Historic background of Egyptian cotton (2600 BC–AD 1910)

Abstract

The cotton plant was recorded from Egypt in the Dynastic period as early as 2500 BC. Cotton seeds were recovered from Nubia (Egypt) in 1964. Many writers and relief sculptures as well as hieroglyphic symbols confirm cotton cultivation during this period. Cotton cultivation dominated in the Ptolemaic and Roman period (305 BC-AD 395). There were two cotton species (Gossypium arboreum L. and Gossypium herbaceum L.) grown in Egypt during the Islamic period (AD 1477-AD 1711). Later Ashmouni cotton was derived from Sea Island cotton (G. barbadense L. var. maritima Watt); Jumel's cotton (G. brasiliense Macf.) and other Egyptian stocks (possibly G. arboreum and/or G. herbaceum var. africanum (Watt) Hutchinson & Ghose). Ashmouni cotton was the main ancestor of Egyptian cultivare after 1887.