Translations:Benutzer:Arian/Klett-Mini-Test/252/en

What variety of plant species was cultivated, what variety of domestic animal species was kept, was already there — was the cultural heritage of ancient Persia. Now, however, consciousness turns more toward the spatial dimension of the earth. It made possible the taking of exact measure, the shaping of stone with chisel and hammer, and the joining of one stone to another, surface to surface, in a hairline seam — in short: the exercise of the high art of craftsmanship, the impressing of form upon dead stone with every hammer blow out of the force of one's own feeling-life. This capacity determined also the refinement in the working of the soils, in the cultivation of plants, and in the keeping of animals. The natural conditions, however, held the upper hand; one need only think of the seven fat and seven lean years in Egypt mentioned in the Bible. And yet the people were able, through the most elaborately developed irrigation and drainage systems, to master the forces of nature and to hold their ground in the building up of their high civilization. A unique example of such an artful achievement is the Joseph Canal (Arab.: Bahr Yussuf), which branches off from the Nile in central Egypt, runs approximately 350 km along the western bank of the Nile, and at the entrance to the Fayum Oasis overcomes the threshold of the valley-edge depression. From there it feeds, through an ingeniously devised system of irrigation and drainage, the wide basin of the oasis and makes it to this day one of the most fertile garden landscapes of Egypt. On account of the fact that to this day the canal bears the name "Joseph," and — following Emil Bock — no doubt can exist that behind this name the biblical Joseph stands concealed, it may be assumed that he was the builder of the canal system. Joseph, who was active in Egypt around 1750 BC, unites in himself the mystery-culture of Babylonia and ancient Egypt.