The Population of Medieval Egypt

early summer and reaches its height in the lower valley in September and October. After the water begins to subside the seed is sown in the black, damp soil which changes to green as the crops grow and then to yellow as they ripen. As the Arab poet, Masoudi wrote, Egypt is a white pearl from July to September, a black cloth (of mad) from October to December, a green emerald from January through March, and a nugget of gold from April through June.2 An economy so self contained and so different from other areas might be expected to have its own peculiar population history, different from that of its neighbors. It might be assumed to have a stable and unvarying economy, with a large population supported by its rich soil, even though drought might occasionally produce crises, like the awful years a.d. 1200-1202.3 T e Nile flood covers the valley as evenly as a great system of canals and irrigation ditches ca distribute it. Any serious deviation, however, from the normal flow is harmful. A shortage of water leaves great areas dry for the year while too high a flood damages the fields and ditches. The gauge for measuring the flood while still up iver was called a Nilometer. On the best known one at Roda normal for the Middle