Roman Farming __ "Romans used mostly slaves to work in the fields. Slaves were widely available, and they provided cheap labor to work their fields. The fields were plowed with an ard-type plow, which is basically a heavy stick pulled by an ox. Later the Romans did add a coulter to the plow, which would help break up the soil before the plowshare would turn the soil over." A good overview of Roman farming. - From historylink102.com - http://historylink102.com/Rome/roman-farming.htm