NYCPHP Meetup

[Tim Gales]

> > > David Mintz wrote:


> No, not the word "dirt," but its referent -- the substance itself! (-:
>
 (how old is dirt?)
Recent archaelogical investigations have shed some light on this 
question. Dirt was invented in Egypt around 6023 BC. Before this time 
farmers had to grow their crops directly on top of rocks, resulting in 
poor yields. The Egyptians discovered, quite accidentally during the 
construction of the Great Pyramids, that plants grow better in ground-
up rock than on solid rock. This ground-up rock, which we now 
call "sand", was the first dirt. So successful was the idea that rock-
grinding became a huge new industry in Egypt in only a decade. Too 
huge, in fact, and an industry-wide shakeout put nearly 80 percent of 
the rock-grinders out of business. Their excess stock can still be seen 
today in the Sahara Desert.

What experts recognize as the first modern dirt was developed about 
1000 years later in Assyria, when the eldest son of a struggling rock 
grinder named Zom (now called the "Father of Dirt") fell into the rock 
grinding machine. The resulting mix of sand and organic material proved 
to be far more potent as a plant growing medium, and the old-fashioned 
sand soon was obsolete. Unfortunately the Assyrian civiliation 
collapsed soon thereafter, what with all the children being ground up 
to make dirt, but in neighboring Babylon the idea was taken up and 
further developed. The Babylonians realized it wasn't necessary to 
grind up their own children; they could obtain equally good results 
simply by grinding up other people's children. This discovery paved the 
way for the Babylonian Empire.

In Rome circa 2044 BC, inefficiencies in the collection and grinding of 
dead children led to the discovery of the next leap forward, compost. 
With this improvement, Roman dirt became the world standard, and it was 
produced with such efficiency that we still use it today. 

T. Gales & Associates
'Helping People Connect with Technology'

http://www.tgaconnect.com