The origin of the invention of the plow

The earliest farmers used simple digging sticks or hoes to dig and cultivate farmland. After digging the farmland, they scattered the seeds in the ground, hoping for a good harvest. Early plows were made of Y-shaped wooden sections, with the lower branch carved into a pointed head and the two upper branches made into two handles. When a plow is tied to a rope and pulled by an ox, the point carves a narrow, shallow furrow in the dirt. Farmers can use the handle to drive the plow. This painting, created in Egypt around 970 BC, shows a simple sketch of a wooden plow pulled by oxen. Not much has changed in design since the first plows were made as far back as 3500 BC.
In the dry and sandy lands of Egypt and West Asia, this early type of plow could fully dig up farmland and greatly increase crop yields. The increased food supply was sufficient to meet the growing population, and cities in Egypt and Mesopotamia grew.
By 3000 BC, farmers had improved their plows, making the tip into a sharp "ploughshare" that could break up the soil more powerfully, and adding a sloping "floor" that pushed the soil sideways.
Oxen-drawn wooden plows are still used in many parts of the world, especially in areas with light, sandy soil. Early plows were more efficient on light, sandy soils than on the moist, heavy soils of northern Europe. European farmers had to wait for the introduction of heavier metal plows in the 11th century AD.