The earliest farmers used simple digging sticks or hoes to dig and cultivate farmland. After the farmland was dug, they scattered seeds on the ground, hoping for a good harvest. Early plows were made from Y-shaped wooden sections, with the lower branch carved into a pointed tip and the two upper branches made into two handles. When the plow was tied to a rope and pulled by an ox, the pointed tip dug a narrow shallow furrow in the soil. Farmers could use the handles to steer the plow. Around 970 BC, a sketch of a simple ox-drawn wooden plow was created in Egypt. Compared to the first plows made as far back as 3500 BC, there were not many design changes.
On the arid and sandy lands of Egypt and Western Asia, this early-stage plow could fully cultivate farmland, greatly increasing crop yields. The increased food supply could fully meet the population growth, and cities in Egypt and Mesopotamia developed increasingly.
By 3000 BC, farmers had improved their plows by making the tip into a sharp "share" that could break through the soil more effectively, and adding a slanted "shank" that could push the soil to the side.
Wooden plows pulled by oxen are still used in many parts of the world, especially in areas with light, sandy soil. Early plows were more effective on light sandy soil than on the wet, heavy clay soil of Northern Europe. European farmers had to wait for the introduction of heavier metal plows in the 11th century.
