Sebakh

Sebach (Arabic سباخ Sibāḫ, fertilizer ') is a derived from the Arabic term and refers to a crumbling mud bricks originating from nitrogenous fertilizer.

Formation

The stranded in Egypt by the annual Nile flood mud, supplied the fields with new nutrients has been traditionally used as a building material. For this purpose, the sludge was mixed with straw, formed into mud bricks and dried in the sun and then used for erecting buildings and walls. The bricks have crumbled over the millennia and weathered and can be used as fertilizers today.

Use as fertilizer

Through the construction of the Aswan Dam (completed in 1902 ), the annual flood failed to materialize in Egypt. Therefore, it was for the fellahin, the Egyptian peasants, essential to fertilize their fields, although they did so before the construction of the dam. From now on, was an even greater extent in the ancient mounds, called tells, dug under the old mud-brick, this applied if necessary crushed and used as fertilizer on the fields. This many archaeological sites have been destroyed. However, this way also get artifacts to light, such as the so-called Amarna letters, which were found by a fellah woman in Tell el- Amarna during digging for the coveted Sebach.