DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4669#0047
26 THE LAND OF THE MONUMENTS
in the desert region, but, where water is supplied,
vegetation at once springs up ; one can almost stand
with one foot in the desert and the other in the
garden, so sharply is the line defined in many cases.
From Tell-el-Khebir westwards is a district second
to none in Lower Egypt for fertility. The villages
are large, frequent, and evidently prosperous. Water
is abundant, being conveyed by numerous canals
throughout the region, and irrigation is in conse-
quence universal. The shadoof is a simple machine
used throughout the country for raising water, as
primitive in construction now as it was in the days
of the early Pharaohs ; this is ascertained from an
illustration on the walls of an ancient tomb at
Thebes.' The machine answers its purpose, and
therefore has not been improved upon. It is formed
by tlie trunks of two palm trees serving for the
purpose of posts, some six feet in height, and two
or three feet apart, driven into the banks of the river
or canal. On the top of these a cross-bar works in
a groove. To this cross-bar a long pole is attached,
of which the greater length extends towards the
water, the shorter is weighted with a large lump of
clay. At the other extremity is a rope, to which a
skin bucket is attached. The long pole is pulled
down by the rope, the bucket filled with water, which
is then raised to the required level by the weighted
end overbalancing the bucket. Where the banks are-
lofty, three, four, and even more of these machines
are placed one above the other and worked in con-
nection. The shadoof is used for small occupations,
and by persons of limited means. Six men working
all day from sunrise to sunset can irrigate two acres
* Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. i. p. 281.
in the desert region, but, where water is supplied,
vegetation at once springs up ; one can almost stand
with one foot in the desert and the other in the
garden, so sharply is the line defined in many cases.
From Tell-el-Khebir westwards is a district second
to none in Lower Egypt for fertility. The villages
are large, frequent, and evidently prosperous. Water
is abundant, being conveyed by numerous canals
throughout the region, and irrigation is in conse-
quence universal. The shadoof is a simple machine
used throughout the country for raising water, as
primitive in construction now as it was in the days
of the early Pharaohs ; this is ascertained from an
illustration on the walls of an ancient tomb at
Thebes.' The machine answers its purpose, and
therefore has not been improved upon. It is formed
by tlie trunks of two palm trees serving for the
purpose of posts, some six feet in height, and two
or three feet apart, driven into the banks of the river
or canal. On the top of these a cross-bar works in
a groove. To this cross-bar a long pole is attached,
of which the greater length extends towards the
water, the shorter is weighted with a large lump of
clay. At the other extremity is a rope, to which a
skin bucket is attached. The long pole is pulled
down by the rope, the bucket filled with water, which
is then raised to the required level by the weighted
end overbalancing the bucket. Where the banks are-
lofty, three, four, and even more of these machines
are placed one above the other and worked in con-
nection. The shadoof is used for small occupations,
and by persons of limited means. Six men working
all day from sunrise to sunset can irrigate two acres
* Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. i. p. 281.