Agriculture is generally accepted as the critical foundation for the development of any civilisation. Without it man would have remained a hunter-gatherer and have lacked the potential for generating surpluses, the division of labour and the establishment of urban communities. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that if an ancient urban centre is found, it is evidence of the existence of agricultural skills in the locality at the time of its foundation.
At present the oldest known town is Jericho, which is now dated to around 9600 BC. Similarly, the remarkable discoveries at Göbekli Tepe, also dated to the same period, suggest a considerable settled community that would have been dependent on agriculture. There is now evidence that the first farmers grew rye and wheat in Syria around 11000 BC. In Egypt prehistoric granaries that date back to the Neolithic era, which began around 9000 BC, have been discovered in Fayoum, south-west of Cairo.
R. Cedric Leonard has outlined on his website(a) a range of evidence that would seem to prove that agriculture existed in Egypt before the 9600 BC date that is recorded by Plato for the demise of Atlantis.
If Plato’s Atlantis existed it is clear that agriculture was an important part of its economy. We are informed (Critias 118E) that two crops were harvested annually, thanks to rain in winter and irrigation canals in summer. Plato also mentions horses and cattle (Critias 117B). These references are written in the context of a need to feed a large city, not to mention its enormous army (and navy). Plato offers no suggestion than that this advanced agricultural system was anything other than part of an advanced Bronze Age society.
The commencement of what we would recognise as agriculture began around the 10th millennium BC. So is theoretically possible that agriculture had developed somewhat by the early date of 9600 BC given by Plato for the demise of Atlantis. However, the existence of anything over and above the level of subsistence farming, at this early date, is highly improbable. It would seem clear that Plato has described the agriculture of a Bronze Age civilisation because he would have had no idea regarding its state of development in preceding millennia.
It is interesting that Plato also lists (Critias 115b) produce that possibly grew wild or may have been cultivated:
- Pulses,
- Chestnuts
- Fruits that spoil with keeping
- The ‘pleasant’ kind of dessert
- Fruits having a hard rind providing drinks, meats and ointments
It would be interesting to investigate whether all the above mentioned products are consistent with the same latitude and at what periods of time.
Diodorus Siculus recorded that the Atlanteans did not know the fruits of Ceres – cereals. In fact, according to Wikipedia, cereals were unknown to American Indians. Rand and Rose Flem-Ath have an interesting chapter[062 p.12] on the subject of agriculture and its development in the context of their own theories.
(a)http://atlantisquest.com/Agriculture.html
