Gardens and Gardeners of the Ancient World: History, Myth and Archaeology

Excellent stories, encouraged me to construct and ancient Greek garden zone!

original and very well researched.

Here is a book to appeal to students of ancient and mediaeval history and plant enthusiasts alike. It covers the plants and gardens from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenaean, classical Greek and Roman, Byzantine, Islamic and Mediaeval gardens. This wide-ranging study contains an enormous amount of detailed information.Of particular appeal to plantsmen is the inclusion of plant names with their botanical equivalents for each period covered by the book, providing the opportunity to compare. The chapter on ancient Egypt for example begins by connecting the growing of plants with religious belief and practices.Links between plants and deities, such as Min and the lettuce, Hathor and the sycomore fig tree and the creation of Osiris beds, are all covered in the first section. This is followed by a discussion of the nature and function of sacred gardens associated with the rituals of various deities.The planting of trees around mortuary temples has been proved by archaeological evidence; great brick-lined pits were filled with good soil, and trees or shrubs planted in them, at sites like Dahshur and Deir el-Bahri (where actual plant remains, of sycomore fig and tamarisk, were found).Temples like the Ramesseum, and Medinet Habu, and religiously focussed sites such as Amarna, produced a huge variety of plants, some edible and others for making offerings.Tomb wall paintings show that there were gardens in other temples too, with avenues of trees, gardens of flowers and fruit trees providing resources for temple offerings and garlands, while pools and lakes could provide both water for the plants and for purification rituals.Not all Egyptian gardens were planted for religious reasons. Flower gardens were sometimes planted for pleasure; there is evidence for many flower species including hollyhock, camomile, blue cornflower, jasmine, poppy, convolvulus, the Madonna lily and of course the very popular blue lotus. Evidence for gardening and gardeners is also examined using tomb paintings from Beni Hasan and el- Bersha while the tomb of Ineni provides insight into the life of a gardener working for Thutmose III. He was responsible for the care of five hundred and forty trees including date, carob, sycomore fig, and pomegranate. The chapter is well illustrated with plans of gardens and examples taken from tomb reliefs.Perhaps this Egyptian prayer for eternity sums up how the ancient Egyptian felt about their gardens: “Each day I may walk unceasingly on the banks of my water that my soul may repose on the branches of the trees which I planted. That I may refresh myself under the shadow of my sycamore”.Reviewed by ancientegyptmagzine dot com