How did ancient Egyptians and Assyrians keep fish?

Historical records indicate that both ancient Egypt and Assyria engaged in the practice of keeping fish. In Egypt, this practice was closely linked to early aquaculture, where fish such as tilapia were raised in artificial environments like ponds and tanks as a reliable food source.12

While the specific structural details of these ancient enclosures are limited, they represent some of the earliest known instances of human efforts to maintain aquatic life, predating the modern concept of the aquarium by thousands of years.1