The civilization of ancient Egypt was indebted to the Nile River and its dependable seasonal flooding. The river's predictability and fertile soil allowed the Egyptians to build an empire on the basis of great agricultural wealth. Egyptians are credited as being one of the first groups of people to practice agriculture on a large scale; this was possible because of the ingenuity of the Egyptians. Their farming practices allowed them to grow staple food crops grains such as wheat and barley, industrial crops, such as flax and papyrus; the civilization of ancient Egypt developed in the arid climate of northern Africa. This region is distinguished by the Arabian and Libyan deserts, the River Nile; the Nile is one of the longest rivers in the world, flowing northward from Lake Victoria and emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile has two main tributaries: the Blue Nile which originates in Ethiopia, the White Nile that flows from Rwanda. While the White Nile is considered to be longer and easier to traverse, the Blue Nile carries about two-thirds of the water volume of the river.

The names of the tributaries derive from the color of the water. The tributaries come together in Khartoum and branches again when it reaches Egypt, forming the Nile delta; the Egyptians took advantage of the natural cyclical flooding pattern of the Nile. Because this flooding happened predictably, the Egyptians were able to develop their agricultural practices around it; the water levels of the river would rise in August and September, leaving the floodplain and delta submerged by 1.5 meters of water at the peak of the flooding. This yearly flooding of the river is known as inundation; as the floodwaters receded in October, farmers were left with well-watered and fertile soil in which to plant their crops. The soil left behind by the flooding is known as silt and was brought from Ethiopian Highlands by the Nile. Planting took place in October once the flooding was over, crops were left to grow with minimal care until they ripened between the months of March and May. While the flooding of the Nile was much more predictable and calm than other rivers, such as the Tigris and Euphrates, it was not always perfect.

High floodwaters could destroy canals that were made for irrigation. Lack of flooding created a greater issue because it left Egyptians suffering from famine. To make the best use of the waters of the Nile river, the Egyptians developed systems of irrigation. Irrigation allowed the Egyptians to use the Nile's waters for a variety of purposes. Notably, irrigation granted them greater control over their agricultural practices. Floodwaters were diverted away from certain areas, such as cities and gardens, to keep them from flooding. Irrigation was used to provide drinking water to Egyptians. Despite the fact that irrigation was crucial to their agricultural success, there were no statewide regulations on water control. Rather, irrigation was the responsibility of local farmers. However, the earliest and most famous reference to irrigation in Egyptian archaeology has been found on the mace head of the Scorpion King, dated to about 3100 BC; the mace head depicts the king cutting into a ditch, part of a grid of basin irrigation.

The association of the high ranking king with irrigation highlights the importance of irrigation and agriculture to their society. Egyptians utilized a form of water management known as basin irrigation; this practice allowed them to control the rise and fall of the river to best suit their agricultural needs. A crisscross network of earthen walls was formed in a field of crops that would be flooded by the river; when the floods came, the water would be trapped in the basins formed by the walls. This grid would hold water longer than it would have stayed, allowing the earth to become saturated for planting. Once the soil was watered, the floodwater that remained in the basin would be drained to another basin, in need of more water. Orchards and gardens were developed in addition to field planting in the floodplains; this horticulture took place further from the floodplain of the Nile, as a result, they required much more work. The perennial irrigation required by gardens forced growers to manually carry water from either a well or the Nile to water their garden crops.

Additionally, while the Nile brought silt which fertilized the valley, gardens had to be fertilized by pigeon manure. These gardens and orchards were used to grow vegetables and fruit trees; the Egyptians grew a variety of crops for consumption, including grains and fruits. However, their diets revolved around several staple crops cereals and barley. Other major grains grown included einkorn emmer wheat, grown to make bread. Other staples for the majority of the population included beans and chickpeas and fava beans. Root crops, such as onions and radishes were grown, along with salad crops, such as lettuce and parsley. Fruits were a common motif of Egyptian artwork, suggesting that their growth was a major focus of agricultural efforts as the civilization's agricultural technology developed. Unlike cereals and pulses, fruit required more demanding and complex agricultural techniques, including the use of irrigation systems, cloning and training. While the first fruits cultivated by the Egyptians were indigenous, such as the palm date and sorghum, more fruits were introduced as other cultural influences were introduced.

Grapes and watermelon were found throughout predynastic Egyptian sites, as were the sycamore fig, dom palm and Christ's thorn. The carob, apple

Rytis Mažulis is one of the most significant and distinctive Lithuanian composers, representing the extreme minimalist trend in Lithuanian music. In 1983 Rytis Mažulis graduated from Julius Juzeliūnas's composition class at the Lithuanian Academy of Music. In 1988 he won with the "Tyla" Prize for his chamber piece "The Sleep", in 1989 he was awarded the Lithuanian Culture Fund Prize for chamber and vocal music. Mažulis received a scholarship from the Akademie Schloss Solitude, for the period from September 1998 to April 1999, he was twice awarded the prize for the best vocal composition at the competition organized by the Lithuanian Composers' Union. In 2004 he was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize. In 2006 Rytis Mažulis was appointed Head of the Composition Department of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Works by Mažulis are performed at festivals throughout Europe: Nyyd, Musikhøst, Prague Spring, Norrtelje Chamber Music Festival, De Suite Muziekweek, Klang Raum, 53. Arbeitstagung von Institut für neue Musik und Musikerziehung, MaerzMusik, Melos-Ethos, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Images Sonores, ISCM World Music Days, as well as at concerts in Warsaw, Gdansk, Düsseldorf, Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

Rytis Mažulis' works are stylistically pure using canonical techniques and concentric forms. Because these composition techniques need the right instrumentation to make a homogeneous and crystal-clear sound, Mažulis writes for ensembles of equal voices or for all keyboard instruments; these pieces are either performed live or when his music is impossible to perform with conventional instruments- realized with computer, treated as a kind of super-piano. For example, in his piece "Palindrome" there are micro-tonal pitch gradations, non-standard divisions of rhythmic values and the simultaneous pulsing of different tempos, his "Clavier of Pure Reason" cannot be performed live, but for a different reason: it needs an ensemble of at least 24 pianos. Mažulis's works are not just stylistically pure, they show a subtle sense of humor. 1. Music Export Lithuania - Rytis Mažulis 2. Megadisk - Musica Falsa 3. Rytis Mažulis - Clavier of Pure Reason

A rate schedule is a chart that helps United States taxpayers determine their federal income tax for a particular year. Another name for "rate schedule" is "rate table"; the origin of the current rate schedules is the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, separately published as Title 26 of the United States Code. With that law, the U. S. Congress created four types of rate tables; each year the United States Internal Revenue Service updates rate schedules in accordance with guidelines that Congress established in the IRC. In general, the IRS bases such adjustments on inflation and cost of living increases in the previous year; the tax rate schedules give tax rates for given levels of taxable income. There is a complex relationship between taxable income and actual income, making it difficult to draw conclusions from the tables; the marginal tax rates are misleading because there are various laws that relate taxable income to actual income such that an increase of a dollar of actual income results in an increase of more than a dollar in taxable income, thus making the marginal tax rate greater than what is suggested by the table.

These schedules apply only to regular US income tax, whereas there is a second income tax, the Alternative Minimum Tax, that uses a different schedule. A taxpayer's tax obligation is the higher of those two income taxes, which makes drawing conclusions from the table more difficult. All rate schedules have an identical format, containing seven rows; the first two columns indicate the range of taxable income that a taxpayer must have to qualify for a particular tax rate. The third column indicates the tax rate itself; the fourth column gives the range of income. Given that Congress has prescribed a system of progressive taxation, all but the lowest-earning taxpayers pay distinct rates for different parts of their income; the following are the IRS rate schedules for 2014: Schedule X — Single Schedule Y-1 — Married filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow Schedule Y-2 — Married Filing Separately Schedule Z — Head of Household Caution: These tables shown above are accurate for 2014 only and do not apply for any other year.

For 2013 and 2015. To use a rate schedule, a taxpayer must know their filing amount of taxable income. Definitions related to one's filing status can be found in IRC § A.2, general guidelines regarding taxable income are described in IRC § A.63. Once a taxpayer has made these determinations, he references the pertinent rate schedule, finds the appropriate bracket, uses the formula described in the third column to determine his federal income tax. Assume, for example, that Taxpayer A is single and has a taxable income of $175,000 in 2014; the following steps apply the procedure outlined above: Because he is single, the pertinent rate table is Schedule X. Given that his income falls between $89,350 and $186,350, he uses the fourth bracket in Schedule X, his federal income tax will be "$18,193.75 plus 28% of the amount over $89,350." Applying this formula to Taxpayer A, one arrives at the following result: $18,193.75 + = $18,193.75 + = $18,193.75 + $23,982 = $42,175.75. Accordingly, Taxpayer A must pay $42,175.75 in federal income taxes for 2014.

Since his income is in the fourth bracket, his marginal tax rate for each additional dollar he earns is 28%, but his effective tax rate is 24%. Income tax in the United States Progressivity in United States income taxGeneral: Tax bracket